ORJI LEADS MIT TO 11TH PLACE FINISH AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Wins NCAA Meet Male Field Athlete of the Meet
March 13, 2004
Uzoma Orji continued his season long domination of the shot put at the NCAA Division III Championship being held at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater with a personal best of 59-6 1/4, winning the event by over three feet. He backed it up with another personal best in the weight throw, throwing the ball 60-3 3/4 to secure 5th place and a total of 14 points for MIT. His performances as well as his infectious preparations earned him the championship male field athlete of the meet.
His meet began on Friday with the weight throw. Orji, scheduled to throw first, opened up with a 58-0 1/2 effort. This was a great start and had the MIT coaches and supporters looking forward to a great weekend. However, the next two throwers both threw personal bests and Orji was already in third place. Fortunately, things calmed down a bit and no one else threw further. In the second flight, two others passed Orji, putting him in fifth going into the finals. On his first throw of the finals Orji blasted his PR, moving into fourth position. On his fifth throw, another thrower passed Orji to move him back to fifth. Despite another great effort, this one 58-6, Orji could not move up.
Later on Friday, Brian Anderson took to the track in the first of his two trials, the 1500. Anderson has been suffering from an injured glute/hamstring and has been unable to train properly for the past five weeks. Nevertheless, Anderson felt ready and appeared confident. Halfway through the race, coming through in a pedestrian 2:09 at the 800, Anderson took the lead and picked up the pace to come through the 1200 in 3:11. In the final 200 he was unable to respond, showing the lack of training, finishing in 3:59.48, missing the finals by one position.
In the 800 trials Anderson was angry at not making the 1500 final and was determined to help MIT score some points. This time, after the first 400 Anderson appeared to want to take the lead, but seemed indecisive, prefering to stay in lane two on the shoulder of the leader. In the final 200 Anderson again could not respond, finishing last in his heat with a time of 1:56.78. After last year's third place finish Anderson was obviously disappointed but it was obvious he gave his best and just did not have it that day.
On Saturday, Orji took to the circle once again. Entering the shot put competition he was ranked first by four inches over two other throwers. One of those throwers was one of three previous national champions in the event. Orji certainly had his work cut out for himself. He opened up with a safety throw of 54-8. On this second throw he blasted a personal best of 58-3. On his final throw of the first flight, he fouled, but had secured first place in the flight by well over three feet. In the second flight, the defending national champion could only manage a 55-5 effort even though that was the best in the flight. In the finals, Orji brought a whole new level of energy to the event. Yelling at himself and jumping in the air to get psyched up, the crowd responded and began to cheer loudly for him. He did not disappoint, blasting his 59-6 1/4 much to the delight of the crowd. Orji's mark was a new facility record and missed the national championship record by a mere seven centimeters. From that point on it was Orji's show. The crowd was silent for every other thrower except Orji. On his final two efforts, the entire crowd standing behind the shot area and most of those in the stands began a rhythmic clap in support of Orji's yelling and fired up efforts prior to his throw. The area was rocking with noise, completely drowning out the announcer and support in the neighboring triple jump. Orji went for the 60' barrier and may have had it on his fifth throw if not for a narrow foul. On his final throw, he threw another blast, this one 58-9 1/4 to bring an end to a great competition even though the runner-up threw 56-5 1/4.