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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"><b><u>BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – March 20, 2026</u></b></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; color: black;"><b>No. 10 Baylor EQ Gears Up as the No. 4 Seed in Big 12 Championship</b></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; color: black; background-color: white;"><b><i>Bears in search of fifth Big 12 title</i></b></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>For more information contact:
</b>Zach Babajanof-Rustrian; 813-817-2451, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; color: purple;"><u><a href="mailto:zach_babajanofrustr1@baylor.edu" data-outlook-id="e32939ff-c2c7-4601-bd6b-d929a7cfd2f9" style="color: purple; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">zach_babajanofrustr1@baylor.edu</a></u></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>WACO, Texas –</b> The 10<sup>th</sup>-ranked Baylor equestrian team earned the No. 4 seed for the Big 12 Equestrian Championship, as announced by the Big 12 league office
on Friday afternoon. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The Bears (3-8, 2-4) will meet the No. 1 seed Oklahoma State Cowgirls (6-3, 4-2) in the semifinals on March 27</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">in Stillwater, Okla., at the Pedigo-Hull Equestrian Center. The winner of the matchup will go against the winner of No. 2 seed Fresno State (7-4, 3-3) and No. 3 seed
TCU (7-5, 3-3) in the finals of the Big 12 Championship on March 28.</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">BU is in search of its fifth Big 12 title and looks to improve its 5-8 record in the semifinals of the tournament. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Oklahoma State holds the all-time series record at 42-13. Baylor is in search of its first win over the Cowgirls since the 2019 Big 12 Championship, where the Bears defeated
OSU to win the title 10-10 (2,856-2,635.5). The last time the two faced off was in February when then-No. 5 Oklahoma State defeated Baylor 10-8 in Waco. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Heading into the Big 12 Championship, the Jumping Seat squad is led by senior standouts Lauren Jorgensen and Lauren Reid, who both double up in Fences and Flat. Reid leads
the Big 12 in the most combined Most Outstanding Performer nods with seven (3 in Fences and 4 in Flat), while Jorgensen is second with six MOP honors (3 in both Fences and Flat). </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Reid currently holds the program record for season score averages in a minimum of 10 meets in both Fences (85.09) and Flat (83.68) during the Maxwell Era, with Jorgensen right
behind her in Fences with an average score of 84.36. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">On the Western side, four riders have earned their first-career MOP nod this season, while senior Anna Thron garnered her second career honor this season. Fifth-year senior
Bella Hehr, sophomore Britt McIlnay and senior Kalena Reynolds all earned the honor in Reining, while junior Carley Rutledge earned back-to-back MOPs against TCU (February 6) and UT Martin (March 6) in Horsemanship. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">All Big 12 Equestrian Championship updates will be posted on the league’s
<a href="https://big12sports.com/tournaments/?id=1053&path=equest" data-outlook-id="9ecc569b-4948-4033-bf0b-5f42a8bfadd9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
website</a>. </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">For more information on Baylor Equestrian, follow @BaylorEQ on X, Instagram and Facebook.</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><i> - BaylorBears</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: black;"><i><u>.com</u> -</i></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;">__________________________________________</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(7, 61, 30);"><b>Zach Babajanof-Rustrian</b> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">| Communications Assistant (Equestrian) </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: black;">Department of Athletics | Baylor University</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: black;">C: 813-817-2451</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; color: black;"><a href="http://baylorbears.com/" title="http://baylorbears.com/" data-outlook-id="5e8d3c9c-ab39-4143-ba17-b5c867a14255" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><img src="cid:2C9A4FED-9687-4C6C-AB41-86531B717090" alt="signature_2230589939" id="Picture_x0020_1" width="159" height="43" style="width: 1.6666in; height: 0.4583in; max-width: 100%; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"></a></span></p>
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