WACO, TEXAS, May 9–11 — The men’s Big 12 Championships produced no collegiate leaders, but it did provide statement performances. Individually, Baylor’s Nigerian duo of Nathaniel Ezekiel (400H) and Chinecherem Nnamdi (JT) declared they are in the NCAA title hunt after each finished 3rd in his events at the ’23 nationals.
In the team race, Texas told defending champ Texas Tech that it was leaving for the SEC and taking the Big 12 crown with it.
Ezekiel blitzed the long hurdles field in a PR 48.00, knocking more than a quarter-second off the 48.29 he ran in April. He is now No. 7 on the all-time collegiate list and second on the yearly list, behind only Alabama’s Chris Robinson (47.95).
Ezekiel was untroubled by the competition and led wire-to-wire, despite strong showings by defending Big 12 champion Caleb Dean (48.43) and his Texas Tech teammate Oskar Edlund (48.82). Ezekiel and Dean both ran under the Olympic standard 48.70.
“I feel good,” said Ezekiel. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. Doing this on my home track, I feel good and I’m happy about this. It’s a good improvement, because it was something I’ve been looking for and I knew I was in shape to do it. I feel so blessed.”
Nnamdi hyperextended his knee a week prior and was supposed to throw one-and-done. But after a 252-10 (77.07) in the first round (which would have won), he returned to the runway in the fourth and sixth, landing at 262-06 (80.02) in the latter.
It was his fourth lifetime foray beyond 80 meters, and his second this year (he hit a Nigerian record 271-8/82.80 in winning the African Games in March).
“He hasn’t been able to do anything all week, just resting and trying to get ready,” Baylor assistant coach Jeff Chakouian said. “He actually went from a short approach; he didn’t do his full run-up.”
Houston’s Shaun Maswanganyi also showed NCAA readiness with a sprint double (10.11 and 20.10) and anchoring the Cougar’s 38.44 relay, good for equal-No. 2 on this year’s collegiate list.
“This is a huge confidence boost not only for me but also for our relay as well,” the South African said. “My relay, we’ve been trying to piece it together and figure it out and today we ran a fast time.”
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