MoC Academy Athletes storm into 2026 with 22 Medals at MTN CHAMPS Calabar

Athletes from the MoC Athletics Academy in Lagos made an emphatic start to their 2026 campaign, delivering a wave of standout performances at the MTN CHAMPS Athletics Classics in Calabar, Cross River State, held from March 15 to 17.

Competing in the opening leg of Season 4 of Nigeria’s premier schools’ athletics championship, the rising stars – many discovered through previous editions of MTN CHAMPS – showcased their rapid development by securing 22 medals (6 GOLD, 12 Silver, and 4 Bronze) across the Youth (U-17), Junior (U-20), and Senior categories – their highest medal haul at a single leg of CHAMPS.

From dominant sprint performances to impressive relay outings, the team demonstrated depth across all age groups, setting the tone for what promises to be an exciting season ahead.

Youth (U-17) Category

Team MTN’s youngest athletes made a powerful statement on the track, spearheaded by the sprint dominance of Emmanuel Akolo.

Akolo delivered a brilliant double, claiming GOLD in the Boys’ 100m and 200m. He first sped to victory in the 100m in 11.14s, finishing ahead of teammate Fervent Edet, who secured Silver in 11.45s. The duo repeated the feat in the 200m, with Akolo taking GOLD in 22.45s, while Edet followed in 23.48s for another Silver.

In the Youth Girls’ division, Team Beacon Power Services (Team BPS) athlete, Rebecca Enilolobo impressed with a sprint double of her own, claiming Silver medals in the 100m (12.20s) and 200m (25.26s), respectively.

Overall, the Youth squad secured 6 medals: 2 GOLD and 4 Silver, highlighting the depth of talent emerging from the Academy.

Junior (U-20) Category

The Junior (U20) category produced a dramatic finish between Team MTN and Cross River, locked in a close contest until the very end. Team MTN narrowly prevailed with 102 points, just ahead of Cross River’s 98. The Junior athletes delivered several standout moments, including a dominant 1–2 finish in the men’s 400m.

Michael Aniche stole the spotlight with a Personal Best (PB) of 49.15s to win GOLD, while teammate Prosper Ushie clocked a Season’s Best (SB) of 49.37s to secure Silver.

Aniche, who only recently joined the Academy, continued his strong outing in the 200m, finishing 2nd in 22.16s to add a Silver medal to his tally.

In the Junior Men’s 100m, MoC Athletics Academy had four finalists, with Alvin Onyeama narrowly missing out on GOLD by just 0.01s, settling for Silver in 10.86s, while Emmanuel Oyewale, Team BPS athlete Destiny Reuben, and Kehinde Seriki ran 11.14s, 11.30s, and 11.40s, respectively. Mighty Otunola reached the semifinals in his first competition representing Team MTN. Onyeama later returned in the 200m, finishing 4th.

Other athletes in the category also made strong contributions. In the Junior Women’s events, Lucy Nwankwo delivered an impressive performance. After running 12.22s in the heats, she improved to 11.98s in the final to win Bronze in the 100m. She also competed in the 200m, clocking 24.68s in the heats.

Her teammate Azeezat Muhammed-Raji showed steady improvement across rounds in the 100m, progressing from 12.31s in the heats to 12.22s in the semifinals, before finishing 5th in the final with 12.21s.

Meanwhile, Patience Joseph ran 58.18s (SB) to finish 4th in the Junior Women’s 400m, narrowly missing the podium, but bounced back to win the 200m Final B in 26.50s.

The Junior athletes also shone in the 4x100m relay, where Team MTN B (Emmanuel Oyewale, Prosper Ushie, Michael Aniche, and Fervent Edet) stormed to GOLD in 43.32s, finishing ahead of Team MTN A (Emmanuel Akolo, Destiny Reuben, Kehinde Seriki, and Alvin Onyeama), who secured Silver in 43.62s.

Overall, the Junior team won 7 medals: 2 GOLD, 4 Silver and a Bronze medal.

Senior Category

In the senior ranks, Toheebat Jimoh delivered one of the standout performances of the meet. She opened her season by winning GOLD in the Women’s 400m with an SB of 54.73s, before returning to claim another GOLD in the 200m with a PB of 24.51s.

Her teammate Miracle Donald finished 2nd in both events, earning Silver medals with times of 54.78s (SB) in the 400m and 24.59s in the 200m.

On the men’s side, Ezekiel Asuquo claimed Silver in the 400m, clocking 47.02s (SB) after improving from 47.59s in the heats. He also picked up Bronze in the 200m in 21.89s.

Teammate Benjamin Magaji recorded an SB of 48.79s in the 400m and was a finalist in both the 400m and 200m events. Stephen Adejumo, making his senior debut, ran 48.18s (SB) to finish 5th in the 400m final.

In the 100m, Showers Ushie impressed in the early rounds, running 10.83s (SB) in the heats and 10.85s in the semifinals to qualify for the final, but unfortunately missed the showdown due to injury.

The Senior team raked in 9 medals: 2 GOLD, 4 Silver and 3 Bronze medals, finishing 2nd to Team Calabar with 72 points to the latter’s 98 points.

Relay Highlights

Team MTN athletes also featured prominently in the relays at MTN CHAMPS Calabar. Representing Team Nigeria B in the Women’s 4x400m relay, Team MTN’s trio of Miracle Donald, Toheebat Jimoh and Lucy Nwankwo combined with Success Onu to finish 3rd (3:40.50s) in a race where Team A ran 3:31.14 to qualify for the World Relays.

In the Men’s 4x400m relay, Wisdom Alexander ran alongside Team MTN’s Ezekiel Asuquo, Stephen Adejumo, and Benjamin Magaji as Team Nigeria B, placing 2nd in 3:11.78s.

The race was won by Team Nigeria A, which had MoC athlete and two-time Olympian Emmanuel Ojeli, Gafar Badmus, Samson Nathaniel and Victor Sampson in action. The quartet, which sought qualification for the forthcoming World Relays in Botswana, crossed the line in 3:04.59, falling just under two seconds short of the required mark.

The mixed 4x400m relay team of Asuquo, Donald, Adejumo, and Jimoh also secured 3rd place, clocking 3:26.35s behind Team Nigeria A and B.