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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 ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS – Jan. 14, 2023<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">Baylor T&F Relays Sweep Corky Classic 4x400 Titles</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">Francis, Uko win individual collegiate golds<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">LUBBOCK, Texas –</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> Baylor track and field wrapped up its first meet of the season on Saturday
night, winning both 4x400 titles and 2 individual golds. <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">The Baylor men’s 4x4 ‘A’ squad found a spot on the program record list in just the first meet of the season. Crossing the line at 3:04.86, Hasani Barr, Demar Francis, Matthew
Moorer and Nathaniel Ezekiel earn the No. 9 spot all-time in program history. <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">The women’s ‘A’ relay squad of Kavia Francis, Mariah Ayers, Gontse Morake and Imaobong Uko clocked a 3:37.22 to beat the entire field by four seconds.
<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">Francis hit 23.36 in the women’s 200-meter final on Saturday to win the collegiate title in the event. Ayers followed just behind, finishing in 23.83 to take collegiate bronze.
<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">The last Bear to win a gold medal was Uko taking the title in the 400 meters after a 53.51 race.<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">The pole vault crew saw Ben Conacher breaking his previous personal-best in the event, as he finished second, passing 17-7 ¼ successfully. Tenly Kuhn got her career start
in the vault, crossing 12-6 ¾ to finish sixth.<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">Keviah Ealy was welcomed to the green and gold with a silver medal in the B section of the long jump. On her fourth attempt, Ealy landed 19-2 ¾ to secure the podium position.
Alexandra Rutenis just missed the cutoff point for finals, finishing tenth with an 18-2 ½ jump.<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">Gary Moore made another splash in the throws pit, finishing fourth in shot put with a throw of 56-2 ¾. Cole Hardan finished fifth with a 55-5 ¾ and Cooper Mack finished seventh
with a 53-4 ¼. In the women’s event, Makayla Long opened her collegiate shot put career, placing seventh with a 48-1 ¾.<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">The 3000 meters saw Drew Snyder and Ryan Hodge finishing back-to-back in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Snyder clocked an 8:34, which was his best time since high school,
and Hodge an 8:40.<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">Elijah Morris timed a 7.95 on Saturday afternoon to finish as the fourth collegiate competitor in the 60-meter hurdles. On the women’s side, Ballard opened her collegiate
career with an 8.53 in the semifinals of the sprint hurdles. In the finals, she finished sixth in a race led by the new world leading from Texas Tech, Demisha Roswell’s 7.99.<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 sprints, Bria Bullard and Alexis Brown finished top-16 in the qualifiers to advance to the semifinal round, where Bullard clocked a 7.48 to finish 11<sup>th</sup>
place and Brown clocked a 7.58 to finish 18<sup>th</sup>. Michaela Francois, who automatically qualified for the semis, ran a 7.54 and finished 16<sup>th</sup>.
<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">Callis, who also automatically qualified for the 60-meter semifinals, finished 10<sup>th</sup> in the event with a time of 6.71 seconds.
<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"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">STAT OF THE MEET<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">8 – Combined seconds that the men’s and women’s 4x400 relay squads led the rest of the field.
<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"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">QUOTABLE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Head coach Michael Ford<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">“It was another solid day for the Bears on day two of the Corky Classic. I am super pleased with how we competed across the board. Coach [Jeff] Chak’s throw group did a good
job in the shot put today and I am super proud of Ben [Conacher] in the pole vault. It is good to see him healthy and reaching new heights. Kavia Francis did a great job in the 200 and I loved how we closed out the meet winning both 4x4. Now time to rest up
and train to prepare for New Mexico.”<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"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">WHAT’S NEXT<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">The Bears get a sneak peak of the national championship track next Saturday as they compete in Albuquerque, N.M., at the Martin Luther King Invitational.
<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">_________________________________________</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:#073D1E">Colin Pirtle</span></b><span style="color:#073D1E"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">| Associate Director of Athletics Communications (T&F, XC, MTEN) </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">Department of Athletics | Baylor University</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black"><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:13.5pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:3.0pt;color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black"><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@01D9284C.D8815380" alt="signature_2230589939"></span></a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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