Baylor’s Ezekiel Nathaniel won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s 400m hurdles title at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Friday June 13, 2025.
As the only NCAA athlete to have broken 48 seconds this year, Ezekiel Nathaniel repeated that feat in the semifinals on Wednesday with a 47.86 clocking at the historic Hayward Field.
In Friday’s final, he led the field to 300m, and despite Ja’Qualon Scott’s inside challenge, Nathaniel cleared the final hurdles cleanly to secure a commanding win.
Nathaniel, a Baylor University senior, finished his final lap in a Baylor uniform with a personal best of 47.49, the No. 3 all-time mark in US collegiate history. Ja’Qualon Scott (Texas A&M) finished second in 48.29 while Kody Blackwood (Texas) was third in 48.66.
Nathaniel smashed his own national record, the Baylor programme record, and now has the second-fastest time in the world this season behind World leader Karsten Warhom (Sweden), but ranks ahead of other 2024 Paris Olympics medallists Alison Dos Santos (Brazil) and Rai Benjamin (USA).
The Nigerian also becomes Baylor’s first national champion in the men’s 400m hurdles since Bayano Kamani in 2001.
“It’s always kind of bittersweet,” said Nathaniel about going out of Baylor as a National Champion.
“Our season is officially done now for our team. But we went out with a bang with that amazing run from Nate. He’s got three of the fastest times ever in collegiate history. I think that’s just awesome.”
The Bowerman Watchlist candidate now holds the third, seventh, eighth and ninth fastest times in NCAA 400m hurdles history.
Elsewhere on the track at the NCAA Finals, Nigeria’s Samuel Ogazi (Alabama) won the men’s 400m title in 44.84 seconds, improving on his second-place performance from last year.
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