Last May .003 Ezekiel Elliot edged out Dapo Akinmoladun by .003 seconds in the 110m Hurdles. "Ezekiel Elliot is a phenomenal athlete, and races featuring both of us get very competitive." Akinmoladun got his revenge in the 300m hurdles winning by .02 seconds. Coming into this spring, the Grandview senior is poised not only to be the best hurdler in the state, but one of the best in the nation. This past weekend Akinmoladun lit up the University of Missouri Indoor track by running a time of 7.83 in the 60m Hurdles. This time gave him the second best mark in the nation. The scary thing is, he's only getting started. "The training I have been doing has not been very rigorous. General strength circuits of 20-30 meter sprints in the hallways in my school has been the bulk of my training." To go along with his victory in the 60m Hurdles, Dapo finished third in the 60m Dash with a time of 7.07.
Heading into the track season, Grandview looks to defend their state title as they beat McCluer South-Berkeley by 9 points to win the Class 3 Boys team title. "Another team victory is always at the top of my list, and we know that need a lot of work in order to defend that championship." To do so Akinmoladun is up to taking on new challenges. "I plan on participating in some newer events, so I just want to maximize my potential in every one."
Dapo has committed to run for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln next year. The future Cornhusker says the reasons he decided to go to Nebraska were "they have the greatest amount of academic All-American's, as well they have a strong hurdle coach and core." He chose Nebraska over the University of Illinois, Syracuse, New Mexico, University of Kansas, and Missouri.