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<h1 align="right" style="text-align:right"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;text-decoration:none">BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – April 26, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></b></h1>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;color:black">Top-Seeded Baylor A&T Prepped for NCATA Quarterfinals</span></b><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;background:white">Bears face eighth-seeded Fairmont State on Thursday at WLU<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt">For more information contact:
</span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt">Madelon Allen; 254-252-7168, </span><a href="mailto:madelon_allen@baylor.edu"><span style="font-size:9.0pt">madelon_allen@baylor.edu</span></a><span style="font-size:9.0pt"> 
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. –</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> Top-seeded Baylor Acrobatics & Tumbling
 is prepped for the quarterfinals of the NCATA Championships, facing eighth-seeded Fairmont State on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. CT in the ASRC on West Liberty’s campus.
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<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">The Bears (8-0) head into the first round of the championships having faced the Falcons (9-2) 11 times previously. BU leads the all-time
 series 9-2 and faced FSU last in 2018. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">The two programs shared common opponents this season in Presbyterian, Frostburg State and West Liberty.
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<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Baylor is coming into the postseason as the only team in the NCATA to hit the 280-point final score mark, and reaching it five times
 this season. Last time out, BU defeated Hawai’i Pacific in Honolulu, 287.775-270.310, with the highest final score of the season.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Ahead of the championships, the Bears swept the NCATA major athletic honors, including Kamryn Kitchens as Most Outstanding Athlete of
 the Year, Jordan Gruendler as Specialist of the Year and Gianna Cameron as Freshman of the Year. The major awards follow the announcement of Kitchens, Riley Chimwala, Bayley Humphrey and Emily Tobin being named NCATA All-America, Kitchens named All-Academic
 and 25 being named to the Academic Honor Roll on Monday.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">The quarterfinal meet against Fairmont State will be streamed on
<a href="https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=9f696ab6-e192-4270-82e6-35085ca0a9a7">
ESPN+</a> and live results can be found <a href="https://thencata.org/sports/2023/4/26/Live_QF3.aspx">
here</a>. A full recap and final results from the meet can be found at BaylorBears.com/acro following the conclusion of the meet.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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Tickets for the Championships are on sale </span><a href="https://wlu.hometownticketing.com/embed/all"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">here</span></a><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> and the official
 bracket can be found </span><a href="https://baylorbears.com/documents/2023/4/17/23_NCATA_Bracket.pdf"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">here</span></a><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">. The NCATA
 Championships central can be found <a href="https://thencata.org/tournaments/?id=5">
here</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">With a win against Fairmont State, the Bears will face the winner of the meet between No. 4 seed Quinnipiac and No. 5 seed Gannon, with
 the meet set for 6 p.m. CT on Friday.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor acrobatics & tumbling, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorAcroTumb.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoBodyText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><a href="http://www.baylorbears/"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;text-decoration:none">- BaylorBears</span></i></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;text-decoration:none">.com</span></i></span><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">
 -<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:black">__________________________________</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:6.5pt;color:black"> </span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:#385623">Madelon Allen</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#385623"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">| </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">Associate
 Director of Athletics Communications <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">VB, A&T, BaylorBears.com</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">Department of Athletics | Baylor University<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">C: 254-252-7168<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="159" height="44" style="width:1.6562in;height:.4583in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D97874.93FCFBB0" alt="signature_1881949358"></p>
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