<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=Windows-1252">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style><![endif]--><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Aptos;
panose-1:2 11 0 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#467886;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:11.0pt;
mso-ligatures:none;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style>
</head>
<body lang="EN-US" link="#467886" vlink="#96607D" style="word-wrap:break-word">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="margin-bottom:4.0pt;text-align:right;background:white">
<b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:#242424">BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Feb. 8, 2025<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#242424"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;color:#242424">No. 1 Baylor A&T Wins Big to Start Season at No. 5 UMHB<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Bears took the meet by over 20 points</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:#242424"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:#242424">For more information contact:
</span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:#242424">Madelon Allen; 254-252-7168,
</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:blue"><a href="mailto:madelon_allen@baylor.edu">madelon_allen@baylor.edu</a></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:#242424">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="color:#242424"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="color:#242424">BELTON, Texas –
</span></b><span style="color:#242424">The No. 1-ranked Baylor acrobatics & tumbling team started the season with a win against No. 5 Mary-Hardin Baylor, 276.240 to 255.335.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="color:#242424"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424">The Bears (1-0) defeated the Crusaders (0-1) by over 20 points to start the season, increasing the meet win streak to 39 in a row.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424">To start off the meet in Compulsory, BU and the Cru all executed the necessary skills. In the Acro heat, Baylor scored a 9.35 and UMHB followed with a 9.30. After a
correction in scoring, BU took the Pyramid heat, 9.70 to 9.55. Winning the Toss heat by .15 points, the Bears scored a 9.85 followed by UMHB’s 9.70. In the Tumbling heat, BU scored an 8.65, the Cru scoring 7.80. Through one event, the score was 37.55 to UMHB’s
36.35.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424">To start the optional portion of the meet, BU started the competition in the Acro event with their 5 Element heat, featuring Adelaide Vezzosi as the top and Ellie LaNeve
as the base, competing an inverted handstand to yogi, then straddle hold, scoring an 8.55 after she re-started the heat. The Crusaders followed with a 9.20 score in their heat. In the synchronized 6 Element heat, with four different pairs of tops and bases,
the Bears scored 9.35, followed by 8.85 from the Cru. In the third heat, Jordan Gruendler and Leavy McDonald scored a 9.90 after competing the dual one-handed inverted handstand before debuting a new skill, whereas McDonald slides into the splits and Gruendler
competes a planche. UMHB followed it up with a score of 9.65 in its heat. For the Acro event, BU scored a 27.80 to UMHB’s 27.70, now totaling 65.35 to 64.05 through two events and Baylor leading by 1.30 points.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424">In the Pyramid event, BU started it off with a 9.8 score in the Inversion heat with Gruendler and McDonald. Topping the Synchronized heat were Payton Washington and
Emily Bott, based by McDonald and Meredith Wells, respectively. They scored a 9.6 while the Cru produced a 9.5. In the Open heat, Gruendler topped McDonald and competed the inverted planche, scoring a 9.95, which the Cru matched in their Open heat. For the
Pyramid event, Baylor scored a 29.35/30, while UMHB scored a 28.55/30. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424">At the half, BU was up 94.70 to 92.60, leading by 2.1 points.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424">To kick off the second half in the Toss event, it was Washington topping the 450 Salto heat, finishing with a score of 9.50, followed by an 8.70 from UMHB. In the Synchronized
heat, Washington and Rakel Jeffries were the tops, scoring 9.40 which the Cru followed with a score of 8.75. In the final heat, the Open heat, Gabby Kaminski was the top, scoring a 9.60, which the Crusaders scored a 9.25 against. At the end of the Toss event,
Baylor totaled 28.50 while UMHB had a 26.70. Through four events, BU had a score of 123.200 while UMHB had a 119.300, the Bears up by 3.90 points.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424">In the Tumbling event, starting in the Duo for the Bears were Alyiah Thomas and Gigi Rendino who scored a 9.35 on their round off to whip, Arabian tuck roundoff back
handspring to back layout 540, followed by a score of 7.15 from UMHB. In the Trio were Bott, Gianna Cameron and Ashlyn Tannehill competing a roundoff whip to whip, back handspring to back handspring, back layout 540, earning a score of 9.10 which the Crusaders
put an 8.25 up against. In the Quad pass were Washington, Aliyah Kaloostian, Sarah Kerr and Kaminski, scoring a 7.25 for their front tuck roundoff back handspring back layout 540 round off back layout 360, while UMHB put up a score of 7.55. For the Aerial
pass it was Bott, who scored a 9.70 after competing a round off whip to whip to whip, back handspring to back layout 540, while the Cru earned a 9.225 score. Competing in the 6 Element heat was Washington competing a front tuck to round off back handspring
to back layout 540, round off back layout 360, earning a 9.925 score; UMHB earning a score of 8.925. Kerr earned a 9.825 for the Open heat, with the Cru 8.075. Combined, Baylor had a score of 55.15 to finish the Tumbling event while the Crusaders had a score
of 49.175. After five events, BU led 178.350 to 168.475, up by 9.875 points.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424">In Team event, Baylor competed first and scored a 97.89. The Cru came next, scoring a xxx.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424">The meet finalized, BU came out on top with a 276.240 score against UMHB’s 255.335; the Bears winning by 20.905 points.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;background:white"><span style="color:#242424"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="color:#242424">To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor acrobatics & tumbling, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram: @BaylorAcroTumb.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="color:#242424"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background:white"><i><span style="color:#242424">- BaylorBears.com -<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">__________________________________</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:6.5pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"> </span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;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;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Associate
Director of Athletics Communications <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">A&T, EQ, VB, BaylorBears.com</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Department of Athletics | Baylor University<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">C: 254-252-7168<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><img border="0" width="159" height="44" style="width:1.6562in;height:.4583in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01DB7A5C.E4C5F4C0" alt="signature_1832567560"></span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>