So far during the 2005 track season, Oregon junior hurdler A.K. Ikwuakor has given the Ducks nothing but solid performances and better-than-respectable times.
But ask any casual Tracktown, USA fan who A.K. Ikwuakor is and “Who?” is the response you will get.
Running behind marquee hurdlers such as former Duck Brandon Holliday and current All-American Eric Mitchum tends to dwarf teammates, and Ikwuakor is no exception.
“Brandon was an awesome guy,” Ikwuakor said. “I knew Eric would be focusing on the
110 hurdles and his 400 duties weren’t going to be too much (this year), so I knew that Eric could be the 110 guy and I could be the 400 guy and develop from that. I didn’t feel like I met my potential from last year and I knew I had to step it up this year.”
But by the time Ikwuakor’s career is over, the native of Arvada, Colo., will have the chance to surpass Holliday and still, people might ask:
“Who?”
Disappointment at Colorado
A.K. (Akobundu) Ikwuakor transferred to Eugene after his freshman season at Colorado.
Ikwuakor started in Boulder along with his twin brother and sister, Ebbe and O.B., as part of a package deal for the Colorado track and field team. By the end of the year, Ikwuakor’s coach had quit and he was butting heads with the new coach.
Ikwuakor conferred with his former high school coach about transferring. Heavily considered schools included Nebraska, Long Beach State, Arizona State and Oregon. Oregon won out thanks in large part to recruiting by former Oregon sprints coach Steve Silvey. According to Ikwuakor, the coaches from the other schools spoke only of Ikwuakor’s presence on the track, not off it.
Silvey was different. He was persistent, personal, and in the end, persuaded Ikwuakor to come
to Eugene.
Silvey moves on
Just after Ikwuakor started at Oregon, Silvey moved on. And for the second time in two years, Ikwuakor was faced with dealing with a new coach — current sprints coach Dan Steele.
“It was kind of discouraging,”
Ikwuakor said. “So I wasn’t going to listen to coach Steele (when he got here).”
That, combined with running behind Holliday and Mitchum, led to average results for the first half of his sophomore season. Eventually, Ikwuakor formed a friendship with Mitchum.
“The first person I met when I was here was Eric,” Ikwuakor said. “It’s just a bond between all the sprint guys. We are a good clique of friends right now and that has brought me along.”
Ikwuakor in part credits his friendship with Mitchum and the rest of the sprint squad as the reason for his rise in the 2005 season.
“Me and Eric are cool,”
Ikwuakor said. “We have the
relationship of twin brothers
because we are the same age, (we compete in) the same events, and it’s like, ‘I’m going to beat you,
I’m better than you,’ and it’s actually the whole sprint squad. We have a relationship of making fun of each other, but it’s all the love of the game.”
2005: A new season
The self-professed slightly arrogant Ikwuakor used his friendships and a spot on the 4×400-meter relay team this season as springboard into 2005.
So far this season, Ikwuakor has improved his personal best in the 400-hurdles to 50.99, .26 behind Holliday’s seventh-place mark on the all-time Oregon list. Ikwuakor also broke 14 seconds in the 110 for the first time in his career last week at the Drake Relays, a meet in which he competed in a total of three events — 110 and 400 hurdles and the 4×400 relay.
“He’s been the MVP of the team this year because he’s made such improvements,” Mitchum said. “Those PR’s in the hurdles have been dropping like crazy, so he’s the MVP to me.”
Because in the end, Ikwuakor sees his large workload this season simply as a privilege.
“If you think of it as a job, you are going to hate it,” Ikwuakor said. “Because when it comes
50 meters left, down that straight-away, it’s about heart. And if
I don’t love the race or believe
in the race, I would just quit at
that point.”

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