A Champion in the Making, 100 Meters at a Time

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Adrianna Vison-Montgomery

Dimeji Adekanbi (second from right) runs the 100 meter at track practice.

He is ranked number one in the 100 meter, third in the 200 meter, and is the winner of the Men’s Track and Field Under Armour “Player of the Week” for week three.

Dimeji Adekanbi, second-year EvCC student, is taking the Northwest Athletic Conference by storm.

Ever since his freshman year of high school, Adekanbi has been showing off his speed. He was a star running back/kick returner for the football team by fall and a star sprinter for the track team by spring. During the football season of his senior year, in 2016, Adekanbi suffered a season-ending knee injury that would also keep him out for his track season.

Last season was Adekanbi’s first season back since his injury in 2016. When he was asked what makes him so good he responded, “I mean, I guess I’m just a good athlete, but I wasn’t really confident and I ran decent last year.” He added, “I just work hard and I don’t really let my knee get to me…”

He may have done well last year but this year he has been stellar. At the moment, he is running a 100 meter in 10.72 seconds, which is currently the best in the Northwest Athletic Conference(NWAC) and a 200 meter in 21.86 seconds which is third-best in NWAC.

One of Adekanbi’s main goals coming into this season was to get through the season without injury. He said, “I’m trying to run a 10.4 or 10.5, I’m trying to win NWAC. I’m just trying to not get any injuries and stay healthy.”

Off the track Adekanbi is a communications major. He said that he chose this major because “communication is a lot in this world” and “to get way better and see how everybody else communicates.”

As for what’s next after this year, Adekanbi is unsure and is weighing his options. “I don’t think I’m going to stay here. I might go to a 4-year in San Diego. I might hang up the boots.” Even though he is thinking about hanging up the boots, he is still optimistic about the chances that could be out there. “I think everything will work out because I am more secure and I’m like ‘maybe I should keep running track’ because I am more confident about it,” he said.

It’s just the beginning, I think I could run faster next year and get better.

— Dimeji Adekanbi

“It’s just the beginning, I think I could run faster next year and get better,” he said. He continued on about his injury, “When you have a crazy serious injury it takes time. I’m still not technically 100 percent.” He says he thinks he wants to go to a Division 2 (D2) school and run track. But as mentioned before he is keeping his options open.

Adekanbi has already qualified for NWAC but there are two more regular season meets prior to the NWAC. The first was on Saturday, April 27 at the Ralph Vernacchia Track and Field Meet hosted by Western Washington University. The second is on Saturday, May 4 at the Ken Shannon Invitational hosted by the University of Washington.

The Northwest Athletic Conference Championships will be played across two days. The first is on Monday, May 20 and the second on Tuesday, May 21. Both start at 10 a.m.