The University of Texas El Paso’s (UTEP) women’s 200m Indoor Record made a transition from one Nigerian to another, as Tobi Amusan set a new Personal Best (PB) and School Record of 23.38s to finish 2nd in the 200m on Friday at the New Mexico Classic held at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
Amusan’s new time erased her former PB of 23.56s set at the same venue on January 20th. It also eclipsed Blessing Okagbare’s former School Record of 23.52s set in 2010. The race was won by Louisiana State University’s (LSU) Kortnei Johnson in 23.30s, while her teammate Rachel Misher placed 3rd with a time of 23.41s. Florence Uwakwe was 7th in 23.92s.
Incidentally, the African Games Champion did not compete in her trademark event, the hurdles as though
she already had a premonition that she was set to make history in the 200m. Not done with setting PBs, she went on to win the Long Jump with a PB of 6.15m, finishing ahead of Texas Tech’s Viershanie Latham and Kaira Simmons, who both recorded jumps of 6.09m.
Amusan wasn’t the only Nigerian with a PB at the New Mexico Classic. Paul Dedewo raced to victory in the men’s 400m, setting a new lifetime best (Indoor) of 46.33s, and was followed by LSU’s Lamar Bruton (46.58s) and Ricky Morgan (46.70s).
Ada Benjamin completed the double by winning the women’s event in a time of 54.72s, while Erica Bougard and Allison Reaser placed 2nd and 3rd respectively, clocking 55.12s and 55.23s. Rebecca Oshinbanjo finished 10th overall in the 60m Hurdles in a PB of 8.69s.
