Can Nigerians anticipate having three representatives in the 60m final at the NCAA Indoor Championships?
The trio of Favour Ashe, Alaba Akintola, and Godson Brume will be gunning to make history this weekend, as the first time Nigeria will have three representatives in a men's 60m final at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
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Ashe has been drawn in heat 1 against a respectable field that includes Florida State University’s Ismael Kone, who has the fastest time of 6.51s and defeated the Nigerian earlier in the season.
However, since his victory, Kone has not been consistent with running close to or bettering this time, whereas Ashe has clocked faster times in each of his races.
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If the Auburn University sophomore runs or equals his season’s best of 6.52s, then he will easily take one of the two automatic qualifying spots.
Meanwhile, Akintola (6.59s) and Brume (6.58s) are in heat 2, which has faster runners, especially the collegiate leader Terrence Jones (6.47s) from Texas Tech University.
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Asides from Jones, they have to overcome the challenges posed by Lawrence Johnson (6.54s), Zachaeus Beard (6.56s), Sterling Warner-Savage (6.55s), and P.J Austin (6.58s).
Only the top two from each heat have automatic final spots, plus the next fastest four advance to the final.
Ashe, Akintola, and Brume have to produce their best performances this season to have a chance of making history for Nigeria.
Like their female counterparts, Nigerian athletics enthusiasts can look forward to having six finalists in an NCAA 60m final for the first time in history.
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