By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
           
Fifteen years after walking on at Baylor and earning a "books scholarship" her first semester, Lauren Hagans Paquette is going into the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame.
           
Based on her times coming out of Little Rock Christian Academy in Arkansas, Paquette said she was the "worst athlete" in Baylor's freshman class in 2004.
When she left in 2008, Paquette was one of the most decorated distance runners in program history, winning two conference championships, earning six All-American honors and setting three school records that still stand.
           
"Obviously, Coach (Todd) Harbour and Coach (Jon) Capron) had a lot to do with that," said Hagans, part of the 2019 class for the Hall of Fame that will be inducted Nov. 22. "They just saw that I had more in me to give and never gave up on me. . . . I think a big part of that is not getting too far ahead of yourself and knowing that it takes time and you'll get there."
           
Paquette not only "got there," she's still going. Now 33 years old and being coached by her husband, Dr. Max Paquette, Lauren is a world-class runner and finished sixth in the 5,000 meters at this summer's Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
           
"Every year is different," she said. "I've had the unfortunate luck of struggling with a bunch of injuries post-Baylor and in my pro career. That's been an obstacle, for sure. And it can be a grind, but I also just love to train and compete and run. So, when you're feeling good and you're excited about racing, it doesn't necessarily feel like a grind."
           
Predominantly a half-miler in high school, Paquette still holds the Baylor school records in the outdoor 1,500 meters (4:15.01) and 4x800 (8:28.48) and 4x1600 (19:05.8) relays.
As a senior in 2007-08, she earned All-America honors with a 35^th-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships; won Big 12 titles in the indoor distance medley relay and outdoor 800 meters; and had top-eight NCAA finishes in the DMR and 3,000 meters indoors and the 1,500 meters outdoors.

"I knew I wanted to run in college, but I wouldn't say I was fully committed to that until after my freshman year when I had time to marinate, I guess, and got glimpses of how good I could be," she said.

Her loose connection with Baylor was that her high school coach's wife actually ran for Harbour in junior high at Riesel, Texas.

"I think I spoke to him on the phone once, but I really honestly wasn't actively recruited by anybody," Paquette said. "And understandably so when you run the times I ran in high school. It's not like, 'Oh, this girl is going to be really good.' But, Coach Harbour did come to the meet after the state meet in high school in Arkansas to watch me run. And then, from there he told me that, 'Yeah, we'll give you a books scholarship.' I'm pretty blue-collar, I kind of worked my way up through the ranks."

Particularly on the professional level, track is very much an individual sport. But, some of Paquette's greatest success and most fun came on the relay teams at Baylor.

"I'm not a sprinter, so I'm not doing the 4x100 and the 4x400 on the world stage like the sprinters do, and I get super jealous," she said. "The main thing I really miss is the relays. Drake Relays was one of my favorite events of the year, because you got to run with your teammates and you were reliant on your teammates. It wasn't just all about you. And I've never done as well when I feel like I'm just running for myself."

Paquette also enjoyed being part of the cross country teams that made four-straight trips to the NCAA Championships, with a pair of top-20 finishes in 2005 and '07. She was a scoring runner all four years and earned All-America honors as a senior, running the 6,000-meter course in 21:00.0

"Cross country was actually really hard for me," she said. "I really liked the team aspect, too, but it was like, 'Oh my gosh, just don't die!' I would say the relays were definitely a strength of mine, but it was mostly because I got to run for my teammates."

After initially coming to Baylor as a music major, wanting to study piano, Paquette switched to forensic science and then eventually graduated from Baylor with a degree in exercise physiology.

Married in 2014, she also earned a masters in sports psychology from the University of Tennessee and operates an online coaching program with her husband, Elite Sports Performance.

Paquette, who plans on "running until I don't want to do it anymore," has her sights set on making the USA team for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan in either the 5,000 or 10,000 meters.

This past summer was a special one for Paquette, who was selected to represent USA in the Pan Am Games and then got a call two weeks later about her election to the Baylor Hall of Fame.

"That topped (the Pan Am Games), for sure. I'm very, very excited to be inducted, and I can't wait to be back in Waco," she said.

Joining Hagans Paquette in the 2019 Hall of Fame class are former football players John Adickes, Steve Beaird and Robin Jones, men's golf All-American Ryan Baca, softball's Lisa Ferguson Murphy, baseball's Josh Ford and pro basketball player Curtis Jerrells. Additionally, Mark Hurd (posthumously) and Jody Conradt will be added to the Wall of Honor.

The Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame banquet will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22, in the Brazos Room at the Waco Convention Center. Tickets cost $50 per person, with table sponsorships also available for $600 (green) and $800 (gold), and can be purchased by contacting the "B" Association at 254-710-3045 or by email at Tammy_Hardin@baylor.edu.