It might not have gone exactly the way they would have hoped for, but Arco Group Sponsored duo of Jerry Jakpa and Joy Udo Gabriel left the Port Harcourt Golden League with something to cheer about having secured 2nd place finishes in two finals.
For Udo Gabriel who was making her first competitive individual appearance of the season, she comfortably won her 100m heat and qualified for the final where she finished 2nd running a Season’s Best (SB) of 11.83s.
Udo Gabriel tried to match Mercy Ntia Obong’s pace, but it was the latter who steered clear to win in 11.79s and Rosemary Chukwuma placing 3rd with a time of 11.93s.
In the men’s 100m on Day 1, Jakpa jogged through the lines to win heat 2 with a time of 10.4s (hand-timing). There was no 100m final, and no doubt Jakpa would have been one of the contenders to win.
Jakpa, an alumnus of the prestigious Government College Ughelli (GCU), was narrowly beaten in the 200m final on Day 2, finishing 2nd with a time of 21.61s behind Emmanuel Arowolo who won in 21.53s, with Chukwudi Olisakwe 3rd in 21.68s.
Emmanuel Ifeanyi Ojeli was another Making of Champions’ (MoC) athlete who had a good outing to savour, racing against a more experienced Ogho-Oghene Egwero in heat 7 but making sure he gave him a chase and coming through to finish in 2nd place. Egwero won the race in 21.70s with Ojeli 2nd clocking a new Personal Best (PB) of 21.81s and Victor Ahkalu 3rd in 22.30s.
Apparently exhausted from that race, Ojeli came back some hours later to compete in the 400m final. In a race where most of the finalists were fresher, Ojeli tried his best but finished 6th with a time of 47.79s.
Competing in his first ever Golden League meet, 16-year old Favour Ekpekpe raced to a time of 22.30s to finish 3rd in heat 2 of the 200m. It would have been a PB for Ekpekpe but for the wind reading of (+2.6). Idjesa Uruemu won the race in 22.00s and Oke Evuarherhe was 2nd in 22.21s.
In the other finals that MoC athletes competed in, Moyo Badejo finished 6th in the women’s 200m in 24.97s, and Ifunanya Muoghalu who was leading the standings prior to the Port Harcourt GL, placing 6th in the women’s 400m with a time of 56.10s.
On day 1, Glory Nyenke who was making her first appearance of the season, finished 2nd in heat 3 of the women’s with a time of 55.85s behind Patience Okon George who won the race in 52.38s.
The quartet of Udo Gabriel, Badejo, Nyenke and Muoghalu ran the 4x100m relay for Team MoC, finishing 3rd in 48.83s behind Customs who won in 47.09s and Civil Defence 2nd in 47.61s
