T&F Men’s Season Closes with Two All-America Honors

T&F Men’s Season Closes with Two All-America Honors

6/10/2022 10:46:00 PM | Track & Field

Ezekiel, 4x100 finish top-5 in national finals

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            EUGENE, Ore. – With top-five finishes in its only two events on Friday, the Baylor men's track & field team added five All-America accolades and tied for 18^th at the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field.
            This is Baylor's best finish since 2015, when Trayvon Bromell scored all 14 points in a tie for 13^th, and its 29^th top-20 finish all-time. Florida won the team title with 54 points, followed by Texas (38), Tennessee (34), Florida State (33), Georgia (32) and LSU (31), with the Bears tied for 18^th with 13 points.
            "Going into the season, the goal for the men was to get anywhere from top 15 to top 20," first-year head coach Michael Ford said. "But, I'm really proud of this group. I thought if we hit perfectly, probably top 10, but definitely top 15."
            Ranked No. 1 in his event, freshman Nathaniel Ezekiel was edged by Oklahoma's Isaiah Levingston and finished fourth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 49.24. LSU's Sean Burrell defended his title in a season-best time of 48.70, with Texas Tech's Malik Metivier placing second in 49.13.
            "Definitely didn't have a clean race," Ford said of Ezekiel, who beat Levingston and Metivier at last month's Big 12 Championships. "I know he had a little trouble on hurdle three . . . he got back on and looked like he buckled on one. It was not a great technical race. I thought he competed really hard, but I wouldn't say it was his sharpest race of the year."
            After slipping into the final with the eighth-fastest time, Baylor's 4x100 relay team of Laurenz Colbert, Isaiah Cunningham, Kamden Jackson and De'montray Callis finished fifth with a time of 38.99 seconds. Beating Big 12 foes Texas and TCU for the first time this season, the BU quartet recorded the program's first top-8 finish in 10 years.
            "I'm proud of all the guys," Ford said. "The big goal for us this year, we've been working to make it to nationals, because we haven't been to nationals in the 4x100 in a while. We probably could have had a better handoff on the first exchange. I thought the second and last exchange were awesome. That was probably the best we've looked all year."
            Baylor did it with a group that included only one individual qualifier. Cunningham was sixth in his heat and 18^th overall in the 100 meters with a 10.27 time.
            "I think that's a little deceiving," Ford said, "because the two freshmen, Callis and Colbert, have both run really fast this year. And then Kam Jackson, he's just been banged-up all year, but he was the one who made nationals last year in the 100 and 200. I thought we had the legs to run fast this year. We basically had a slow start, but I think it was actually a blessing in disguise, because we didn't run a lot of 4x1s early in the season. Now, everybody's healthy."
            Scoring the 13 points in just three events, Baylor also got four points from a fifth-place finish by freshman Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi in Wednesday's javelin throw. Of the team's six All-Americans, four of them are freshmen. Another freshman, Johnny Brackins, didn't make the long jump finals on Wednesday, but was seventh at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
            "I was looking at (Ezekiel) down there, and I was like, 'Man, this kid is only 18, 19 years old,''' Ford said. "But, he had a really great season, and he's still got the World Championships and Nigerian Trials coming up."
            In Saturday's final day of the NCAA Championships, the Baylor women will have the 4x400 relay going along with Kavia Francis in the 400, Aaliyah Miller in the 800 and Koi Johnson in the triple jump.
            "I'm just praying the rain holds off," Ford said.
            ESPN will televise the final day of the meet, beginning with the 4x100 relay at 4:30 p.m. CDT.

EUGENE, Ore. – The Baylor track and field men's squad wrapped up the 2022 outdoor season on Friday, finishing the competition in 18^th place, the highest ranking since 2015. The 4x100 quartet and Nathaniel Ezekiel recorded All-America honors on the last day of the men's competition.

That 4x100 squad comprised of Laurenz Colbert, Isaiah Cunningham, Kamden Jackson and De'montray Callis equaled their semifinal time of 38.99 seconds to secure the fifth-place finish in the event and the All-America honors. It was the first time since 2012 that a Baylor men's 4x100 relay group finished top-8 nationally. Additionally, with their fifth-place spot, the quartet finished first among Big 12 foes Texas and TCU for the first time this season.

"They just ran really well," said head coach Michael Ford. "I think the last, I guess, three races on the 4x1, the guys have been pulling together. The big goal for us this year, we've been working to make it to nationals, because we haven't been to nationals in the 4x1 in a while; and also to place. That was probably the best they've looked all year."

Nathaniel Ezekiel completed his first semester with the Bears with the title of All-American next to his name. The true freshman from Nigeria clocked a 49.24-second race in the event to finish in fourth place.

"I was looking at him down there, and I was like, 'Man, this kid is only 18, 19 years old,'" said Ford. "But, he had a really great season. He's still got the World Championships and Nigerian Trials coming up, too."

The women return Kavia Francis (400), Aaliyah Miller (800), Koi Johnson (triple jump) and the 4x400-meter relay for the final day of the NCAA Championships on Saturday, beginning at 4:32 p.m. CT.

Coverage of Saturday's competition will be broadcast on ESPN. A schedule of broadcast information broken down by event can be found here.

Live results can be followed throughout the meet online, and tickets can be purchased either at the stadium or online.

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

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