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With the NCAA Indoor Championship set to be the main talking point of athletics news globally, here are eight reasons Nigerians must anticipate the turnout of events.
The biggest indoor track and field competition in the US college circuit will take place this weekend on March 10 and 11, at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque Convention Center, with Nigeria's best athletes competing for their various schools.
These athletes have started the 2023 indoor season with outstanding performances, expected to take or even be in better shape at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
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With the championship set to be the main talking point of athletics news globally, here are eight reasons Nigerians must anticipate the turnout of events.
1 - 13 Nigerian athletes representatives
Nigerians will have the privilege of watching and cheering on thirteen athletes as they compete in their various events.
Men's 60m
- Favour Ashe (Auburn University) - 6.51s
- Godson Brume (Louisiana State University) - 6.58s
- Alaba Akintola (Middle Tennessee State University) - 6.59s.
Men's 200m
- Udodi Onwuzurike (Stanford University) - 20.56s.
- Akintola - 20.59s
Men's 400m
- Ezekiel Nathaniel (Baylor University) - 45.77s
Women's 200m
- Favour Ofili (Louisiana State University) - 22.36s
- Rosemary Chukwuma (Texas Tech University) - 22.68s
- Ezinne Abba (University of Texas) - 22.99s
Women's 60m
- Chukwuma - 7.09s
- Ofili - 7.15s
- Abba - 7.17s
Relays
- Ofili and Ella Onojuvwevwo for LSU's women's 4x400m
- Nathaniel for Baylor's men's 4x400m
Women's long and triple jump
- Esther Isa - Middle Tennessee - 6.41m
- Onaara Obamuwagun (Texas Tech) - 13.54m
- Grace Anigbata
Men's high jump
Best Erhire (Texas Tech) - 2.23m
2 - Rekindled healthy rivalries
The sprint events will reignite healthy rivalries among the athletes.
In the men's 60m, Ashe, Akintola, and Brume will face off for the first time since their race at the 2022 Nigerian trials, where Ashe got the better of Akintola to win the National title.
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Though Ashe tops the 60m list with his time this year and already defeated Brume to the gold medal at the SEC Indoor Championships, Akintola will aim for a stunning performance against the duo and best of NCAA sprinters in Albuquerque.
Meanwhile, in the women's category, though Chukwuma has the fastest time ahead of Ofili and Abba, it'll be exciting to see who eventually finishes as the best amongst the trio.
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3 - Men's 60m title glory
Ashe won a bronze medal at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships when he was rated as the favourite to win the title after clocking the fastest time of 6.51s in the semis.
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With the disappointment now behind him and wearing new school colours, the SEC Champion will be gunning to win his first NCAA title and become the first Nigerian sprinter to achieve this feat since Divine Oduduru in 2019.
However, he will have to run a Personal Best (PB) and overcome the challenge of other top two athletes ahead of him, as his 6.51s places him third on the NCAA indoor list, while the leaders have run 6.4s this season.
4 - Chukwuma, Ofili, and Abba challenging for 60m medals
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the women's 60m already has the name of Julien Alfred (University of Texas) written in gold, considering she's the fastest in the event this season and owns the Collegiate Record (CR) of 6.97s set at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships.
Alfred is unchallenged for the title, leaving the rest to race for the silver and bronze medals. With this in mind, Chukwuma will target making the podium as her 7.09s places her third on the NCAA indoor list.
Ofili and Abba can also spring up outstanding performances, which will propel them to the podium. Good to see there are options to choose from the Nigerian perspective.
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5 - Ofili facing her stiffest test this season
Before the BIG 12 Indoor Championships, all bets would have been on Ofili to win the 200m title. Ironically, this changed when Alfred sped to the second-fastest time of 22.26s in NCAA indoor history.
Ofili's PB of 22.36s clocked this season is the third fastest in college indoor history, which makes room for a mouth-watering clash between both ladies this weekend.
It will be the Nigerians' stiffest competition this season, as all eyes will be on her if she can outrun Alfred for the prestigious title. Notwithstanding, don't be surprised if Abby Steiner's CR of 22.07s goes down this weekend.
6 - Surprise packages in other events
Asides from the sprint events, Nigerians can look forward to other events, where the athletes can spring up surprises and finish with a medal.
Nathaniel has had an impressive season so far, where he has outstandingly lowered his 400m PB.
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At the BIG 12 Indoor Championships, the Baylor sophomore went under the 46s mark for the first time in his career, clocking a then PB of 45.90s. He dropped it further to 45.77s in the final, finishing in third position.
If he can lower this time in Albuquerque, he has a chance of not just medalling but breaking into the top two fastest times in African indoor history, behind late Sunday Bada's record of 45.51s and Kunle Fasasi's 45.57s.
Likewise, Erhire has to surpass his high jump PB of 2.23m to get a chance of securing his best college medal.
7 - Can Onwuzurike stun the 200m field?
When it comes to the 200m, never write off Onwuzurike, as he's one of the best young athletes running the event.
He surprisingly won a bronze medal in his first year at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and can do the same this weekend to win his first indoor medal.
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Onwuzurike has a way of rising to the occasion when it matters, which bodes for a good argument that he can leave with a medal. Also, the spotlight isn't so much on him, making him perform without pressure.
8 - MVP from the Nigerian perspective
With thirteen Nigerian athletes competing, it'll be nice to see who lives the championship as the MVP from a Nigerian perspective.
Awarding this accolade will be dependent on medals won, records broken, new lifetime bests, and overall performance of each athlete.
May the best athlete win.
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