2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships: Nigerian men drawn apart as Ajayi, Okon face tough test

Nigerian sprinters and quarter milers competing next week at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA will not be facing each other in their semifinal heats following the release of the start list for all the events at the championships.

In the 100m event, the Auburn University Nigerian duo of Kanyisola Ajayi and Israel Sunday Okon will not be meeting unless both qualify for the final.

Ajayi, the Nigerian leader in the event with the 9.95 lifetime best he ran last month will run from lane 4 in the third and final heat where his focus will be to punch one of the two automatic tickets on offer for the final or, at worst, get one of the three fastest losers’ slots.

The Paris 2024 Olympics 100m semifinalist will however need to speed past such formidable opponents as Mason Lawyer of Washington State University who has broken 10 seconds this year albeit wth the help of a 2.1m/s tail win, Jordan Anthony of University of Arkansas who ran a wind-aided 9.75 (+2.1m/s) in the lead up to the Championships as well as six others who have broken 10.10 this season.

Okon on his part will have to cross the finish line either first or second to secure one of the two automatic tickets on offer or grab one of the three non-automatic tickets also on offer to qualify for the final.

The Nigerian however has an uphill task before him and he will fight for the two automatic tickets with Ghana’s Abdul-Rasheed Saminu who ran a 9.86 national record at the end of May in Jacksonville, Florida and Taylor Banks who, like the Nigerian, holds a wind-aided 9.91 best this year.

In the 400m, the two Nigerians have also been drawn apart with pre-championships’ overwhelming favourite, Samuel Ogazi drawn to run from lane 6 in the first semifinal heat.

Ogazi, who holds a personal season’s best of 44.43, is tipped to pick one of the two automatic tickets on offer in his heat while Edidiong Udo, drawn to run from lane three in the second semifinal heat, will be seeking more than a ticket to his first NCAA outdoor final. He will also be looking to become the 11th Nigerian to run under 45 seconds in the full lap event.

In other events, Nathaniel Ezekiel, the only Nigerian running in the 400m hurdles, has been drawn to run from lane seven in the first semifinal heat while Charles Godfred will be aiming for not just a place in the final but also leap past his 8.16m lifetime best.

He holds a personal season’s best of 8.10m.