It was a busy
weekend for Nigerian athletes based in the US, with three of the country’s female quartermilers competing at the 2017 Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Indiana on the 3rd and 4th of February.
Regina George raced in the women’s 600m on Day 1 of the meet, finishing with the overall fastest time of 1:30.09, her winning time in Heat 7, as Rachel Weber followed in 1:30.16. Briana McCall was 3rd overall in 1:32.58.
Day 2 saw George, Margaret Bamgbose and Jennifer Edobi compete in the women’s 400m. Incidentally, both George and Bamgbose ran in the same heat. Former Nigerian Champion George started strong, dominating for the better part of the race, before losing steam towards the end.
And so teammate Bamgbose went on to win Heat 13 in a Season’s Best (SB) and second overall fastest time of 53.36s. George placed 4th in the heat with a time of 54.58s, which ranked 11th in the overall standings. Tennessee Tech’s NaAsha Robinson dominated the women’s 400m with the overall fastest time of 53.20s.
It was a memorable outing for Edobi who finished 2nd behind Robinson in Heat 12, and was inspired to shatter her former Personal Best (Indoor) of 54.00s set in 2014, replacing it with a superior mark of 53.94s, which put her in 4th position in the overall standings.
Meanwhile the pair of Olivia Ekpone and Jennifer Madu were in action at the Charlie Thomas Invitational held at College Station, Texas at the weekend. Both sprinters competed in the 60m.
Worthy of mention is the fact that the duo has the same alma mater – Texas A&M, and both have a PB of 7.25s in the 60m, set on the same day, but in different heats at the 2014 SEC Indoor Championships held at College Station.
However, this past Saturday wasn’t a day for PBs for both Nigerians as Phyllis Francis, representing Nike, stormed to the title in a time of 7.30s. Ekpone and Madu followed in 2nd and 3rd respectively in SBs of 7.36s and 7.38s. Ekpone clocked a time of 7.39s in Houston about a week ago.
