The Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (International University Sports Federation) Trials got underway at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Osun State, and in focus on the first day were the men and women’s 100m. The heats opened up the competition while the finals came later in the day.
OAU’s Teniola Lydia Fadahunsi was the fastest out of the blocks as she shot out like a woman on a mission in the women’s 100m final but the weights of experience began to tell as UNIPORT’s Grace Nwokocha came charging through, gaining ground with every stride to take the much coveted lead about 20m to the finish.
She finished in 11.75s but really did not have it go down easy with Marvelous Asemota just outside her lane as the latter finished in 2nd while Fadahunsi grabbed 3rd place. Karo Brume finished 4th, just ahead of Glory Nyenke of UNIPORT.
OAU soon had enough compensation with Enoch Adegoke’s flying performance in the men’s 100m. The African Junior Champion broke away from the pack of competitors after 40m and continued extending his lead till he eased across the line in 10.0s, well ahead of FUOYE’s Fakorede Nicholas and FUTA’s Alaba Akintola further down in 3rd. OAU did as much as having three athletes in the final where Olaoye Folawiyo placed 4th, just nudging out Egbeyemi Bowofoluwa of the University of Ibadan.
Folawiyo soon braced himself for the first heat of the men’s 200m which he won in 21.87s ahead of Peter Edwin who marked a 22.21s run. Akintola topped his heat in 22.63s while in the last heat which turned out to be the fastest, Abdulazeez Oyetunji prevailed in a hard fought battle between him and UNILAG’s Segun Akhigbe in 21.66s while the latter finished in 21.75s.
A glimpse of Favour Ofili’s superb form was on show in the first heat of the women’s 200m as all she needed to do was run her race and then jog the final 80m to win in 24.30s ahead of Karo Brume, 2nd in 24.87s. Marvelous Asemota dominated the second heat from the inside lane in 24.64s.
Oluwakemi Francis won the women’s 100m Hurdles with relative ease in 14.08s ahead of Glory Nyenke who clocked 15.16s to finish 2nd. The winner soon extended her dominance to the women’s Long Jump which she won with a best jump of 5.60m. Obi Precious Amarachi broke sand at 5.25m for 2nd while Teniola Fadahunsi, the Bronze medallist from the 100m who had never tried the event before placed 3rd with a 5.06m leap.
Joseph Edafiadhe pulled gasps of admiration from the crowd in the men’s long jump. The UNIPORT athlete reached 7.60m twice for a dominant win ahead of his teammate, Oluwayemi Blessing who jumped 7.22m to finish 2nd with Adeyemi Onikepe in 3rd at 6.83m.
Eleomobong Cletus (UNIPORT) sealed the win in the men’s Discus throw as his disc reached 39.95m, OAU’s Faforiji Adebayo got out to 37.75m while Lawrence Onyejiaka threw 37.23m to finish 3rd.
