Barbara Udoezi Nwaba (born January 18, 1989) is an American

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who represents the Santa Barbara Track Club. Nwaba is known for the

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek language, Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) (). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Anci ...

and

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

. She is the 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field champion in the heptathlon.

Early life and education

Nwaba was born January 18, 1989, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, to Nigerian parents Theodore & Blessing Nwaba. She is the oldest of 6 children. A 2007 graduate of University High School, Nwaba was the CIF Los Angeles City Section champion in the 300 meters hurdles in 2007 and a 4-time runner up and representative in the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

to the CIF California State Meet, but was eliminated in the preliminary rounds. Nwaba attended the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

on academic grounds, intending to study optometry, ultimately graduating in 2012 with a degree in sociology. After redshirting a season, she set the school records in the 100 meters hurdles, 400 meters hurdles (since surpassed), and was part of the record-setting 4x400 meters relay team (also since surpassed). In the process, she also ranked in the top ten in most of the heptathlon events. She finished her career as the champion of the Big West Conference heptathlon in 2012 en route to being named an All-American. Her brother, David Nwaba is a professional basketball player.

Career

Continuing with the multi-event-oriented Santa Barbara Track Club, Nwaba made steady improvements with coach Josh Priester, a former UCSB track and field coach. She was fifth at the 2012 Olympic Trials scoring 5986 points. Nwaba was an assistant coach at Santa Barbara High School in the 2012–13 school year. At the 2014 Outdoor Championships she finished second to Sharon Day-Monroe in the heptathlon by 163 points, scoring 6307 points. Barbara Nwaba is the 2015 American Champion, edging Sharon Day-Monroe by 42 points, scoring exactly 6500 points. She finished second to Day-Monroe at the 2015 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships in the pentathlon. Nwaba's total makes her the sixth-highest-scoring heptathlon performer in United States history. At the 2015 World Championships in Athletics, Nwaba misstepped the very first hurdle and then fell over the second. She continued in the competition despite the event costing her points. Ultimately, Nwaba completed the heptathlon and scored 5,315 points to place 27th. In the process Nwaba recorded new personal bests in the javelin and shot put. Barbara Nwaba is the 2016 American Pentathlon Champion and qualified to represent the USA at the 2016 World Indoor Championships in Athletics. Barbara Nwaba earned a bronze medal behind Brianne Theisen-Eaton and Alina Fyodorova in the Pentathlon at the 2016 World Indoor Championships scoring 4661 points. Barbara Nwaba scored 6494 points in the

Heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

to join Team USA teammates Heather Miller-Koch and Kendell Williams at the 2016 United States Olympic Trials. She represented USA at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

finishing 12th as the top American.

References

External links

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UC Santa Barbara biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nwaba, Barbara Living people 1989 births Track and field athletes from Los Angeles American heptathletes American female hurdlers American female high jumpers American sportspeople of Nigerian descent African-American track and field athletes University High School (Los Angeles) alumni UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's track and field athletes World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 21st-century American sportswomen 21st-century African-American sportswomen