Hall of Fame
A 4-time Olympian, Innocent Egbunike was the catalyst in turning Azusa Pacific track & field into a national power. He was a 15-time NAIA All-American, a 10-time NAIA individual champion, and 3 times (1983-84-85) he was named the the Most Outstanding Performer of the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championship Meet. As a 1983 sophomore, he swept the 100- and 200-meter NAIA titles and led Azusa Pacific to its first of 8 straight NAIA national championships. He went on to become the first athlete ever to win 4 NAIA 100-meter titles. He also captured 3 NAIA 200-meter crowns, losing only his 1982 freshman year to eventual NFL Hall of Famer Darrell Green of Texas A&I. Egbunike set the NAIA record in the 100 (10.15) in 1984 and established the NAIA record in the 200 in 1985 (20.57). Prior to coming to APU, he represented his home country Nigeria in the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. Then in the midst of his collegiate career, he turned from a short sprinter to a 400-meter specialist, and at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, he advanced to the finals on the 400 meters, finishing seventh. At those same Olympics, he anchored Nigeria to a third-place finish and a bronze medal in the 4x400-meter relay, garnering Nigeria's first-ever Olympic medal in track & field. In 1988, at the Olympic Summer Games in Seoul, Korea, he again advanced to the Olympic finals in the 400, finishing fifth with a 44.72. In 1992, he capped his Olympic career at the summer games in Barcelona, qualifying in the 400 meters. Egbunike was the world's No. 1-ranked 400-meter sprinter in 1987, clocking a personal-best of 44.17, which at the time was the fastest 400 ever by a non-American. He was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1991. Considered a national treasure in Nigeria, he has a street named after him in Nigeria.
