Adaeze Eze wins second gold medal as race for team trophies heightens

Adaeze Eze was one of the standout performers on Day 3 of MTN CHAMPS Jos where she added a second gold medal, landing a Personal Best (PB) of 5.44m to win the Youth Girls Long Jump.

Eze who has been dubbed the queen of gold medals at MTN CHAMPS, had won the 100m title the day before and needed just three attempts to drive home the win in the Long Jump.

She passed on her remaining attempts and took to the track immediately, flying to a resounding win in her 200m race with a time of 25.58s (0.3), the fastest time across nine heats.

She would consolidate this effort by winning her semifinal in 25.94s into a 1.1m/s headwind and in pouring rain.

In the Youth Boys’ equivalent, Ruben Joshua from Foundation Science set a PB with a time of 23.62s in the heats and then bettered that with 23.20s in the semifinals, making him a favourite for the final.

Shinning performances

Onyagi Kenneth (Messiah College) and Chukwudi Henry (FGC Jos A) were not afar off, both turning in an identical 23.50s to win and place 2nd in their semifinals respectively.

In the Junior Girls category, Miracle Ezechukwu built a solid stance on the back of her gold-winning exploits on Day 2 in the 100m, easily winning her 200m heat and qualifying fastest for the final in 25.22s (0.2).

She and her teammate from Nigerian Tulip International School in Abuja, Chigozie Rosemary, are the overwhelming favourites for the 200m title as the latter clocked 25.38s to win the fifth heat.

Ojone Akubo-Adegbe who won Bronze in the 100m, will hope to be on the podium again when the final goes off tomorrow, after running a PB of 25.93s to win her heat as well.

Bernice Onoriode was the fastest in the Cadet Girls category, with a PB of 27.86s to win her heat and continuing to dominate in the semifinals with a time of 28.09 seconds. Sagir Buhari from Model Learning led the heats and semis in the boys’ race, posting a best time of 26.23s.

Temitope Olusesan was the fastest in the Senior women’s 200m, while Emmanuel Peters Aki led qualifiers on the men’s side.

In the Junior women’s 800m final, Mercy Audu paced herself really well, coming home to gold in a time of 2:24.25, a two-second victory over Nerat Sambo who took the Silver and Vivian Obadiah with Bronze.

Blessing Shambor Solomon bided her time in the Senior women’s race, timing her finish to perfection as she swung past Verity Umaru with 50 metres to go, winning in a time of 2:19.29. The latter settled for 2nd in 2:20.38, while Morshimwa Golmine placed 3rd.

Salisu Habibu was a dominant winner of the Senior men’s 800m, easily winning in 1:56.72. He was almost 10 seconds ahead of 2nd-place finisher Jan Danjuma who clocked 2:06.16, while Nenfort Mathias finished 3rd.

On the infield, Obotu John Daniel from Sunshine International won the Youth Boys High Jump, clearing a height of 1.70m. Bizumnen Blessed Peter from Government College Jos and Abdulrahman Usman from Model Learning were 2nd and 3rd respectively with clearances over 1.65m and 1.50m.

READ ALSO: MTN CHAMPS: Ezechukwu hits world u-20 qualification standard in Jos

Peace Sonita Lekwot won gold in the Junior women’s Long Jump final with a leap of 5.82m, winning by some distance over Ehi Blessing (Gombe Athletics Academy) and Blessing Ameh who took the Silver and Bronze medals.