Baylor Track &Field’s Prosper Nnamdi Wins Third-Straight Big 12 Javelin Championship
WACO, Texas – Baylor track and field opened up the 2024 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championship on its home track on Thursday in a rain-soaked afternoon that led to a near four-hour delay.
On the first day of competition, Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi won his third-straight conference championship with a new meet record, the women’s hammer throw duo made history and five other runners qualified to the final heats on Saturday.
THE RUNDOWN
Junior Prosper Nnamdi not only set a collegiate season best in the javelin throw, but also set the Big 12 Championship record with a distance of 262-6. He won the Bears 10 points with his third-straight conference title and the seventh in program history.
Nathaniel Ezekiel had the fastest time of the day in the 400-meter hurdle preliminary round and was the only athlete to break sub-50 seconds. The junior, and two-time All-Conference performer in the event, ran a 49.49 for an automatic qualifying spot in Heat One.
For the first time in program history, the women’s hammer throw podium featured two Bears with top-eight finishes. Victoria Adu threw a distance of 184-4 for sixth place, while Makayla Long placed eighth with a throw of 181-2. Long just narrowly missed her personal best of 181-4 that she made in the last home meet for the Bears, the Michael Johnson Invitational.
Baylor senior Demar Francis won his heat placing third overall in the men’s 200 meters, running a 20.66-second time qualifying for finals, his best mark since a PB in the Big 12 Indoor Championship finals. Laurenz Colbert also qualified for finals in the eighth-overall spot at 20.85, his fastest 200-meter race since Big 12 Indoors. De’montray Callis, Kamden Jackson and Ricquan Graham also competed, finishing 13th, 19th and 24, respectively.
Both Bears in the women’s 1,500 meters did not make it out of Thursday’s prelims, as Ellie Hodge clocked a 4:24.51 for 12th and Jackie Addy ran a 4:36.82 for 19th.
Closing the day, Ryan Hodge was the 11th-place finisher in the men’s 10,000 meters. After 25 laps around the 400-meter green oval, the sixth-year senior tabbed a 3:33.02.
WHAT’S NEXT
Day Two of the meet continues on Friday morning, with the rained-out women’s javelin throw at 9:15 a.m. The combined events pick back up at 11 a.m., followed by the women’s pole vault and long jump at 4 p.m. while the 110-meter hurdles begin the running events at 5. Coverage of the meet continues Friday online from Big 12 Now on ESPN+.