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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 – Feb. 1, 2024<o:p></o:p></span></b></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;color:black">Five Former Bears Qualified to Team USA Olympic Marathon Trials</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">Former standouts lace up for 26.2 miles in Orlando on Saturday<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt">For more information contact:
</span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt">Colin Pirtle; 940-564-0351, </span><a href="mailto:colin_pirtle1@baylor.edu"><span style="font-size:9.0pt">colin_pirtle1@baylor.edu</span></a><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">ORLANDO, Fla. –
</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Five former Baylor track and field athletes are headed to Orlando to compete in the U.S. Olympic Team Marathon Trials, set to begin at 9 a.m. CT on Saturday.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Lindsey Bradley, Lauren Hagans, Maggie Montoya, Peyton Thomas and Anna West qualified to run for a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics, with the women’s street race scheduled
for August 11. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Bradley was a Baylor letterwinner from 2016 to 2019. In her collegiate career, she earned multiple all-region and all-conference honors and qualified to the NCAA Cross Country
Championships in 2017. The Richland, Wash., native transferred to Baylor from Washington for the 2016-2017 season and still holds spots on the indoor 3,000-, indoor 5,000- and outdoor 10,000-meter program all-time record lists. Bradley was a member of the
2017 Big 12 Championship team and currently lives and trains in Dallas, Texas.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Running professionally with HOKA Northern Arizona Elite, Hagans lives in Flagstaff. A 2005-2008 letterwinner with the Bears, Hagans set program records in the indoor and
outdoor Distance Medley relays and the 4x800-meter relay, marks that have been broken but still hold a spot in the program’s top 10. She was an NCAA All-American in cross country, joining the likes of only six other Baylor runners in program history, including
West. Her 35<sup>th</sup>-place individual finish at the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championship is the sixth highest in program history, trailing only Rachel Johnson (fifth, 2014) as the highest since 2000.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">A member of the current indoor distance medley program record, Montoya was a letterwinner at Baylor in 2014-2017. She sits No. 2 in the indoor mile, indoor 3,000 meters,
outdoor 3,000 meters and the outdoor DMR. Montoya is an all-conference runner in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field. The 2015 indoor DMR All-American resides in Boulder, Colo.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Thomas was a 2017 Baylor graduate and was a member of the NCAA Championship-qualifying team in 2014 and 2016, which included fellow Olympic Trial runners Montoya and West.
Thomas took top-25 placements at two consecutive NCAA regional meets in 2015 and 2016 for All-Region honors. Living in Boulder, Thomas graduated with her Ph.D. in marine biology from UNC Wilmington and is No. 7 in program history in the outdoor 3,000 meters.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">West competed at Baylor, earning letters in 2016-2018, before transferring to the University of Michigan. In her time in Waco, she earned All-American honors at the 2017
NCAA Cross Country Championships, after qualifying to the meet with the team in 2016. She also was a multiple-time All-Conference honoree in indoor and outdoor track and field, with an individual silver medal from the 2017 Big 12 Cross Country Championship.
West is on the outdoor 5,000-, indoor 3,000- and 5,000-meter program record list and was on the 10<sup>th</sup>-fastest DMR team in program history (2018).
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">In the dual qualification system, 50% of athletes qualify through entry standards and the remaining 50% qualify through World Rankings. The top three runners from both the
men’s and women’s races will join Team USA in France. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials will start and finish in the heart of downtown Orlando, near Lake Eola Park. Athletes will run one 2.2-mile loop through the streets of Orlando’s downtown business district, then shift to three 8-mile loops
to the Milk District and back.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fans wanting to keep track of these former Bears can watch real-time race tracking provided by
<a href="https://www.orlando2024trials.com/athletes/track-an-athlete/">RTRT.me</a>. The marathon will stream live on Peacock at 9 a.m. CT and will be broadcast (taped delay) on NBC at 11 a.m.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">For the latest news on the Baylor track and field team all year long, follow its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorTrack.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">- BaylorBears<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">.com</span></span><span style="color:black">
-<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;mso-ligatures:none">_________________________________________</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:#073D1E;mso-ligatures:none">Colin Pirtle</span></b><span style="color:#073D1E;mso-ligatures:none"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">| Associate Director of Athletics Communications
(T&F/XC, MTEN, FB) </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">Department of Athletics | Baylor University</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none">C: 940-564-0351</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:3.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"> </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://baylorbears.com/" title="http://baylorbears.com/"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="160" height="44" style="width:1.6666in;height:.4583in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01DA5523.442172B0" alt="signature_2230589939"></span></a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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