NCAA Indoor Finals: Okon and Ajayi Drawn Side By Side in 60m, Onojuvwevwo, Ogazi Ready for Historic Runs
Two Nigerian sprinters, Favour Okon and Favour Ajayi, will line up side by side in the men’s 60m final at the NCAA Indoor Championships, raising hopes of a historic first title for a Nigerian athlete in the event.
Okon, representing Auburn University, stormed to a lifetime best of 6.48 seconds to secure his place in Saturday’s showdown and will start in lane five. Just beside him in lane six is Ajayi, the NCAA indoor record holder with 6.45 seconds, who qualified with 6.51.
The final promises fireworks, as three other competitors in the field have also dipped under 6.50 this season.
Malachi Snow of Texas Tech, who clocked 6.46 to qualify for the championships, enters as the second fastest behind Ajayi. Jelani Watkins of Arkansas ran 6.46, the quickest time in qualifying, while Mason Lawyer of Arizona has posted 6.49.
With such depth, experts believe the race could produce a new NCAA indoor record, with Ajayi leading the charge among those capable of rewriting history.
Nigeria’s presence is also strong in the 400m events.
In the women’s race, Ella Onojuvwevwo, who recently shattered both her school and African record with a commanding 50.28 run, will contest the second section final from lane five.
She is drawn just inside USC’s Madison Whyte, who qualified with 50.68, the second fastest time in the preliminaries.
On the men’s side, Samuel Ogazi will feature in the second section of the final. He is drawn outside Florida’s Justin Braun, who ran 44.77 in qualifying, while NCAA leader Jonathan Simms headlines the first section.
