Nathaniel Ezekiel scales into 400m hurdles final, set to defend Big 12 title

Nathaniel Ezekiel ran his first sub 49 seconds of the season in qualifying for the final of the Big 12 Conference Championships and raised expectations of another Nigerian record in the making.

The 19 year old ran 48.74, the fastest time in the semifinal line-ups to qualify for his second straight final and can now look forward to successfully defend the title he won in his debut last year.

Nathaniel broke a long standing Nigeria record (48.50) set by Henry Amike at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy in 1987 when he ran 48.42 to win his first Big 12 Conference Championships title in Lubbock, Texas.

He achieved the feat after running 39.33 in the semis to qualify for the final.

Also in the final is former World U20 champion, Imaobong Nse Uko who ran 52.20 to qualify as one of the non-automatic qualifiers.

Rosemary Chukwuma is also in the final of the 100 and 200m where he has Saint Lucia athlete, Julien Alfred and former Nigeria sprinter, Ezinne Abba to contend with.

Alfred ran a wind aided 10.74 while Abba (10.93 wind)and Chukwuma (10.94w) placed third and fourth respectively in the overall classification after the semifinals.

In the 200m, Alfred scorched to a new 22.09 facility record to win with Abba second in a new 22.46 lifetime best while Chukwuma was sixth in 22.90 to qualify for the final.