Godbless, Ochonogor looking to match Okagbare’s feat at NCAA indoor championships 15 years after
Tima Godbless and Prestina Ochonogor will be looking to become the first Nigerian sprinter and the first long jumper to mount the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships’ podium as champions, 15 years after Blessing Okagbare successfully compete a 60m and long jump double.
There will no repeat of the double this time around at the Virginia Beach Sports Center in Virginia where the Championships will hold this weekend.
Godbless, the fastest woman in the NCAA this year with the 7.08 lifetime best she ran last month will be looking to repeat what Okagbare did in 2010 at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas where she ran 7.18 to win the gold for her school, University of Texas in El Paso, UTEP, Texas.
The 21 year old seems to be fulfilling expectations now after serving notice of a star in the making at the World U20 Championships in 2022 where she stormed to a then 11.09 lifetime best in the 100m.
Godbless knows this is a once in a lifetime chance to make history and become the second Nigerian woman to win the title.
Ochonogor, the 18 year old who leapt to international reckoning last year when she made the final of the long jump event at the Paris 2024 Olympics knows she can jump to gold on her first attempt and become the second woman after Okagbare to win the women’s title in the event.
Okagbare leapt a distance of 6.87m to win the gold, her second at the Championships that year.
Ochonogor has been named as one of the freshmen to watch at the Championships and the World U20 finalist can make a statement leap ahead of the outdoor season and September’s 20th World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
