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<h1 align="right" style="text-align:right"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;text-decoration:none">BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – March 10, 2022<o:p></o:p></span></b></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h1 align="left" style="text-align:left"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;text-decoration:none">Baylor T&F Readies for NCAA Indoor Championships<o:p></o:p></span></b></h1>
<h2 align="left" style="text-align:left"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-style:normal">Bears send 10 student-athletes to the meet</span></b><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-style:normal"><o:p></o:p></span></b></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">For more information contact:
</span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Colin Pirtle, 940-564-0351, Colin_Pirtle1@Baylor.edu
</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">WACO, Texas –</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt"> Baylor track and field is set to compete at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships in Birmingham,
Ala., on Friday and Saturday at the Birmingham Crossplex. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Ackera Nugent, Howard Fields III, Mariah Ayers, Johnny Brackins, Dillon Bedell, Mathew Moorer, Nathaniel Ezekiel, Kavia Francis, Imaobong Uko and Aaliyah Miller all qualified
for the meet, with Jayson Baldridge, Hasani Barr, Demitra Carter and Gontse Morake joining as relay substitutes.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“One of the goals this year was to have a bigger representation than we did last year, especially on the men’s side where we only had KC Lightfoot,” said head coach Michael
Ford. “Now, you put Johnny Brackins in the long jump and Trey Fields doing the 400, both for their first time. On the women’s side, you have Ackera Nugent coming back as a defending national champion, and Mariah Ayers making her first national championship
in an individual race.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Nugent enters the 60-meter hurdles as the defending national champion and currently holds the No. 4 mark in NCAA competition this year. The sophomore already improved
her mark from last year by two-hundredths of a second and broke her own program record twice this year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Fields III, hot off his Big 12 Championship in the 400 meters, enters the race with the No. 16 seed. Ayers is set to run in the 200-meter dash, qualifying with 23.18
seconds as the No. 14 seed. Brackins is in the national meet his freshman season with a 7.82 mark set in Kentucky the third week of the season.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The men’s 4x400 squad of Bedell, Moorer, Ezekiel and Fields III will take their conference silver-medal winning time of 3:04.06 into the meet as the No. 9 seed.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The women’s 4x400 will feature Francis, Uko and Ayers, with Miller’s spot to be filled by either Carter or Morake, which will be determined closer to race time. The women’s
3:32.77 qualifies as the No. 12 seed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The championship meet will be streamed on ESPN3 from the Birmingham CrossPlex. ESPNU will re-air the competition Sunday night, March 13.
<a href="https://www.etix.com/ticket/e/1025088/2022-ncaa-di-track-and-field-birmingham-birmingham-crossplex">
Ticket information</a>, a <a href="https://baylorbears.com/documents/2022/3/1/2022_Division_I_Indoor_Track_and_Field_Birmingham_Schedule.pdf">
meet schedule</a> and <a href="https://flashresults.ncaa.com/Indoor/2022/index.htm">
live results</a> are all available online. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">For the latest news on the Baylor track and field team all season long, follow its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorTrack. </span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><b><u><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Baylor NCAA Schedule<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Friday, March 11<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">4:00 p.m. – Men’s Long Jump (Brackins)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">4:25 p.m. – Men’s 400m Semifinal (Fields III)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">7:55 p.m. – Women’s 60m Hurdles Semifinals (Nugent)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">8:25 p.m. – Women’s 200m Semifinals (Ayers)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Saturday, March 12<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">4:20 p.m. – Men’s 400m Final (Fields III)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">5:20 p.m. – Men’s 4x400m Relay<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">7:40 p.m. – Women’s 60m Hurdles (Nugent)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">7:50 p.m. – Women’s 200m Finals (Ayers)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">8:20 p.m. – Women’s 4x400 Relay<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">www.BaylorBears.com<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><o:p> </o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">__________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#0A5026">Colin Pirtle</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#0A5026"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">| Communications Intern (Interim-T&F/XC) </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;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: 940-564-0351</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:3.0pt;color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://baylorbears.com/" title="http://baylorbears.com/"><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="160" height="44" style="width:1.6666in;height:.4583in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D8349E.1E696390" alt="signature_455694746"></span></a><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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