Ajayi tipped to win NCAA 60m indoor title ahead of Okon, Fakorede; Nathaniel, Adeshina snubbed

Auburn University’s Nigerian sprinter, Kanyinsola Ajayi has been tipped to win the men’s 60m event at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Track and Field Championships which holds this weekend at the Virginia Beach Sports Center in Virginia.

Ajayi, with a 6.51 lifetime best he achieved on Valentine’s Day last month in Clemson, South Carolina tops the NCAA pre-Championships list with his Auburn and Nigerian compatriot, Israel Okon.

NCAA analyst and journalist, Stan Becton is however going with Ajayi in his event-by-event predictions for the 2025 indoor track and field championships on the NCAA website.

‘The men’s 60 meters is wide-open this year, and it’s possible my pick to win doesn’t make the final. That said, I’m picking Auburn’s Kanyinsola Ajayi to win this race. While Ajayi false started in the SEC 60m final, he’s run sub-6.6 in every race since late January,’ wrote Becton.

Becton does not however think Nathaniel Ezekiel, the man who has broken 45 seconds twice pre-championships and tops the NCAA list in the 400m with 44.74, will make history as the first Nigerian to win the event indoors.

Instead, he thinks Auhmad Robinson of Texas A and M University student who is yet to break 45 seconds this year (holds a lifetime best of 44.91 set last year) will triumph ahead of the Nigerian who will be competing for Baylor University.

‘Auhmad Robinson hasn’t lost a race indoors all year after finishing as the 400-meter runner-up during the 2024 indoor season. Robinson’s undefeated streak will continue into the outdoor season,’ he wrote.

In the women’s events, Becton does not also think Tima Godbless, the fastest woman over the 60m event in the NCAA so far this year will make history as the second Nigerian woman to win the title after Blessing Okagbare first did in 2010 for University of Texas in El Paso, UTEP.

Instead, she has picked Godbless’ teammate at Louisiana State University, Briana Lyston, who is the defending champion, to successfully defend her title.

‘I was stuck between eight women who could win the 60 meters this year. It’s that wide open this year. That’s why I’m picking Brianna Lyston — the defending champion — to win. Lyston only opened her individual indoor season in mid-February and hasn’t run slower than 7.13 seconds. Fresher legs and a faster PB makes her the pick,’ he predicted.

Lyston ran 7.03 seconds to win last year’s title, making her the second-fastest woman in NCAA 60m history.

Becton is also picking a defending champion, Arkansas’ Rachel Glenn to retain the high jump title ahead of quality challengers including Nigeria’s Temitope Adeshina.

‘To win the high jump this year, I anticipate it will take 1.95 meters or better. That’s getting into collegiate record range and who better to pick for that than Rachel Glenn, who tied a collegiate record to clinch a title win last year,’ Becton wrote.

Glenn high jumped 1.98 meters at SEC Championships last month, just 20 centimeters away from tying her collegiate record that she jumped to win 2024’s indoor title.

Adeshina holds a 1.93m personal season’s best and was fourth last year.