By Gio Gennero | Sports Writer
Baylor track and field found new medals, personal bests and program records at the 95th Clyde Littleheart Texas Relays. The Bears ran at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin during the three-day meet that came to a close on Saturday.
Graduate students and long distance runners Ryan Hodge and Ryan Day both finished in the top three of their respective events. Hodge ran a 30:56.46 in the men’s 10k to finish in second place. Hodge led the entire final lap up until the final steps, where he fell to second by five-hundredths of a second.
In the women’s 5k, senior distance runner Sophia Leidner grabbed a new personal best with a 17:24.57 and finished 11th. At another track on Friday night, graduate student distance runner Annamaria Kostarellis broke a program record in the women’s 10k by nearly a minute in her event debut. Kostarellis ran a 32.13.77.
Sophomore hurdler Nathaniel Ezekiel debuted in the men’s 400m hurdle race. In his heat for the preliminary rounds, he took first place, and was one of three athletes to post a sub 50-second time with a 49.24. He took home the silver medal in the finals after running a 49.59.
In the javelin event, sophomore thrower Prosper Nnamdi came in second place after a 262-5 throw on his third attempt. Senior jumper Koi Johnson also launched her way into a silver medal, climbing 20-0¼ in the women’s pole vault in the B section.
On the final day of the meet, the relay squads ran with a vengeance and both the men and women made history. The women’s 4×200 consisted of junior sprinter Bria Bullard, senior sprinter Mariah Ayers, junior sprinter Kavia Francis and sophomore sprinter Imaobong Uko, and they ran the fastest time in program history with a 1:37.77 for a second place finish.
Meanwhile, the men’s 4×400 team, which was compiled of graduate student sprinter Matthew Moorer, senior sprinter Kamden Jackson, junior sprinter Dillon Bedell and Ezekiel, clocked in at a 3:00.61, which was good enough to notch the fourth-best time of the school’s top-10 4×4 times.
Next up for the Bears, they travel for the North Texas Classic Saturday, hosted by the University of North Texas in Denton.
