BIRMINGHAM, England – Udodi Onwuzurike, still only 19, completed his freshman season by winning bronze in the men's 4x100-meter relay at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday.
A day after finishing sixth in the 200 final, Onwuzurike led off Nigeria's team that placed third in 38.81. Onwuzurike, Favour Ashe, Alaba Akintola and Raymond Ekevwo became Nigeria's first medal winners in that event since 1990.
Two Stanford alums also competed in finals Sunday, with Mackenzie Little '19 capturing second in the women's javelin and Steven Solomon '16 placing seventh in the men's 400. Both competed for Australia.
Australia's Ky Robinson, a rising junior at Stanford, placed sixth in the men's 10,000 on Wednesday in only his second track race at that distance. Robinson ran a personal best 27:44.33, strengthening his hold on the No. 4 spot on Stanford's all-time performers' list.
Mackenzie Little '19 was second in the javelin to teammate Kelsey-Lee Barber.
Robinson held eighth or ninth for much of the race and moved into sixth for the duration with four laps to go. Robinson, 20, had a busy summer, running the 5,000 at the World Championships on July 21 and placing eighth in his heat. He was the NCAA 5,000 indoor runner-up in 2022, placed fourth at the same distance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and was second in the Pac-12 steeplechase – an event in which he holds the Stanford record.
Robinson is only 3 ½ weeks from reporting to Stanford for cross country, but likely will be brought along slowly. Stanford opens its season Sept. 3 at the USF Invitational at Golden Gate Park before embarking to Bend, Oregon, for training.
Onwuzurike ran three rounds of the 200 and the final of the 4x100 in Birmingham, after competing in both event and the 100 at the World Championships in Eugene. In all, Onwuzurike raced 39 times since opening his season on Jan. 15 indoors in Seattle. Still, the total is low for a sprinter competing that late into the year.
Onwuzurike finished the 200 final in 20.76 after winning his semifinal in 20.59. His relay closed the book on Stanford's 2022 season. In just one year, Onwuzurike established himself as the fastest in Stanford history, breaking school records in the 100 and 200 outdoors and 60 indoors. And, while placing third in the NCAA 200, he became the first male from Stanford to reach a 100 or 200 final since 1963.
Steven Solomon '13 takes seventh in the 400.
For Little, this summer has been a revelation, as she has reached an even higher level than her eighth-place Olympic finish last year. Little was fifth at the World Championships with a PB of 207-5 (63.22m) last month. On Sunday, she eclipsed that with a throw of 210-10 (64.27m), second only to reigning world champion and teammate Kelsey-Lee Barber 211-4 (64.43m).
Just as she did at the World Championships, Little took the lead on the first throw, and improved in the fifth round. Barber trailed throughout the competition, only to overtake Little in the sixth and final round.
Solomon, a veteran of six global outdoor senior national teams and in his third Commonwealth Games, ran 46.22 in the final. His seventh matched his top placing in a major international competition, also taking seventh in the commonwealth in 2018.