It was a historic and triumphant outing for members of the MoC Athletics Club at the just-concluded MTN CHAMPS Continental Relays Lagos, as they delivered a powerful statement of dominance in the Junior (U20) category, racking up victories, Personal Bests (PBs), and championship titles across multiple events.
Following their strong showing in Benin, where they amassed eight medals (2 GOLD, 3 SILVER, 3 BRONZE), Team MTN returned to Lagos with renewed momentum and clinched 14 medals — 6 GOLD and 7 Silver and a Bronze medal — as well as the overall Junior team title, finishing with a commanding 125 points. Their nearest competitors, No Sweat and Osheku Striders, trailed with 69 points each.
Team MTN left their mark on the sprint events, fielding at least two finalists in every sprint category except the Men’s 100m. Their victories included Junior Women’s 100m and 400m, Junior Men’s 400m, Youth Girls’ 400m and Junior Men’s and Women’s 4x100m relays.
A standout highlight was their podium sweep in the Junior Women’s 100m, led by Lucy Nwankwo, who clocked a lifetime best of 11.99s. She was followed by Mercy Ogbonna (12.16s) and Azeezat Muhammed-Raji (12.18s) — all setting new PBs in the final.
Nwankwo went on to claim Silver in the 200m, clocking another PB of 24.64s, while teammates Muhammed-Raji (25.30s) and Ogbonna (25.69s) placed 4th and 6th respectively.
Ezekiel Asuquo delivered one of the most shocking upsets of the meet in the Junior Men’s 400m final, clocking a PB of 47.26s to defeat season-favourite Gafar Badmus. He added a Silver in the 200m with 21.62s, following his PB of 21.57s in the heats, which was the overall fastest time.
In the Junior Women’s 400m, Toheebat Jimoh claimed GOLD with a powerful surge, finishing in 55.7h. Teammate Patience Joseph placed 5th in 58.2h.
Chizoba Onyemauwa triumphed in the Youth Girls’ 400m, upgrading her Bronze from Benin to GOLD with a PB of 58.40s.
Alvin Onyeama impressed in both the 100m and 200m, improving his PB to 10.62s in the 100m semis and finishing 5th in both finals.
Emmanuel Obi placed 5th in the Junior Men’s 200m, while Fervent Edet placed 7th in the Youth Boys’ 100m final.
Team MTN’s speed extended to the relays, where they won both the Junior Men’s (42.70s) and Junior Women’s (48.07s) 4x100m relays. They also secured Silver in the Senior Mixed 4x400m with a time of 3:31.09.
In the Senior category, Benjamin Magaji matched his PB of 48.04s to win his 400m heat and claim Silver in the final. Miracle Uwem Donald set a new PB of 54.59s in the 400m, also earning Silver after winning her heat, adding another Silver medal in the 200m as well.
In the men’s 100m, Showers Ushie entered the sub-11 club, winning his heat in 10.79s before posting 10.89s in the semifinals.
Team Continental did enough to take the Senior team trophy, with the individual performances of heavyweights Favour Ashe and Emmanuel Ojeli who won the men’s 100m and 200m titles respectively. They were also part of the teams that won both the mixed 4x100m and 4x400m relays, with Ashe joining forces with Iyanuoluwa Bada, Janet Adesiyan and Chidera Ezeakor crossing the line 1st in the mixed 4x100m, and Ojeli partnering with Samson Nathaniel, Patience Okon-George and Miracle Uwem Donald to win GOLD for Team Continental in the mixed 4x400m.
Team Continental claimed the trophy in the Senior category with 128 points ahead of Eaglesight (93 points) and Agroterra (68 points).
