Push came to shove very early in Maureen Ajoku’s life. In 2007, the year she graduated from high school in San Jose and began her college education at UCSB, she lost both her parents her father, Julius Chiedozie Ajoku, died suddenly of kidney failure in May; her mother, Nnenna Chinere Ajoku, succumbed to Nike Free Run a lengthy bout with cancer in December.
“She was super strong,” Ajoku said of her mother, a registered nurse. “She’d take herself to chemo and pick up my sister and myself at school. My dad was an engineer. He was very ambitious.” Julius and Nnenna, natives of Nigeria, met each other in America, where they had come to pursue higher education. “They wanted to provide a platform for us to grow and have a good life,” Maureen said.
Like her parents, Maureen has an African middle name. Hers is Ijeoma, which means “good journey.” She has had to forge her path as a solo traveler, and in the past year, she has gone farther than she ever expected, all the way to the citadels of winter sports in Europe. Olympic bobsled team.
She came to UCSB as a jumper and took up sprinting, hurdling, and throwing to compete in the heptathlon. The individuality of the sport taught her to fend for herself without the physical support of her parents. “I’m really an independent person,” Ajoku said. “I’m goal focused. I really related to track. That’s who I am, an independent athlete.”
While majoring in sociology, she made her mark in Gaucho athletics with a record tying long jump of 19’4 3/4″. In the weight room, she demonstrated raw strength that prompted Josh Priester, then the associate director of UCSB track and field, to suggest she look into bobsledding. “I didn’t understand; like, what’s bobsled?” she said. “I took it as a joke. It was really random. But he kept pressing it and pressing it. At the end of it all, Ajoku was selected as the No. brakeman and bound for World Cup events in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Russia.
In the two person women’s bobsled, the brakeman provides the propulsion at the start and jumps in behind the pilot, or driver, who steers the sled as it hurtles down a slick, twisting chute of ice. “I have to be super still and hold tight,” Ajoku said. “Any movement on my part can send the sled in the wrong direction. The feeling is Nike Roshe Run like going down a mountain in a garbage can. I’m praying to God to bring us down safely. I’m so sucked into myself: Be at one with God, be calm, and breathe. Once we cross the finish line, the pilot will tap on my helmet and yell, ‘Brake.’ When I finished my first run, I had the biggest smile on my face. I was happy that I came out alive.”
A big step in Ajoku’s bobsled education was her first crash. “It was crazy,” she said. “We hit a curve, we flipped over, I let go of the sled, we kicked out, and I was just sliding down the track by myself. I was going full speed, and I was thinking, ‘When am I going to stop?’ It felt like forever. I had to have slid about 100 meters.” She learned the value of her helmet and the Kevlar burn vest strapped around her torso.
Ajoku’s experience in the World Cup consisted of practice runs at every site, including the state of the art facility at Sochi, Russia, host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics. With all that behind her, she returned to Santa Barbara in the spring to work out on the track at Westmont College and do strength training at Prevail Conditioning on Haley Street. driver at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. bobsledders a month ago at Lake Placid. National Push Championships. There was a fierce competition among 15 female brakemen, each of them scored for how fast they could push the sled. They were separated by tenths of a second. Ajoku placed ninth. Olympians in track and field, hurdler Lolo Jones and sprinter Lauryn Williams, finished in the top five.
“It was pretty rough for me,” Ajoku said Monday after returning to Lake Placid. “I could have been more aggressive. I left a lot of room for improvement. I still have the national team trials in October. at Sochi. Whatever the outcome, Ajoku intends to keep developing her talent. “I’m the youngest one out there,” said the 23 year old. “I’m grateful I have such an opportunity. I might Nike Free Run do another year as a brakeman or become a pilot. It’s a big responsibility. I think I can do it. I want to be at the top.” And the fastest one to the bottom. and Germany, at Chula Vista. Jennifer Carey, who set four sprint records at UCSB, is competing in the IAAF World Championships in Moscow this weekend. Carey is the Irish national champion in the women’s 400 meters.
STILL GOT GAME: “I notice I’ve lost a step or two,” Bill Bertka said last week. It’s to be expected. Santa Barbara’s basketball Buddha celebrates his 86th birthday on August 8. He was the oldest player to win a silver medal in the three on three basketball tournament at the Summer National Senior Games in Cleveland. Bertka joined forces with Nemo Nearman, his teammate on the Santa Maria Golden Dukes in AAU basketball 60 years ago, on West Virginia’s entry in the 80 and over division. Bertka said he concentrated on defense, which he described as “grab and hold.” His team, nicknamed Almost Heaven, made it to the final against a Wisconsin squad. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak.
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