SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Baylor track and field wrapped up the men's competition at the 2023 NCAA West Regional Preliminary Rounds on Friday night at Sacramento State's Hornet Field.
 
The Bears added six entries to the two tickets punched earlier this week to the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in Austin, Texas.
 
THE RUNDOWN
Baylor was the only school to qualify multiple runners in both the 200 and 400 meters on Friday night in the west region and join Florida as the only two schools to repeat in the events nationwide.
 
Matthew Moorer ran the fastest 400-meter dash between the Bears, finishing ninth for the second-fastest timed qualifying spot. His 45.73 was just ahead of Hasani Barr's 45.76 which won him third in Heat One for an automatic ticket. Dillon Bedell was just one place out from moving to Austin, crossing in 45.81 seconds.
 
In the 200, Demar Francis and Kamden Jackson ran identical times of 20.569 seconds to advance, with Francis qualifying by his time and Jackson qualifying after taking third in his heat.
 
Later in the 4x400-meter relay, Moorer, Bedell, Barr and Nathaniel Ezekiel all returned to the track to put up the fastest time of the day to advance to nationals. The 3:02.20 was also the fastest time between both regional competitions on Friday.  
 
Ezekiel won the first heat of the 400-meter hurdles by just under a second to punch his second-straight ticket to the semifinal championship round in Austin, Texas. His 49.09 was the third-best mark of the season for the sophomore and the third-best mark of the day in Sacramento.
 
Ryan Day's collegiate career came to a close in the 5,000 meters after the fifth-year grad student ran a 14:04.96 for 17^th in his heat and 34^th overall.
 
Jackson ran out to a 10.28-second race in the 100-meter quarterfinals to come in 19^th place and miss advancing by seven spots. In the 110-meter hurdles, Elijah Morris ran a 13.99-second race to finish 21^st and also close his season in the national quarterfinals.
 
The men's 4x100-meter relay of Jackson, De'montray Callis, Bedell and Moorer clocked in a 39.55-second race and did not advance, finishing 17^th.
 
QUOTABLE
Head coach Michael Ford
On Friday's competition…
"I am super proud of how the guys competed tonight. Kamden [Jackson] and Demar [Francis] did great in the 200 meters, and I am happy that Demar got his first-ever ticket to the NCAA Championships. Matthew [Moorer] and Hasani [Barr] ran and executed well enough to advance in the 400 meters. It was also another solid race from Nate [Ezekiel] to get him another trip to nationals. I think our 4x400 guys ran awesome and topped it off with the fastest time of the meet. We'll be back out tomorrow to advance our ladies to NCAAs."
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears continue the 2023 NCAA West Preliminary Rounds on Friday with the women's quarterfinal rounds. Action for BU begins at 3 p.m. CT.