By Gio Gennero | Sports Writer
Hardware, top spots, and new school records, Baylor track and field did it all in the 94th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin.
“It was a great Texas Relays for our Baylor Bears,” said head coach Michael Ford. “Coach [Stacey] Smith has done a great job with Johnny [Brackins]. Our relays ran really well today, and our ladies 4×1 time was big for us. We got a lot of national marks, and I am looking forward to seeing the team polls when they come out on Monday.”
Qualifying for the top spot in the nation, freshman hurdler Nathaniel Ezekiel ran 49.14 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles. Ezekiel finished second place in the final round with a time of 49.31 seconds.
Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi, freshman thrower, launched himself into Baylor history in his first ever collegiate meet, breaking the school record in javelin with a throw of 257-3, earning him first place in the event.
Sophomore sprinter Ackera Nugent placed second in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.97 to advance to the final round. In the final round she took home bronze, setting her new collegiate personal best of 12.72 seconds.
Freshman jumper Johnny Brackins advanced to the final round in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing with a time of 13.72 seconds. Brackins also competed in the long jump and ended as the collegiate champion with a jump of 26-9 ¾. The length was good for the program record, broken for the first time since Danny Brabham set the record in 1973. Brackins now leads the nation by over an inch.
In the women’s distance medley relay, the women finished fourth after setting a time of 11:37.37, the group of runners was senior mid-distance runner Aaliyah Miller, senior sprinter Morgan Stewart, senior distance runner Ellie Friesen and freshman distance runner Hayden Gold.
The 4×400-meter relay group of sophomore sprinter Dillon Bedell, senior sprinter Matthew Moorer, Ezekiel and senior sprinter Howard Fields III ran the fastest time for Baylor since 2021 at 3:02.68 with a third place finish, and first among Big 12 schools competing.
In the 4×100 relay, senior sprinter Caira Pettway, Nugent, senior sprinter Sydney Washington and junior sprinter Mariah Ayers took fourth place. The seventh-fastest time in Baylor history with 43.85 seconds.
Up next, Baylor will host their first home meet of the season on Friday and Saturday at the Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium.
“We still have to keep improving every week, but I do think we had a successful Texas Relays,” said Ford. “We’re now looking forward to great weather and a great crowd at our home meet next weekend.”
