Okagbare takes double honours at NCAA track championships

Nigeria and University of Texas El Paso's (UTEP) Blessing Okagbare etched her name in the college record books on Saturday night when she claimed her second gold at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Okagbare became the first female in school history to win two titles in a single national meet when she sprinted to a time of 7.18secs to claim a photo-finish win in the 60 metres, equalling her personal best recorded at the Conference-USA Indoor Championships on February 27 in Houston.

She's also the first UTEP track athlete ever to win a national medal in both a field event and a running event.

An elated Okagbare, a seven-time All-American, said "I just kept doing what I was supposed to do. I kept pushing, kept pushing and I got it. I'm so happy, this made me so happy. I'm excited about this."

After Okagbare's 20 points tied his team for seventh in the team overall standings, UTEP Head Coach Bob Kitchens was estatic.

"She got off to a terrible start. She was behind. At the finish she dipped her shoulder. All the good ones know how to win. The close ones, they win them every time," he said.

"She just put herself at the top of UTEP's track and field history today. No woman has ever done that at the national meet and proud doesn't even come close to how we feel about this athlete."

"Okagbare is not only one of the greatest female athletes of all time to have competed at UTEP. But she ranks right up there with all the male athletes that have competed and excelled in a Miner uniform,"Kitchens added.

Earlier, on Friday night, Okagbare reached the ultimate feat in college athletics after taking the long jump crown with a record leap and then posted the fastest time, 7.24secs, in the 60 metres heats.

Okagbare improved from a distance of 6.48m in her first to a 6.84m on her second jump to set a new NCAA meet standard of 6.87m on her third. The previous NCAA indoor meet record of 6.81m was set by Auburn's Elva Goulbourne in 2002.

The Sapele, Nigeria, native becomes the 12th woman in UTEP history to win an indoor championship and the first since Svetlana Badrankova took the gold in the 800-meter run in 2001.

In terms of legacy, Okagbare feats now put her in the same pot as other UTEP's greats such as Nigeria's Olapade Adeniken and Obadele Thompson of the Barbados.