By Kalena Reynolds | Staff Writer
Baylor track and field gained momentum at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in Lubbock on Saturday, highlighted by senior sprinter Nathaniel Ezekiel breaking his own school record in the 400 meters and helping the Bears win the 4×400 relay. Graduate student sprinter Alexis Brown and junior sprinter Tiriah Kelley secured two podium finishes, leading the women’s team to an enthusiastic third-place overall finish with 64 points.
The Bears got off to a strong start after the first day of competition. The women sat in second place with 30 points through six of the 10 events, with Brown and freshman jumper Janae De Gannes earning first- and third-place finishes in the women’s long jump, respectively.
Sophomore pole vaulter Molly Haywood took first place, while junior pole vaulter Tenly Kuhn finished sixth, adding 13 points to the team’s total. Freshman multi-event athlete Logan Todorovich also secured a top-eight finish in the pentathlon.
By the end of day one, 11 Bears had advanced to the finals, Haywood and Kelley set two new program records and Baylor was in a great spot to continue the competition.
“Good first day at Big 12s,” head coach Michael Ford said. “Starting off on the ladies’ side, to set it off with Logan to get a point in the multis, that was big. As a freshman, she did very well. Coach Hood did a great job with her. Then going to that 1-3 finish in long jump with Coach Smith, Janae did good. We were hoping to get that 1-2, but overall to get 16 points out of that, that was big for our ladies’ team to keep fighting for this team title. Going to the pole vault, Molly and Tenly did great with a 1-6 finish to get us another 13 points there. I was very proud of our field event crew today.”
On day two, Brown placed third in the 60-meter dash, Kelley took third in the 200-meter finals, and freshman sprinter Royaltee Brown finished sixth in the same event. The women also secured a runner-up finish in the 4×400 relay.
For the men, sophomore hurdler Demario Prince placed fifth in the 60-meter hurdles, and Ezekiel ran a 44.72 in the open 400 meters. Graduate student sprinter Demar Francis placed seventh in the 400-meter dash and second in the 200-meter dash. Francis’ combination of events mirrors former Baylor All-American Michael Johnson –– the first male runner to sweep both the 200 and 400-meter at the 1996 Olympics.
Francis and Ezekiel joined forces with freshman sprinter Tyler Honeyman and senior sprinter Dillion Bedell to secure a winning time of 3:04:78.
“Day two of the Big 12 is a wrap,” Ford said. “It’s always exciting to finish off winning the 4×4 on the men’s side and getting second on the ladies’ with a season’s best. Nate (Ezekiel) had a tremendous meet to win the 400, break the facility record and conference record and then run a great leg on the relay. We just had a lot of people that stepped up today.”
The Bears return to action at the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 14 at the Virginia Beach Sports Center in Virginia Beach, Va.
