Baylor Track & Field’s Ezekiel Wins 400 Hurdle Bronze at NCAA Championship
AUSTIN, Texas – The men’s side of the Baylor track and field team wrapped up the 2023 season at UT’s Mike A. Myers Stadium on Friday evening in the national finals.
The Bears scored 15.33 points in the men’s tally, the most since 2014 when Trayvon Bromell won the 100-meter title with a wind-legal 9.97. It is also the first time since the 2014 and 2015 seasons that the team posted two-straight years in the top 20.
THE RUNDOWN
In the first of two competitions featuring a Baylor entry, the 400-meter hurdles featured Ezekiel, who finished fourth in the 2022 NCAA Championships. As the first back-to-back 400mH All-American since Michael Smith in the 2001 and 2002 seasons, the sophomore crossed the finish line in third place. Alabama’s Chris Robinson and Corde Long crossed 1-2 in the event, one-hundredth of a second before Ezekiel’s 48.54.
The men’s 4x400-meter relay closed the men’s NCAA season and saw Matthew Moorer, Hasani Barr, Ezekiel and Dillon Bedell cross the line sixth for All-American honors, the first for a men’s 4x400 since 2019. Their 3:01.63 was the fourth-fastest mark this season for the team that ran a three-flat three times.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Michael Ford
On Friday’s 4x400-meter relay…
“When I look back at it, the guys competed really hard today we were just off a little bit. When (the 4x400) is running against teams that ran 2:57 and 2:58, it is hard to battle that back. They competed well, though. The goal (for the 4x400) was to be All-Americans and they did that.”
On Nathaniel Ezekiel’s 4x400-meter hurdle race…
“(Nathaniel) cleaned up hurdle eight and looked great, but I think that threw him off a little bit on nine and 10. He ran a great race behind the impressive two guys from Alabama. He moved up from fourth last year, so we got a few points out of that.”
WHAT’S NEXT
The Baylor women compete with two entries in the national finals on Saturday night. The 4x100 opens the night at 8:02 p.m. and the 4x400 will close it and the 2023 season at 10:21. In the field, Koi Johnson competes in the triple jump at 8:10 p.m. ESPN2 will broadcast Saturday’s competition with former BU Big 12 Champion and All-American, Robert Griffin III, on the call.