Udodi Onwuzurike storms to 9.92s to punch World and NCAA Championships tickets

Udodi Onwuzurike

NCAA Udodi Onwuzurike storms to 9.92s to punch World and NCAA Championships tickets

Funmilayo Fameso 13:34 - 27.05.2023

Udodi Onwuzurike has put himself in the conversation of gunning for NCAA sprint titles after sub-10s clocking at NCAA West Preliminaries.

Stanford University's Udodi Onwuzurike has joined an elite league of sub-10s runners after clocking a blistering Personal Best (PB) of 9.92s (1.4) to win his quarterfinals heat at the NCAA West Preliminaries.

He defeated Texas Tech's NCAA indoor champion Terrence Jones (9.93s) and Oregon's Micah Williams (10.04s), who edged him out for the PAC-12 Championships 100m title.

By doing this, Onwuzurike not only punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships in Austin, but secured his spot at the World Championships in Budapest as his time surpassed the automatic qualifying time of 10.00s.

Udodi Onwuzurike steps up to an elite league in Nigeria athletics history
Udodi Onwuzurike smashed his PB with a sub-10s clocking

He also qualified in the 200m winning his qualifying heat in a time of 20.07s, and helped his school's 4x100m relay squad break a 58-year record, running 39.56s to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

It makes it two events he has qualified for the World Championships after doing the same in the 200m, making him the first Nigerian male sprinter to achieve the feat.

The 20-year-old has become the third-fastest Nigerian sprinter in history in the sprints. In the 100m, he's behind veteran Olusoji Fasuba, Divine Oduduru and joint with Seun Ogunkoya, while the 200m has him behind Oduduru and veteran Francis Obikwelu.

With his limitless potential, Onwuzurike has put himself in the conversations of winning the NCAA sprint titles and rising to the top of Nigeria's fastest sprinter in history.

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