Having been starved of competitions following the dissolution of the immediate past board of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), and subsequent elections into the board, several athletes thronged the Yaba College of Technology to compete in a meet organized by the Lagos Chapter of the Track and Field Coaches Association of Nigeria (TAFCAN).
National athletes like Samson Nathaniel, Yinka Ajayi, National Record (NR) in the women’s Hammer throw Queen Obisesan, NR holder in the Decathlon Peter Moreno, Martins Ogierakhi and a host of others showed up at the competition in Lagos.
It was a close contest in the women’s 100m final which was won by Cecilia Francis in 11.1s, with Precious Okoronkwo (11.2s) and Blessing Ogundiran (11.3s) following.
Former African Juniors Silver medallist Victor Peka ran the overall fastest time of 10.24s to win Heat 2 of the men’s 100m. Nicholas Akinniyi clocked the second fastest time of 10.26s in Heat 1, while Jare Folarin won Heat 3 in 10.29s.
The men’s 200m had nine heats, but the fastest time was set by Nathaniel Samson who is the only male sprinter to have qualified for the forthcoming IAAF World Championships in London.
He returned a time of 20.8s to win Heat 5. The second fastest time was set by Noah Akwu (20.8s) in Heat 8, while Making of Champions’ (MoC) Jerry Jakpa won Heat 7 with 20.9s.
Yinka Ajayi set the fastest time in the women’s 200m, taking the victory in 23.5s in Heat 1 to finish ahead of Moyosore Badejo (24.8s) and Afam Goodness (25.0s). MoC’s Glory Nyenke won Heat 2 with 24.2s, and was followed by Precious Okoronkwo (24.5s).
Obashola Olaoluwa was the man to beat in Heat 1 of the 400m which he won in 51.9s; Olaide Ibrahim was 2nd in 52.2s and Olaleye Olarenwaju 3rd in 56.7s. Heat 2 was dominated by Akwu in 48.4s, with Kingsley Mokelu (51.9s) and Pase Oluwafemi (53.6s).
Segun Ogunkole (50.9s), Olowu Rilwan (51.2s) and Aso Idika (52.2s) were the top three finishers in Heat 3. Atanda Akindele stormed to victory in Heat 4 in 47.3; MoC’s Jerry Jakpa was 2nd in 49.4s and Abraham Olanipekun 3rd in 51.6s.
Charity Adegoke (56.6s) finished ahead of Moyosore Badejo (59.7s) and Ibidapo Johnson in Heat 1 of the women’s 400m race. Glory Nathaniel stunned the rest of her rivals in Heat 2 with her winning time of 52.2s. Goodness Afam (58.0s) and Abimbola Junaid (58.4s) placed 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Eze Anayo secured the victory in the men’s 800m in 1:51.5; Agboola Daniel (1:53.8) and Adebisi Sodiq (1:54.9) followed. It was a resounding victory for Aminat Alabi who clocked 2:12.7 in the women’s race. Olamide Oluwaseun (2:21.2) and MoC’s Blessing Obarierhu 2:22.2 placed 2nd and 3rd respectively.
The men’s 3000m final was dominated by Magnut Alams in 9:06.7, while Isa Hammed followed in 9:39.2. Lolo Lilly-West was 3rd with 9:41.4. Olamide Oluwaseun (10.32.4) outclassed Ann Seriki (11:52.2) and Olamide Olasupo (12:42.1) to win the women’s 3000m final.
Precious Okoronkwo upstaged her rivals to win the women’s Long Jump with a Season’s Best (SB) of 6.11m. Ruth Usoro was 2nd with a distance of 5.93m, while Omolayo Omoshola settled for 3rd with 5.57m.
Queen Obisesan made a return to the domestic scene with a victory in the women’s Hammer throw where she recorded an SB of 60.35m. Celia Inyang and Sophiat Omizi followed with 46.25m and 41.33m respectively.
Olawale Olatunji topped the men’s category with his mark of 47.14m. Monsuru Ganiyu was 2nd with 46.10m, and Godknows Ekanem 3rd with 42.61m.
NSCDC was the team to beat in Heat 1 of the men’s 4x100m race, clocking a time of 42.3 to finish ahead of A Class (43.0s) and Eaglesight (43.5s).
Blessing Ogundiran ran a fantastic anchor leg for Eaglesight who took the win in the women’s 4x100m final with a time of 48.0s. Tonero (49.3s) and Esteem Athletics Club (49.6s) followed.
The 4x400m mixed relay added a new flavor to the competition, with Osheku Striders taking the victory in a time of 3:33.5. MoC’s quartet of Glory Nyenke, Peter Edwin, Moyosore Badejo and Eseroghene Oguma finished 2nd in 3:36.2. Eaglesight was 3rd with 3:43.4.
*All the times used are hand-timed
