CCIW Student-Athlete Spotlight (August 2020)
Each month, the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) will highlight the accomplishments of a conference student-athlete. This month, we look into the career of Wheaton graduated track & field student-athlete Favor Ezewuzie.

Story by Mike Krizman, CCIW Assistant Executive Director

WHEATON, Ill. – Favor Ezewuzie entered Wheaton College in the fall of 2016 looking to fit into her new environment. 

A native of Malden, Mass., just outside of Boston, Ezewuzie began a journey that not only showcased her athletic ability on the track and success in the classroom, but more importantly, a habit of service to minority students on campus. 

"My freshman year, I was one of maybe 30 black women on the entire campus of 2,400 students," she said. "I got involved with Wheaton's Office of Multicultural Development, where I was able to find others who looked like me that gave me comfort and a sense of belonging."

As her time on campus passed, Ezewuzie paid it forward. She helped facilitate dinners and events for students of color, was a Sisterhood Coordinator where she mentored 40 black women on campus, and organized and facilitated events to help empower black women and young black girls in and around the Chicago area. 

"I began looking at ways to be a campus leader," she said. "By my junior and senior years, I wanted to help create a place where younger black women had a place of belonging, just like the older students did for me when I was a freshman."

It's that type of servitude, and the way it positively impacts others, that Wheaton track & field coach Scott Bradley appreciates about Ezewuzie.      

"Favor applies herself fully to anything that she does," Bradley said. "She is also an incredibly personable and charismatic personality, which really affect everyone around her in a positive way. Her impact on our campus goes way beyond the results at any track meet."

Giving Track & Field a Try

When Ezewuzie stepped foot on campus in the fall of 2016, she tried out for the Thunder track & field program with no experience, except for a stint on her sixth grade team. Four years later and it's easy to see the impact she's had.

Ezewuzie is a 15-time conference champion, nine-time all-American, holds College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) indoor meet records in the 200 (24.95) and the 60 hurdles (8.60), and is the first-ever three-time winner of the CCIW Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet (2018-2020). In addition, she holds (or is a part of) nine Wheaton College records and holds facility records at three different indoor venues including University of Chicago, Illinois Wesleyan and Carthage.

"First and foremost, Favor is a great athlete who has been blessed with an abundance of natural speed, coordination and power; all the qualities that make a great track athlete," Bradley said. "Beyond that, she's extremely dedicated, disciplined and flat out loves to compete. Then, on top of all of that, she's one of the most coachable and appreciative athletes that I have ever worked with. She's been a coach's dream in every way imaginable." 

By the winter of 2017, her impact was felt immediately as Wheaton won its first CCIW indoor title in program history, followed by its first outdoor title since 2006 later that year. Ezewuzie's first conference title came in the outdoor 4x100-meter relay, followed by her first all-America certificate at the 2017 NCAA Championships where the relay team finished fourth. 

The Thunder defended both of their conference titles in 2018 as Ezewuzie won a combined three conference titles (55-meter hurdles, 55-meter dash, 100-meter hurdles) and claimed all-America honors in two events including the indoor 60-meter hurdles (fourth) and outdoor long jump (fourth). 

Seven conference titles (60 dash, 60 hurdles, 100 dash, 100 hurdles, indoor & outdoor long jump, 4x100 relay) and six all-America certificates (60 hurdles, 60 dash, 100 hurdles, 100 dash, outdoor 200 dash, 4x100 relay) followed in 2019. Her senior year saw four more indoor conference titles (60 dash, 200 dash, 60 hurdles, long jump) before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the rest of the season. 

But all of that success on the track may not have happened if she had stuck to her original plan.

"I was originally going to tryout for the basketball team, but they weren't doing tryouts by the time I got to campus," she said. "I then made the decision that I would go out for basketball my sophomore year, but that I would run track my freshman year to stay in shape. So I asked Coach Bradley if I could try out for the team and it just kind of stuck from there."

Next Steps

Ezewuzie is only the third person in conference history to be awarded the CCIW's Jack Swartz Academic All-Conference award four times. She is also a seven-time Academic All-Conference member and a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American. 

A member of Wheaton's Dean's List, she was a recipient of the 2019 Dorothy B. Dixon Scholarship, which is awarded to a student in the Education Department as a merit scholarship for academic achievement and noteworthy leadership.

Ezewuzie graduated in the spring of this year with a degree in Elementary Education. She currently works as a private tutor, but plans to use her last year of outdoor eligibility next spring after the 2020 season was canceled.

She plans to use what she learned at Wheaton and apply it to a future career in education.

"Wheaton has been a big part of my spiritual development," she said. "They very much highlight the intertwining of faith and learning different disciplines. We've focused on being a person of faith, but applying that to everything we do -- as doctors, nurses, teachers and in the business world. 

"The people at Wheaton have really been the most important part. They've shown me so much about my faith and putting it into what I do every day."  

CCIW Student-Athlete Spotlight
Favor Ezewuzie - Wheaton (August 2020)
Ellie Manderfeld - North Park (July 2020)
Izaiah Webb - North Central (June 2020)
Tori Stuart - Millikin (May 2020)
Skylar LeVine - Illinois Wesleyan (April 2020)
Emily Clausen - Elmhurst (March 2020)
Colton Klein - Carthage (February 2020)
Michaela Johnson - Carroll (January 2020)
Luke Sawicki - Augustana (December 2019)
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst University (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL).