With the collegiate season officially over, the spotlight has shifted to elite competitions, which had several Nigerian athletes in attendance, with hopes of achieving entry standards for the forthcoming World Championships billed to hold in Budapest in August.
Three-time 100m National Champion, Seye Ogunlewe came so close to achieving the World Championships benchmark of 10.00s in the 100m after blazing to a Personal Best (PB) of 10.04s to place 2nd to Eugene Amo Dadzie (9.93s) at the Horst Mandl Memorial in Granz. Ogunlewe went on to win the 200m in another PB of 20.63s to end his campaign in Austria on an impressive note.
While competing at the CALTAF Track Classic in Alberta, Usheoritse Itsekiri won the men’s 100m with a time of 10.11s well ahead of 2nd place finisher, Scott Joseph (10.41s). He later ran a Season’s Best (SB) of 20.59s in the 200m.
At the Maryland meet, Edose Ibadin won the men’s 800m with a time of 1:46.79 while Rilwan Alowonle opened his season with a 4th-place finish at the ATL Open in 51.34s in the men’s 400m hurdles.
Fresh off her Silver medal exploits at the NCAA Championships, Ashley Anumba recorded yet another PB in the women’s Discus as she launched her implement to a strong 61.56m ahead of Elena Bruckner (58.88m) and Veronica Fraley (58.16m) at the Iron Woods Throw Classic in Idaho. Anumba’s throw makes it the third time she will be throwing over 60m this season.
Still, at the same meeting, Sade Olatoye placed 4th in the women’s Hammer Throw with a toss of 64.33m.
