Nigerian Sprinters Are NCAA Leaders in Women’s & Men’s 60m

Four Nigerian-born athletes lead the 2025 season leaderboard in the NCAA’s top two divisions for the 60-meter dash. The sprints were on fire this indoor season with personal bests galore. As the season nears its close, Nigerian sprinters dominate the Women’s and Men’s 60m toplists for NCAA Division I and Division II.

Joy Udo-Gabriel, a sophomore at Missouri Southern State University, soared to the top of the NCAA Division II Women’s 60m charts on Friday with a personal best of 7.24 seconds. She clocked this time while winning the Arkansas Qualifier in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Tima Godbless, a sophomore at LSU, is the fastest female student-athlete in Division I. She ran 7.08 seconds on February 14th at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas. This new personal best placed her #3 all-time in LSU’s storied history in the Women’s 60m dash and #4 on Nigeria’s all-time list in the event.

Kayinsola Ajayi, a sophomore at Auburn University, achieved a personal best on the same day as Godbless, running 6.51 seconds in the Men’s 60m at the Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson, South Carolina. This performance is the second fastest in the school’s history and is tied for the 4th fastest time in Nigerian history. He leads a very competitive pool of Division I male sprinters.

Joshua Caleb, a sophomore at the University of Alaska-Anchorage, opened his season as the man to beat in the Men’s 60m in the Division II ranks. He ran 6.57 seconds at the Silver & Blue Invitational in Reno, Nevada on January 10th. This performance was the African U20 record in the Men’s 60m and remains a Top 5 fastest time in NCAA Division II history.

Other fast times from the season include Baylor University senior Ezekiel Nathaniel, who sits atop the NCAA Division I Men’s 400m dash leaderboard. He shattered the Nigerian and African record last weekend with a personal best of 44.92 seconds. Additionally, Auburn freshman Israel Okon ran a personal best of 6.52 seconds in the Men’s 60m at the Tiger Paw Invitational. This time broke the previous African U20 record set by Joshua Caleb in January, is tied for the 7th fastest time in Nigerian history, and is the 3rd fastest time in NCAA Division I this year.

All these athletes and many others will look to finish their indoor seasons strong with Conference Championships starting next week and the NCAA National Championships on March 14th-15th.