Lindsay Lindley Weyinme is improving in leaps and bounds this year, as the National 100m Hurdles champion last weekend raced to a new Personal Best (PB) of 12.90s at the Beach Invitational meet, less than a week after she came close to matching her previous PB of 12.97s
The wind was favourable for Weyinme (+1.1) making her time legal as she ran a perfect race for the win and the fastest time overall of all the heats, with the closest times to her being Erica Bougard who finished 2nd in 13.10s and Tonea Marshall 3rd in 13.28s.
Her performance proves the form she is in this season, as just a week ago she clocked a then Season’s Best (SB) of 12.98s, which is the exact qualifying mark for the World Championships in London.
Weyinme will no doubt be hoping to set up an epic clash to watch out for in the women’s 100m Hurdles at the National Championships, with rave of the moment Oluwatobiloba Amusan going to provide her a stern contest for the title.
Also in action last weekend was National 200m Champion, Divine Oduduru who opened his season at the Horned Frog Invitational, Fort Worth. Oduduru competing for the first time for his school, Texas Technology clocked a wind-aided time of 20.45s (+4.5) to emerge with the overall fastest time of the heats.
The Rio Olympic semifinalist will be aiming to lower this time under legal conditions as the season progresses, if he’s to have another chance of running with Usain Bolt at the world stage.
Meanwhile, Ngonna Ndu was also present at the meet, storming to an SB of 56.31s for 2nd place in the 400m hurdles. Ndu who’s a former National Champion, will be gunning to hit or dip below the qualifying mark of 56.10s in the coming weeks if she’s to stamp her name among those that’ll be competing in the British city.
At the Jim Bush Collegiate Invitational in Los Angeles, three University of Texas, El Paso (UTEP) athletes of Nigerian origin were in action for their school.
Top on the list is 100m Hurdles world leader, Amusan who changed gears from her trademark event and competed in the 100m and 200m. Amusan clocked SBs in both events, first in the 100m where she raced to 11.57s for the overall fastest time, while in the 200m she stopped the clock at 23.48s for 2nd place.
Her teammates, Florence Uwakwe and Ada Benjamin also put up impressive performances in the 400m. Uwakwe clocked 53.45s for 3rd fastest time, while Benjamin was 5th overall with her time of 53.88s.
Another National athlete with an SB performance over the weekend is former 400m Champion, Chidi Okezie. The 23 year old clocked 21.29s to finish 4th in his 200m Heat, with the race winner being University of South Carolina’s Titi Ncincilili, who clocked a fast 20.14s at the Gamecock Invitational, Columbia.
