ANCHOR AWAY
5/30/2025 11:55:00 PM | Track & Field
Ezekiel runs 43.7 split to help Baylor 4x400 relay earn qualifying spot
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Baylor track and field coach Michael Ford worries about putting too much on Nathaniel Ezekiel's shoulders.
But the Nigerian Olympian's shoulders seem capable of handling whatever you want to put on them.
Getting the baton with Baylor's 4x400-meter relay team in sixth place, Ezekiel ran a sizzling 43.7-second anchor leg and passed runners from Wichita State, Grand Canyon and Arkansas-Pine Bluff to help the Bears run a season-best time of 3:05.33 and grab the third automatic qualifying time from the second heat in Friday's final event at the NCAA West Prelims.
"One of the things I told them was to just keep Nate close," said Ford, who also had three individuals on the men's side earn spots in the NCAA Outdoor Championships June 11-14 in Eugene, Ore. "The lead opened up a little more than I thought it would. And the one thing I don't want Nate to do – I know he's a competitor – is to go out really hard and get hurt.
"I'm always concerned how many times you need to do that. You never really have a break, because you've always got to come from way back."
After a strong opening leg from freshman Tyler Honeyman had Baylor in fourth, freshman Abbas Ali and junior Aren Spencer struggled at the end of the middle legs and fell back to sixth before Ezekiel's mind-blowing anchor leg that made up nearly three seconds on the three runners ahead of him.
"No one has an anchor leg like him," Ford said. "If you're running a 45, you've got to combat a 43. But he ran well, he ran smart. And he said, 'Coach, I knew I couldn't catch the first team, but I knew if I was in striking distance of the second team and the third team, I will be fine.' He split 43.7, which is amazing."
Ford said the Bears can drop another second or two at the NCAA Championships, "and they're going to need to . . . because it's probably going to take 3:02 to make the final." Including heat two winner Arizona State (3:02.87), the top six teams all ran below 3:03 in Thursday's quarterfinals, led by Arkansas State at 3:02.13.
"I think they're also finally gelling together," Ford said. "Early in the season, Nate wasn't running as much with the team, because he was either resting or getting ready for the long part of the season. I think they're slowly figuring it out."
That was only part of Ezekiel's day, as the world leader in the 400-meter hurdles (47.89) won his quarterfinal heat in 49.03 seconds and advanced with the third-fastest time overall.
"The race wasn't as clean," Ford said. We were happy with the first half of the race, like the first five hurdles. He took a lot more steps, I think, on hurdle six. But the object of it was to make sure you get the big Q (qualifying spot) and advance to the next round. And he did that."
Demario Prince, also part of Baylor's hurdles crew, "didn't push out of the blocks as well" and was well off his school-record time of 13.18 in the 110-meter hurdles. But he finished third in his heat and qualified ninth overall with a time of 13.39.
"Overall, I thought he ran a good race," Ford said. "We just need to clean up some things heading into Eugene."
Senior De'montray Callis, who qualified for last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay, was seeded higher in the 100 meters coming into the West Prelims. But he made it through the opening round with a season-best time of 20.67 and then ran a career-best, wind-legal time of 20.32 to finish third in his heat and seventh overall.
"Based off the seeding I saw for his heat, I thought he had a really good shot to make it," Ford said of Callis, who was the runner-up in the 100 at the Big 12 Championships with a PR time of 10.17. "He's just slowly putting things together, and he's running well at the right time."
Baylor returned three runners off a 4x100 relay team that placed 11th at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships. But the Bears' group of Austen Diggs, Laurenz Colbert, Ricquan Graham and Callis, who placed third in the Big 12 in their season debut, finished sixth in their heat and 15th overall with a season-best time of 39.62.
"We pretty much got everybody in that I thought would get in," Ford said.
Wrapping up the four-day meet, the Baylor women will have a strong contingent going on Saturday with freshman Iyanna Webb and sophomore Bella Copeland in the triple jump, the 4x100 and 4x400 relays and Alexis Brown in the 100, Tiriah Kelley in the 200 and Calisha Taylor in the 400 hurdles.
Baylor Bear Insider
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Baylor track and field coach Michael Ford worries about putting too much on Nathaniel Ezekiel's shoulders.
But the Nigerian Olympian's shoulders seem capable of handling whatever you want to put on them.
Getting the baton with Baylor's 4x400-meter relay team in sixth place, Ezekiel ran a sizzling 43.7-second anchor leg and passed runners from Wichita State, Grand Canyon and Arkansas-Pine Bluff to help the Bears run a season-best time of 3:05.33 and grab the third automatic qualifying time from the second heat in Friday's final event at the NCAA West Prelims.
"One of the things I told them was to just keep Nate close," said Ford, who also had three individuals on the men's side earn spots in the NCAA Outdoor Championships June 11-14 in Eugene, Ore. "The lead opened up a little more than I thought it would. And the one thing I don't want Nate to do – I know he's a competitor – is to go out really hard and get hurt.
"I'm always concerned how many times you need to do that. You never really have a break, because you've always got to come from way back."
After a strong opening leg from freshman Tyler Honeyman had Baylor in fourth, freshman Abbas Ali and junior Aren Spencer struggled at the end of the middle legs and fell back to sixth before Ezekiel's mind-blowing anchor leg that made up nearly three seconds on the three runners ahead of him.
"No one has an anchor leg like him," Ford said. "If you're running a 45, you've got to combat a 43. But he ran well, he ran smart. And he said, 'Coach, I knew I couldn't catch the first team, but I knew if I was in striking distance of the second team and the third team, I will be fine.' He split 43.7, which is amazing."
Ford said the Bears can drop another second or two at the NCAA Championships, "and they're going to need to . . . because it's probably going to take 3:02 to make the final." Including heat two winner Arizona State (3:02.87), the top six teams all ran below 3:03 in Thursday's quarterfinals, led by Arkansas State at 3:02.13.
"I think they're also finally gelling together," Ford said. "Early in the season, Nate wasn't running as much with the team, because he was either resting or getting ready for the long part of the season. I think they're slowly figuring it out."
That was only part of Ezekiel's day, as the world leader in the 400-meter hurdles (47.89) won his quarterfinal heat in 49.03 seconds and advanced with the third-fastest time overall.
"The race wasn't as clean," Ford said. We were happy with the first half of the race, like the first five hurdles. He took a lot more steps, I think, on hurdle six. But the object of it was to make sure you get the big Q (qualifying spot) and advance to the next round. And he did that."
Demario Prince, also part of Baylor's hurdles crew, "didn't push out of the blocks as well" and was well off his school-record time of 13.18 in the 110-meter hurdles. But he finished third in his heat and qualified ninth overall with a time of 13.39.
"Overall, I thought he ran a good race," Ford said. "We just need to clean up some things heading into Eugene."
Senior De'montray Callis, who qualified for last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay, was seeded higher in the 100 meters coming into the West Prelims. But he made it through the opening round with a season-best time of 20.67 and then ran a career-best, wind-legal time of 20.32 to finish third in his heat and seventh overall.
"Based off the seeding I saw for his heat, I thought he had a really good shot to make it," Ford said of Callis, who was the runner-up in the 100 at the Big 12 Championships with a PR time of 10.17. "He's just slowly putting things together, and he's running well at the right time."
Baylor returned three runners off a 4x100 relay team that placed 11th at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships. But the Bears' group of Austen Diggs, Laurenz Colbert, Ricquan Graham and Callis, who placed third in the Big 12 in their season debut, finished sixth in their heat and 15th overall with a season-best time of 39.62.
"We pretty much got everybody in that I thought would get in," Ford said.
Wrapping up the four-day meet, the Baylor women will have a strong contingent going on Saturday with freshman Iyanna Webb and sophomore Bella Copeland in the triple jump, the 4x100 and 4x400 relays and Alexis Brown in the 100, Tiriah Kelley in the 200 and Calisha Taylor in the 400 hurdles.
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