On a day that was anything but conducive for fast times, Enoch Adegoke and Rosemary Chukwuma defied the conditions to clinch the 100m titles on Day 1 of the 2nd edition of the Making of Champions (MoC) Grand Prix, taking place at the Sports Complex of Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos.
With the rain coming down just after midday, temperatures became chilly but Adegoke still clocked a Personal Best (PB) and Meet Record (MR) of 10.12s (+1.1m/s) to win the men’s 100m, claiming the title and MR from defending champion Emmanuel Arowolo.
The African Junior Champion got off to a flying start and ate up the stagger on his rivals after the halfway mark of the race, then powered further clear down the last 50m to come home a wide-margin winner over Alaba who clocked a PB of 10.35s for 2nd, and Emmanuel Arowolo with a Season’s Best (SB) of 10.38 for 3rd. Hammed Yusuf won the men’s B final.
Chukwuma was no less impressive in the women’s 100m final. The recently crowned African Junior Champion put up an impressive show for the cheering crowd and left African Championships 100m Bronze medallist, Joy Udo-Gabriel in her wake. She clocked an SB of 11.44 for the win, while Udo-Gabriel ran an SB of 11.52s for 2nd. Defending Champion and immediate past MR holder Mercy Ntia-Obong was 3rd in 11.59s.
Bukola Jasper clocked an SB of 11.79s to win Final B of women’s 100m. She beat Amarachukwu Obi who was 2nd in 11.89s, while Precious Okoronkwo settled for 3rd in 11.94s.
Elsewhere in the hurdles, Henry Okorie had his pound of flesh from David Olowookere, as the hurdler claimed victory in the men’s 400m Hurdles Final A, clocking a time of 52.69s. Gbenga Bakre was 2nd in 53.30s and Timothy Emoghene 3rd in 53.63s. Olowookere finished 4th in 53.87s.
In the women’s race, Joy Abu was a comfortable winner in Final A, as she pipped Kemi Francis to the win. She clocked 1:00:39. MoC’s Glory Nyeke won the Final B in 1:03:62.
The 400m heats also took place today, with Sikiru Adeyemi (47.07s) clocking the fastest time across all heats. Orukpe Eraiyokan, Shedrack Akpeki, Emmanuel Ojeli and Joseph Obasi were also winners in their respective heats.
Imaobong Nse Uko ran the fastest women’s 400m time on the day, posting 54.85s to win her heat, while MoC’s Blessing Oladoye won the first heat in 56.21s.
The final for both men and women’s 400m race comes up tomorrow.
The men’s 800m Final was a keenly contested affair. In the end, it was Hamid Sambo who couldn’t handle the kick of Ogunseye Adegoke heading into the home straight, with the latter taking the win in 1:57:79 (unofficial), while Sambo settled for second.
Aminat Alabi clawed her way back to take victory ahead of Charity Agofure in the women’s 800m with a time of 2:13.84. Agofure finished second in 2:14.12 and Hawawu Haruna placed third in 2:15.07.
Uju Anoliefo was a clear winner in the women’s Shot Put with a throw of 13.91m. Nkechi Chime was 2nd with 13.61m and Anabel Frank 3rd with a mark of 13.44m. Samuel Osadolor won the men’s category.
