No. 10/No. 11 T&F Set for Big 12 Championships in Lubbock

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Plagued by hamstring injuries throughout most of his Baylor career, Jayson Baldridge has a much different feeling going into this year's Big 12 Outdoor Championship that begins Friday at the Fuller Track & Field Facility in Lubbock, Texas.
            With a limited load of races this spring, the fifth-year senior ranks second nationally in the 400-meter hurdles with a Big 12-leading time of 49.10 that he recorded last month at the Michael Johnson Invitational at Clyde Hart Stadium.
            "Knock on wood, I'm extremely grateful," Baldridge said. "It's been a long time coming."
            Seeing longtime Baylor quarter-miler coach Clyde Hart and volunteer coach Kenneth Wiethorn at the MJ Invitational was emotional for Baldridge, because "they've seen me go through the surgeries, go through tearing my hamstrings and then seeing me enjoy this time, my last season in college. It's been a blessing. I'm excited to be healthy and hopefully going to end the season the right way."
            The MJ was when Baldridge burst on the scene with that career=best time of 49.10, edging freshman teammate Nathan Ezekiel, who had the second-fastest collegiate time that day of 49.35.
            "I was surprised, to be honest with you," Baldridge said. "I've been here five long years, battling injury after injury every single year I've been in college. My last time running on the home track, in front of my mom, in front of my sister, it was a blessing to be able to do that."
            Texas A&M's Moitalel Mooke currently ranks first nationally with a 48.99 time that he ran the week after the MJ, followed by Baldridge (49.10) and Ezekiel (49.14). After running the fastest time in the prelims, Ezekiel finished second at Texas Relays behind Texas Tech's Malik Metivier (49.15), who ranks third in the Big 12 and fourth nationally.
            Baldridge said Ezekiel has "probably been the best training partner I've ever had in my life."
            "He has the strength, I have the foot speed, and together we're like a 1-2 punch when it comes to the 400 hurdles," Baldridge said. "Nathaniel is more of a raw talent. He's just very natural. Coming into hurdling with 10, 11 years, my form is probably a little better than his, but he has the strength and a little bit more speed than me."
            Baylor coach Michael Ford calls Baldridge "the seasoned vet"
            "I think we've done a better job with Jayson of kind of monitoring his races over the season," Ford said. "But, I think both of them push each other in practice. I think technically over the hurdles, Jayson is better. He's also a lot faster than he has been and healthier than he has been. On the other side of it, Nate's technique isn't as great over the hurdles, but I think he's faster over the hurdles in the race."
            Not only are Baldridge and Ezekiel threats to bring home a Big 12 title in the event, they could finish 1-2 at the NCAA Outdoor Championship that will be held next month at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Baylor's Bayano Kamani and Michael Smith pulled off that feat at the 2001 NCAA Championship.
            "It's hard to walk around the track at practice and not have our teammates come up and tell us, 'Hey, y'all can really do it,''' Baldridge said. "It's something we both want to do. We want to make sure we can put ourselves in position to make it happen. Hopefully, we don't get stuck in the same heat for prelims, like we usually do. But if not, we've just got to go out there and do our best hopefully God lets us do what we want to do."
            They are also part of a deep relay pool for the 4x400 relay that includes Trey Fields, Matthew Moorer, Dillon Bedell and Hasani Barr. Ezekiel ran a leg at the Baylor Invitational, where the Bears posted their season-best time of 3:02.42 that ranks eighth nationally, while Baldridge was the anchor leg when they finished third at Texas Relays behind Florida and A&M.
            "Most of the times I've gotten injured in the past, it's been running a relay," said Baldridge, who has also run on the 4x100 relay. "This year, we've been able to give a lot of guys an opportunity to focus more on our open events. Having eight to nine guys be able to split 46, 45 (seconds) on the 4x400 has been a blessing."
            The three-day meet begins Friday with the women's and men's 10,000 meters at 7 a.m. Friday's events also include the men's and women's javelin, the men's decathlon and women's heptathlon, with running prelims on Saturday and finals on Sunday.

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – Baylor track and field opens the 2022 postseason in the Big 12 Championships at the Fuller Track & Field Facility in Lubbock, Texas. Competition begins bright and early Friday morning with the women's 10,000 meters at 7 a.m., to be followed by the men.

"I actually feel really good about how the team is performing," said head coach Michael Ford. "Really, the last month or so, they've been coming along. I think we're getting some kids back healthy. I think right now, we're just trying to keep them mentally sharp for this meet. And also, the weather might be an issue with the heat, because it's been really hot the last few weeks here. So, I'm just making sure that they hydrate really well, but actually feeling really good going into the meet."

The men's squad enters the meet ranked No. 10 in the nation in USTFCCCA's ratings index. Led by No. 1 Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi in the javelin, the Baylor men hold four top-25 marks, including the men's 4x400-meter relay of Dillon Bedell, Matthew Moorer, Nathaniel Ezekiel and Howard Fields III.

The women fall right behind in the 11^th spot with 14 marks in the top-25. Mariah Ayers, Imaobong Uko, Kavia Francis and Ackera Nugent fill out the top-10 representatives in the green and gold.

The championships take place Friday morning through Sunday afternoon and will be streamed by Big12Now on ESPN+ with John Hurtz and Johanna Gretschel commentating. A detailed event schedule, live stream links and live results can all be found online.

For the latest news on the Baylor track and field team all season long, follow its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorTrack.

No. 10/No. 11 T&F Set for Big 12 Championships in Lubbock

Players Mentioned

Mariah Ayers

Jayson Baldridge

Hasani Barr

Dillon Bedell

Nathaniel Ezekiel

Howard Fields III

Kavia Francis

Matthew Moorer

Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi

Ackera Nugent

Imaobong Uko

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