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</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; color: black;"><b>BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Dec. 17, 2025</b></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; color: black;"><b>Baylor’s Ezekiel one of three finalists for The Bowerman</b></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black;"><b><i>Track’s equivalent of the Heisman will be presented Thursday night in Grapevine </i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(33, 33, 33);"><b>For more information contact:
</b>Jerry Hill; 254-709-4994, </span><span style="font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(149, 79, 114);"><u><a href="mailto:jerry_hill@baylor.edu" title="mailto:jerry_hill@baylor.edu" data-outlook-id="087f764f-e73e-4dc3-b35b-f94af2415232" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">jerry_hill@baylor.edu</a></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>GRAPEVINE, Texas –
</b>Baylor’s first-ever finalist for college track & field’s most prestigious honor, reigning NCAA outdoor 400-meter hurdles champion Nathaniel Ezekiel will join the two other male finalists and three female semifinalists for The Bowerman Presentation on Thursday
at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Hosted by ESPN broadcaster and former University of Indiana runner Larra Overton, The Bowerman
Presentation will be streamed live on </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(149, 79, 114);"><u><a href="https://the-bowerman-presentation.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=14920&do=videos&video_id=436664" data-outlook-id="69acd4ff-0e8f-45fa-b8e6-05ccf1e19799" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">RunnerSpace</a></u></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> beginning
at 6:30 p.m. with the red-carpet entrance to the Grapevine Ballroom. The Bowerman is given annually to the top collegiate track and field men’s and women’s athlete of the year. </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A nine-time All-American and six-time Big 12 champion, Ezekiel capped off his collegiate career
by winning the NCAA outdoor 400-meter hurdles title with a school-record time of 47.49. He also broke the school indoor mark in the 400 meters (44.74), winning the silver medal at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships. </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Ezekiel, who represented his native Nigeria at the 2024 Olympics in the 400 hurdles, turned pro
this summer and finished fourth at the World Track and Field Championships with a Nigerian-record time of 47.11. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The other male finalists are Ja’Kobe Tharp from Auburn, who won NCAA championships in the indoor
60-meter hurdles and outdoor 110-meter hurdles; and Arkansas sprinter Jordan Anthony, who swept NCAA titles in the indoor 60 meters and outdoor 100 meters. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">On the women’s side, the finalists are distance runner Pamela Kosgei from New Mexico, 3,000-meter
steeplechaser Doris Lemngole from Alabama and 400-meter hurdler Savannah Sutherland from Michigan. Five of the six schools have finalists for the first time in their program's history. </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Last year’s winners were University of Texas decathlete Leo Neugebauer and record-setting distance
runner Parker Valby from Florida. </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">For the latest news on the Baylor track and field team all year long, follow its official Facebook,
X and Instagram accounts: @BaylorTrack. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(21, 71, 52);"><b>Jerry Hill</b></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;"> | Director of Sports Journalism (T&F/XC)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;">Department of Athletics | Baylor University</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;">C: 254-709-4994</span></p>
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