ISU's Okoro matches twin sister with Relays win

DES MOINES - Ese Okoro and Ej Okoro were born six minutes apart and far, far away in Birmingham, England.

At this week's Drake Relays, the twin sisters won races less than two days apart - Ej in Thursday night's 6,400-meter relay, and Ese in Saturday's 400-meter hurdles.

“Twin thing,” said Ese Okoro, who finished second in the event last year. “Had to have a flag.”

Ej Okoro also notched a third-place finish in Saturday's distance medley relay final - and had the Cyclones in the lead when she handed off.

Ese Okoro finished the 400 hurdles in a personal-best time of 57.43.

She took second to then-teammate Kianna Elahi in last year's final.

"It was like a steppingstone to this year," Okoro said. "It's nice to be able to work upon what I did last year and bring it out this season."

Okoro will seek her first Big 12 championship in the event next weekend at Waco, Texas.

"It will give me a lot of confidence to know what I'm capable of and work on from there," Okoro said of Saturday's win.