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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 – July 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 Announces Three Full-Time Staff Additions</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="color:black">London, Richards and Hood officially join staff as assistant coaches<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">WACO, Texas –</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> Baylor track and field added three new additions to the full-time staff, head
coach Michael Ford announced on Friday. Wilbert London Jr. and Brandon Richards both go full-time after their volunteer stints, while Chase Hood rejoins the Bears after a season as a volunteer assistant at Colorado State.
<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">“We are excited to officially have three new staff members,” said Ford. “All three have had a tremendous impact on our program and me and I am looking forward to continuing
in the seasons to come.”<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 familiar face for decades around the track, London Jr. officially joined the volunteer assistant staff before the 2016 season when his son, Wil London III, joined the team.
Since then, he has assisted in the relay and sprint events, resulting in 19 All-Americans and 30 Big 12 Champions.
<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">Coach Ford says that London has “been by my side since I got hired, and I am looking forward to him continuing to mentor me. The student-athletes really enjoy him, and he
does a great job with the parents, too.”<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">Continuing his role with an established pole vault program, Richards takes the full-time assistant role entering his 10th season with the team. His career with the Bears
included coaching 2021 indoor national champion, Olympian and current American record holder KC Lightfoot from 2019 to 2021. He has also worked with three additional All-Americans, Ben Conacher, Tuesdi Tidwell and Annie Rhodes, BU’s first women’s All-American
in the event. <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">“[Richards] has been with us for a decade and has done a great job with our pole vaulters over the years,” said Ford. “I am looking forward to having him continue the excellence
in our pole vault tradition.”<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">Hood returns to his alma mater and the coaching staff, where he served as a volunteer assistant for two seasons, to coach the multis events and assist with the jumps and
pole vault event groups. Before his graduation in 2017, Hood was an All-Big 12 finisher in the 2016 outdoor decathlon and 2017 indoor heptathlon.<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">“It will be good to get Chase back after being a volunteer assistant with us already for a couple of years,” said Ford. “He is a Baylor Bear, and I am looking forward to
having him back on our team.”<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 three officially take their full-time assistant coaching positions following an indoor and outdoor top-20 finish season for the men and three All-Americans in the women’s
program.<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">“It is going to be great continuing with these additions, and I am looking forward to this next season with them officially on board,” said Ford.
<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">To stay up to date throughout the year on all things Baylor track and field, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorTrack.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></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>
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<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;mso-ligatures:none;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="160" height="44" style="width:1.6666in;height:.4583in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D9B648.C42F8750" 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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