Fresh off winning the 400m title in a stunning 44.74 African record at the Big 12 Championships, United States-based Ezekiel Nathaniel has been named in the 2025 Bowerman 2025 Men’s Pre-NCAA Indoor Championships Watch List.

Nathaniel, the only Nigerian listed in the top 10 has been in phenomenal form since he moved on track and field scholarship to Baylor University in the USA.
The 21-year old who is making his Watch List debut, surged to the collegiate lead in the 400 meters with his 44.74 effort at the Big 12 Indoor Championships. That mark made him the sixth fastest man in collegiate history.

According to SportsNow.com, Nathaniel is the first Baylor University student, among a historic list of alumni from ‘Quarter-Mile U’, to race for a sub-45 second mark in the 400m event. He broke the conference meet record and the Baylor indoor program record.

He is the second fastest man in the world so far this year, the eighth fastest in the world all-time list and the first and only African man to break 45 seconds in the event, indoors.

The Nigerian 400m indoor and 400m hurdles record holder, who also helped Baylor win the climactic 4×400m relay will be seeking his first NCAA title, as his best finish in any event was third in the 400-meter hurdles in both 2023 and 2024.

The Bowerman, which debuted in 2009 and is named after former University of Oregon coach Bill Bowerman, is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to the most outstanding male and female athlete in NCAA and NAIA track and field.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel has also been named the Big 12 Men’s Performer of the Year for the 2025 collegiate indoor track and field season, announced by the conference on Thursday afternoon. He ended the 2025 Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship with two titles in the 400-meter and the 4×400-meter relay.