Udo-Gabriel, Caleb favoured to win 60m event at NCAA Division 11 indoor championships
Joy Udo-Gabriel and Joshua Caleb are the athletes to beat in the women and men’s 60m event at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships which start Thursday at the Fall Creek Pavilion at Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.
Udo-Gabriel, long tipped to be one of the successors to Blessing Okagbare in the 100m event seems to be back to fulfil these expectations as her performance this indoor season has suggested.
Now 25 years old, Udo-Gabriel is the fastest 60m runner in the division coming to the championships following the 7.13 lifetime best she ran early this month in Missouri, United States.
Her time is the joint second fastest by a Nigerian so far this year, also joint second in Africa and joint 19th in the world.
The 2019 Nigeria 100m champion is the clear favourite to win the 60m title as a student athlete for the Missouri Southern University track and field team, ahead of Alexis Brown who holds a personal season’s best of 7.26 and E’lexis Hollis (7.32 best).
Udo-Gabriel was only last week named the United States Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) its National Athlete of the Week for her record-breaking achievements.
According to her school’s website, Udo-Gabriel’s ‘record-breaking run not only secured the conference crown but also set new school, MIAA, and facility records, while shattering the NCAA Division II All-Time Record, surpassing the previous mark of 7.18 seconds set on March 9, 2024.’
Throughout this indoor season, she has rewritten the MSSU school record an impressive five times.
Udo-Gabriel now holds the fifth-fastest time of the season across all levels on the USTFCCCA Top 25 Performers and Performances list.
For the men, Caleb will be the man to beat.
The 18-year-old stormed to a 6.57 lifetime best in his first in January in his first season running indoors. The time is the fastest by any sprinter in the division so far this year.
Other Nigerians who are also seeking to make it to the podium in Indianapolis include Blessing Akintoye in the women’s 400m, Olaolu Olatunde in the men’s 60m and Joseph Oreva who tops the long jump list with his 7.71 personal season’s best.
