Onwuzurike seeking to become first Stanford University sprinter in 84 years to win NCAA 200m title

Former World U20 champion, Udodi Onwuzurike will be seeking to make history for his school, Stanford University, as the first sprinter in 84 years to win the
200m title in NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships history.

Stanford hasn’t had a 200m champion since 1939 when Clyde Jeffrey won the straight 220 yards.

The 20 year old Nigerian sped to an incredible 19.76 finish in the semifinals of the 200m event on the opening day of the 2023 NCAA outdoor championships to
qualify for Friday’s final.

Udodi Onwuzurike advanced to Friday’s finals in the 100 and 200, squeezing into the ninth and final qualifying spot in the former, and absolutely dominating
the latter.

The time is not only the third-fastest time in collegiate history, it was also the fastest prelim time, a school record, and broke the Pac-12 record of 19.80
set by UCLA’s Ato Boldon in 1996.

Only Florida State’s Walter Dix (19.69, 2007) and Texas Tech’s Divine Oduduru (19.73, 2019) ever have run faster in collegiate competition.

Onwuzurike broke his own school record of 19.91, which won the Pac-12 title on May 14.

According to Stanford University’s official website, ‘only a sophomore, Onwuzurike has broken or tied Stanford school records 18 times already.’

The Nigerian is also on course to becoming the third Nigerian after Olopade Adeniken and Oduduru to successfully complete a sprint double in championships’
history after qualifying for the 100m final.

He has thus become the first from Stanford University to qualify for an NCAA 100m final since 1963 when Larry Questad and Eric Frische reached the final of
the 100 yards, which Questad won.