African Games 100m Hurdles Champion Tobi Amusan has qualified for the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship after finishing 4th overall in her event at the NCAA Division I West Preliminary Round held at the University of Kansas during the weekend.
Amusan won Heat 1 in 13.02s, and was followed by Mobolaji Adeokun of Texas (13.30s) and Paige Knodle (13.38s). Topping the overall list was Illinois’ Pedrya Seymour who dominated the field with a time of 12.95s.
Amusan and Florence Uwakwe were only two of four athletes that qualified for the NCAAs for the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP). Uwakwe secured the final qualification slot in the women’s 400m after finishing 12th overall in 54.11s. Courtney Okolo topped the rankings with her time of 51.06s.
Claire Uke was another Nigerian athlete who qualified for the championship having finished 6th overall in the women’s Shot put with a mark of 16.90m. The Rice University Senior narrowly missed qualification for the Discus throw after placing 13th overall with a throw of 52.88m.
Joining the trio in qualifying for the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships slated to hold from June 8 to 11 in Oregon were compatriots Margaret Bamgbose, Kunle Fasasi and Nwanneka Okwelogu.
All three athletes competed in the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round held at the Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida from May 26 to 28.
Bamgbose won Heat 1 of the women’s 400m in 52.43s, which put her at 8th position overall in the preliminaries. She then lowered her time to 52.18s in the semis, finishing 7th overall for Notre Dame and securing her spot to Oregon. Miami University Junior Shamika Wimbley topped the line up with her time of 51.26s.
Fasasi placed 7th overall in the men’s 400m preliminaries, having won Heat 6 with a time of 46.08s. He clocked 46.09s in the semis and was lucky to secure the 11th qualification spot overall, with Michael Cherry of Louisiana State University (LSU) leading the standings with his time of 45.22s.
The quartermiler will also compete in the 4x400m in Oregon as the University of Florida (3:02.44) placed 2nd in the qualifiers behind LSU (3:02.26), while Clemson University finished 3rd overall in 3:03.86.
Okwelogu qualified for both the Shot put and Discus throws after winning the former with a Personal Best (PB) of 17.91m, and then finishing 5th overall in the latter with 54.75m.
