Nigerian standout, who arrived at Illinois college looking to continue basketball career, has developed into one of most accomplished track and field performers in program history, with sights set on competing well in 100-meter hurdles in Des Moines in preparation to challenge for first NCAA outdoor title in May

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

It’s the fall of 2016 and Scott Bradley, head track and field coach at Wheaton College in Illinois, has begrudgingly made his way down to the campus track.

He caved, once again, and said yes to a student wanting a tryout for the team. Historically, these types of blind scenarios have not yielded top talent for the program.

“I have to admit, I wasn’t thrilled because I have a hard time saying ‘no,’” Bradley said. “I kind of thought I was done with the process and here I am saying, ‘yes.’ I went home and complained to my wife (Debbie) that I have to give another tryout.”

The student is a determined freshman named Favor Ezewuzie from Malden, Mass.

Her track resume consists of a lone, distant memory from the sixth grade where she outjumped all the boys.

Ezewuzie grew up playing basketball. She came to Wheaton on a scholarship with a plan of continuing to play basketball, but when that didn’t pan out, her drive to still compete landed her in Bradley’s office shooting her shot in a different sport.

“Two nights before the tryout, I went out to the track and did some 100s,” she said. “I had no idea how it worked, I just got on the line and ran as fast as I could to the other line, and my friend timed it.”

For a standard tryout, Bradley said he usually puts an individual through a few tests – jumps and a flying 30-meter sprint to get a gauge of their experience and talent. Ezewuzie didn’t know what to expect or what Bradley was thinking.

“To me, it was like, ‘OK, I’ll make this a competition for myself; where I jumped the first time, I’m going to see if I can jump farther.’ But it didn’t seem like I was wowing him. He has a good poker face.”

But when she toed the line and took off for the flying 30-meter sprint test, Bradley’s expression broke. 

“I looked at my watch and I literally started laughing out loud because she had run basically as fast as anyone I had ever coached,” he said.

“When I finished, he came up to me and was like, ‘You’re on the team,’” Ezewuzie said.

With a spot secured, Ezewuzie asked Bradley if she could try the hurdles, an event she was intrigued with growing up watching the Olympics. Bradley, again a little hesitant, gave in. He explained the technical event in about 30 seconds and set up a hurdle on the first mark on the track.

“I said, ‘Stand down here, run at the hurdle as fast as you feel comfortable, and go over it,’” Bradley said. “And she ran at it, and went right over it. I was, ‘Oh, OK.’ And we put up a second hurdle.”

What stood out to Bradley that day was Ezewuzie’s fearlessness and relentlessness.

“On my way back up to the office I texted my wife, ‘God has granted us a great Favor’ and left it at that,” Bradley said. “I knew at that moment how good she was, and this girl could compete in the national championships in four events.”

It’s now five years later since that first tryout and the 5-foot-4 Ezewuzie has blossomed into not only one of the top hurdlers, sprinters and jumpers in Wheaton track and field program history, but in all of NCAA Division III.

She currently holds the top Division III times in 100-meter hurdles (13.81), 100 dash (11.75), 200 (24.16) and is part of the top 12-ranked 4x100 relay (48.65). Her hurdle time also ranks No. 5 in Division III outdoor history. In 2020, her indoor long jump of 18-10 (5.74m) was the sixth-best.

Following approval Tuesday from Wheaton, she’s set to compete Friday in the women’s collegiate 100 hurdles and 100-meter dash prelims at the 111th Drake Relays presented by Xtream at the Blue Oval at Jim Duncan Track in Des Moines, Iowa, where she’ll get another opportunity to race in a competitive field and lower her time in an attempt to qualify for Saturday’s final.

“It’s been a miracle,” Ezewuzie said of her success on the track. “I truly believe it’s been my faith in the Lord. I don’t really understand it sometimes because I just learned how to run. I spent most of my life playing basketball and here I am buying spikes and learning how to get out of blocks.”

Ezewuzie’s development as a track athlete first had to be determined with where she would fit best. Bradley said she could run anything up to the 400 and excel. At a bigger university, the heptathlon might have been an ideal fit, but Bradley decided early on to limit Ezewuzie to the jumps, sprints, hurdles and contributing in relays.

“She’s just naturally talented,” Bradley said. “She was engaging when I first met her, very likeable-type personality, I could sense she could be a great teammate, but what I didn’t know was her work ethic, and that’s really, really strong. She’s extremely committed and dedicated. She’s a dream to coach and always wanting to know what else.”

Growing up playing basketball with her two older brothers, Caleb and Joshua, Ezewuzie was indoctrinated with the idea that to tag along with her siblings, she had to be able to keep up.

“They were very much inviting, but they weren’t going to play any less,” she said. “I learned to be quick and to be tough in sports. My brothers taught me the value of hard work.”

Ezewuzie has used that same mindset to approach her new world of track and field.

“When I look back on pictures freshman year to now, I laugh,” Ezewuzie said. “I’m very thankful to the people who have been pivotal because I’m learning, but I’m also not great at being the person who doesn’t know things very well. Having so many people tell me how to run and hurdle, it’s a humbling experience. You don’t forget the people who were pivotal in you learning to love the sport.”

Like a sponge, she’s soaked up all the knowledge around her as she’s crafted her newfound passion for track and field. After a solid freshman campaign that saw her finish second in the 100 hurdles at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Conference Championships, she got her first taste of national exposure her sophomore season as she advanced to the Division III Championships, both indoor and outdoor.

Ezewuzie finished in sixth place in the indoor 60 hurdles in 8.92 seconds and fourth in the outdoor long jump with a leap of 19-2.50 (5.85m) to earn All-American status.

Her junior season saw a big leap in Ezewuzie’s progression, as she was the national Indoor runner-up in the 60m hurdles (8.69), in addition to taking second at outdoor nationals in the 100 hurdles (13.85), third in the 100 dash (11.71) and 200 (23.80), along with being part of a 4x100 relay that secured sixth place in 46.89.

She became the first Wheaton women’s track and field athlete to earn All-America recognition in four events at one NCAA Championship meet, while guiding the Thunder to a sixth-place team finish, the highest in program history.

Heading into presumably her final year at Wheaton, the goal for Ezewuzie was to become a national champion.

“After being the runner-up the past year, I came back with a chip on my shoulder. I was ready to be a national champion,” she said.

But like her unpredictable journey to Wheaton and landing on the track team, plans shifted. The pandemic hit and a shot at an indoor and outdoor national championship were gone in the blink of an eye. But true to Ezewuzie’s story, a different, better chapter was to be written. The senior, who holds a degree in elementary education and is passionate about education policy, as well as education for social change, made the decision to come back, take more classes, and continue to  compete for her dream.

“I decided in my faith that I would just believe that this was what God had intended,” she said. “(Now) when I get on that line, I’m like, ‘This is for these days where I would arrive at a track by myself amidst COVID and pray for the strength to finish a workout and believe in a dream that didn’t seem like it was coming.’ It makes me excited whenever I can be on that track and get in the blocks for real, because it’s like that time is redeemed.”

This spring, Ezewuzie has more than made up for lost time. With a primary focus on the hurdles, Bradley said he’s been waiting for a breakthrough performance. After a solid opener at the Texas Relays, this past Saturday at the Wheaton Invitational, she clocked an all-conditions best with a wind-aided 13.81 in the hurdles, on a day that saw her win four events.

“Hurdles have kind of been like a thorn in your flesh in terms of it’s so hard to get hurdles right, and at the same time I love it,” she said. “The things that challenge you the most, you learn to love because you have a deeper connection to them.”

The Drake Relays this weekend will be a good challenge for Ezewuzie, who said she responds best when pushed. It will be her fourth appearance in Des Moines, still seeking her first championship after competing in 10 previous races during her career at Jim Duncan Track.

“Favor is still pretty young in the sport,” Bradley said. “To really take off, she needs to compete against higher level competition. I do believe she's got a lot more room for improvement in that event.”

For Ezewuzie, the next big hurdle is continuing to let her passion grow and flourish at the highest level. Following the Division III Outdoor Championships, scheduled for May 27-29 in Greensboro, N.C., she has plans to try out for the Nigerian Olympic team, as she holds dual citizenship.

Her parents, Divine and Chuts, both grew up in Nigeria and her dad, who is visually impaired, currently lives in Nigeria. With qualifying times already secured from 2019, this June, she’ll travel to Nigeria, visit her dad and other family and see what comes to fruition from another unknown situation.

Ezewuzie is hoping to gain exposure as a relatively unknown Division III athlete, and see if she can snag a spot for Nigeria on a relay and what work still needs to be done for the hurdles.

“She’s definitely a person who is living beyond her own accolades and pleasures,” Bradley said.

Ezewuzie, who has one more remaining year of eligibility, is also in the process of looking to continue her education at the graduate level and run at a Division 1 program. The goal, again, is to gain more experience and continue writing her story.

“It’s mind-blogging for sure,” she said of where track and field continues to take her.

“Now, here I am considering doing more with it (track) more than school, I’m considering it a professional job for myself. It’s a story. It’s an amazing story that I don’t give myself credit in at all, besides just the work I’ve been putting in, but I give all credit to Jesus and my coach and to my parents and the people along the way. It’s a miracle story for sure and i get excited when I can share it because I don’t share it to impress people but to let them see what's been done through me.”

In the meantime though, Ezewuzie remains passionate about living her story and embracing all that has and is to come on and off the track.

“To me track is bigger than your run, it’s about people around you, the race you’re doing is temporary but the lives around you are internal and so I want to get to know people and encourage them, and know their story,” Ezewuzie said. “My faith has been a huge part in that and realizing it’s not all about me at a track meet, it’s about the lives around me and in that process I do well.”