The trio of Nigerian college sprinters Favour Ashe, Godson Brume and Alaba Akintola all booked their places in the men’s 100m event of the 2023 NCAA outdoor track and field championships on Friday.

Ashe who schools at Auburn University ran 9.92sec to win the first heat in the quarterfinals with a tailwind of 4.4m/s ahead of LSU’s Brandon Hicklin (9.96sec), while Robert Gregory of the University of Florida was third in 9.97secs.

In the second heat, Brume overcame a poor start to win in a Season’s Best (SB) time of 9.94secs, while Sterling Warner-Savage of Louisville was second in 10.07secs. Brume’s compatriot, Akintola of Middle Tennessee State University, completed the top three, finishing in a time of 10.08secs to book his place in the championships.

Akintola again went ahead to qualify in the men’s 200m event, placing third in the third heat behind Gregory and Kennedy Lightner of University of Kentucky.

Ashe will be hoping to better his last year’s record, where he won the silver in the men’s 100m event, while Brume and Akintola will also be hoping for a podium finish.

The 2023 NCAA outdoor track and field championships is billed for Austin, Texas between June 7 and 10.