BOSTON – Baylor track and field opened the 2024 NCAA DI Indoor Track and Field National Championship on Friday afternoon at the TRACK at new balance. Closing the day for the Bears, Alexis Brown jumped to her first All-America honor in the long jump after Nathaniel Ezekiel qualified to Saturday's 400-meter men's final.
 
THE RUNDOWN
Brown pocked the first All-America honor of her career on Friday evening, taking fifth in the long jump competition. With another jump over 21 feet, Brown landed a 21-3¼ attempt that marks as the second-best in program history. The event was won by fellow Big 12 competitor from Iowa State, Sydney Willits.
 
The first athlete competing in the national championship for BU, junior Ezekiel claimed the very last qualifying spot to the national finals in a preliminary round that took the top-8 runners across four heights. Starting in the back of the pack, Ezekiel turned it on in the final 100 meters to overtake ASU's Justin Robinson and finish right with Texas Tech's Shaemar Uter. His 46.14 was good enough for a lane in Saturday afternoon's final, scheduled for 3:20 p.m. CT.
 
In the men's 60-meter hurdles that was delayed by a mechanical malfunction with the banked track, Demario Prince, the program record holder and lone freshman in the high hurdles, was the first man out of Saturday's final with a 7.71-second race. His ninth-place mark was just behind Houston's De'Vion Wilson who crossed in 7.70 seconds.
 
Molly Haywood and Alencia Lentz finished back-to-back again in the national championship pole vault competition, taking ninth and 10^th, respectively. Haywood tied her personal best 14-5¼ to end just one spot away from the NCAA podium, and Lentz was one bar behind 14-1¼.
 
Finishing 15^th and 16^th, Demar Francis and Laurenz Colbert finished back-to-back in the men's 200-meter preliminaries. Entering the race as the ninth and 12^th seed, respectively, the two leaders of BU's No. 1 200-meter event squad closed their indoor seasons on Friday.
 
QUOTABLE
Head coach Michael Ford
On Day One of the NCAA Championships…
"I am definitely proud of Nate (Ezekiel) for making his second 400 final. I look forward to watching him compete on Saturday. The 200 guys just didn't execute like we talked about and planned, but we will get back and get ready for the outdoor season. I am really proud of the two pole vaulters. They weren't top eight, but Molly [Haywood] tied a PR and Alencia [Lentz] had a great year being the Big 12 champion. I am looking forward to watching them compete outdoors. Alexis [Brown] has done an awesome job all year, so it's great to see it all come together like that."
 
UP NEXT
Ezekiel closes out the indoor season with the final day of the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday afternoon at the TRACK and new balance. His 400-meter final is scheduled to run at 3:20 p.m. CT on ESPN+.