WACO, Texas – Baylor track & field finished day one of its final home meet of the year, the Michael Johnson Invitational. Four Bears took gold, with Nathaniel Ezekiel leading the Bears on the track, while Alexis Brown, Molly Haywood and Igor Olaru all finished first in the field.
 
THE RUNDOWN
Beginning the day with the hammer throw, Olaru outthrew the field with a 12-foot margin, claiming first place in his final throw of the day, with a mark of 210-10. This was Olaru's second title in his freshman outdoor season.
 
Moving to women's long jump, Brown capitalized on her final home meet of her collegiate career. The reigning NCAA Indoor Champion jumped to 22-8.50 (2.4 m/s), marking a meet and facility record.
 
Making his 2025 outdoor debut, Ezekiel flew out of the gate with an NCAA-leading mark at 48.99. The senior led the field by a full second and now ranks top ten worldwide.
 
In an exciting women's pole vault final, Haywood battled for her third consecutive gold medal. Haywood, Tenly Kuhn and Oklahoma's Olivia Lueking duked it out for the top mark of the night. Haywood clinched the title with her 14-10.00 vault, edging out the other two. Kuhn finished tied for 2nd with a new PR at 14-08.00. Also in women's pole vault, Lillianna Ifft earned a new PR at 13-06.25.
 
In the women's 200m, Tiriah Kelly ran a season-best 22.72, enough to bring home 2^nd in a stacked field among 16 heats. Calisha Taylor also took home silver, but in the women's 400m hurdle. There, she ran a 56.44, a new PR. In the same event, Jasmine Gryne also set a new PR, running a 57.24 and finishing 4th.
 
Jackie Addy led the way for distance runners in the women's 1500m, edging out Oklahoma's Kiera Snyder for third place with a season-best 4:32.89. In the men's 1500m, Aiden Ramshaw and Jack Sterrett achieved new PRs at 3:53.06 and 3:55.41, respectively. Ramshaw notched 4th place and Sterrett finished 8th.
 
MIKE ON THE MIC
"Good first day of MJ. We had a great crowd and great performances. Definitely was proud of Nate for earning a NCAA lead in the 400-hurdles. He did an awesome job, especially with how the wind was blowing. On the ladies, Calisha Taylor and Jasmine Gryne both PR'd in the 400-hurdles and got some good national marks. I thought Tiriah ran well in the 200 with a second finish in a loaded field and a couple of NCAA champions in that race. Of course, Alexis had a great series today. Molly and Tenly did what they normally do. The distance group showed up and did a great job. I know that Coach Barnett will be happy with his group. We started out with Igor winning the hammer earlier today. So overall, good first day with good weather and a good crowd for MJ."
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will continue competition tomorrow with field events starting at 11:00 a.m. CT and track events beginning at 12:30 p.m. CT. Baylor will recognize its 25 seniors tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. CT.