By Carter Melrose
During his first year at Iowa in 2015, Emmanuel Ogwo had dreams of being a dual-sport athlete. He gave it a go — he was a sprinter on the track team and a wide receiver on the Iowa football team. However, that dream started to feel less realistic when he was tabbed with a redshirt for his first year in both track and football.
“Seeing those freshman guys playing while having to redshirt really got to me,” Ogwo said.
For Ogwo, growing up in Texas, football and track were intertwined. If you participated in one, you participated in the other.
Ogwo grew up in Mesquite, Texas, and went to Horn High School. There he stumbled upon his first love — football.
“I remember senior year Mesquite Horn versus Harlem Park. Harlem was like 91-0 at home,” Ogwo said. “They were coming to our house; we talked a lot of trash that week. We won.”
Ogwo was later recruited in 2014 by both Iowa football head coach Kirk Ferentz and Hawkeye Director of Track and Field Joey Woody to compete for Iowa.
“Iowa was really the only school that told me they wanted me to do both,” Ogwo said.
After redshirting in both track and football in 2015, for Ogwo, it was finally time to make a decision. He chose to cut out football, his first love, and pursue track.
“That was definitely one of the toughest decisions of my life, putting down football,” Ogwo said. “I’m sad right now just talking about it.”
The decision started to finally pay off during Day 2 of the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Feb. 11. Ogwo, along with sophomores Collin Hofacker, DeJuan Frye, and Mar’yea Harris, broke a school record in the 4×400 relay.
“I knew Emmanuel was going to go out there do his thing and set us up in a good spot,” Harris said.
“It was something we were set up to do, but I also think we can run a lot faster,” Woody said.
As long as it is going to be track over football for Ogwo, he wants to break records. His main goal for this season and beyond is to beat the Iowa school record for his staple event, the outdoor 400 meters.
“[That’s] one of our toughest records, one of our oldest records,” Woody said. “I believe he has the tools to do it.”
Ogwo will finish his indoor track season on Saturday in Iowa City.
“This year, we decided to race him indoor a little more to get him going. He has been out of track for a year and a half,” Woody said. “[We’re] just getting his body ready. Running the 400 is not like running the 60. He is starting to get his race rhythm down.”
Ogwo had two loves in his life — track and football. He had to choose one, and so far it looks like he may have made the right choice.
“He is definitely a track guy,” Woody said. “He loves to compete and go head-to-head. It doesn’t matter the event, he just wants to go out there and compete against the best. He is a national-caliber guy, he is a guy that expects to be at the NCAA Championships.”