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<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><a name="_Hlk490052374"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – </span></b></a><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">March
4, 2021</span></b><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> </span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> </span></b><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Baylor Track & Field: Lightfoot, Nugent Garner Big 12’s Top Honors</span></b><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Lightfoot and Nugent have both been officially announced as qualifiers for NCAA Indoors.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WACO, Texas –
</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">KC Lightfoot was named Men’s Performer of the Year and Ackera Nugent earned Women’s Outstanding Freshman of the Year as the Big 12 Conference announced its 2021 indoor track
& field honors Thursday afternoon.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">“We’re very excited for both of them,” head coach Todd Harbour said. “These are always great honors. KC has had a phenomenal indoor season and hopefully will finish
on a high note next week at Nationals. I’m happy for him. It’s another nice award. Ackera being a freshman, this is not unexpected, but she battled injury a little bit in the middle of the season and didn’t run a couple meets. For her to have that kind of
race at conference to finish off her indoor season to this point heading into the NCAA meet was awesome. It was a great performance for her, and a prelude of things to come, I believe. I’m very proud of both of them.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Lightfoot is the first Baylor athlete since Reggie Witherspoon (2006 and 2007) and third in school history to earn the top indoor men’s conference honor after putting
together the best indoor pole vault season in NCAA history. The junior from Lee’s Summit, Mo., set a new collegiate record on three separate occasions and became the first collegian to ever clear the 6.00-meter mark indoors. Lightfoot’s mark of 19-8.25 (6.00m)
set at the Texas Tech Shootout on Feb. 12-13 is tops in the NCAA and Big 12, and ranks him No. 3 in the world as one of only three men’s pole vaulters to clear 6.00 meters this season. Lightfoot cleared at least 5.90m in all five meets during the indoor season,
winning his third-consecutive Big 12 Indoor Championship with a meet-record jump of 19-4.25 (5.90m). Lightfoot was named Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Men's Athlete of the Week three times, and took home USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week and USA Track &
Field (USATF) Athlete of the Week honors after breaking the collegiate record for the first time at the Texas Tech Corky Classic with a then-world leading mark of 19-5.75 (5.94m). Lightfoot is on The Bowerman watch list for 2021, presented annually to the
year's most outstanding collegiate male and female track & field athlete (indoor and outdoor track & field combined). This is his second Big 12 yearly award as he was named men’s outstanding freshman of the year in 2019.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">“I’m glad to be the Big 12 Indoor Men’s Performer of the Year,” Lightfoot said. “I’m even more excited to bring the award back to Baylor since the
last time we had it was in 2007. I’ve put up some pretty big bars this season, and my jump is feeling better than ever coming into NCAAs.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Nugent is the third Baylor athlete to be named women’s outstanding freshman of the year indoors and first since Morgan Stewart in 2018. Nugent blazed to a time of
7.91 in the prelims of the 60-meter hurdles at the Big 12 Indoor Championship, setting the Baylor school record and tying the best under-20 mark in world history. If ratified, it would be deemed the U20 World Record in the women’s 60-meter hurdles. The freshman
from Kingston, Jamaica, finished as the Big 12 runner-up with a second-place finish in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles, clocking in at 7.98 behind 2019 NCAA Indoor Champion Chanel Brissett of Texas. Nugent burst onto the scene at the Aggie Invitational
on Jan. 23, clocking in at 8:08 to hold the No. 2 spots in both the Big 12 and NCAA at the time. With a now-adjusted time of 7.93, Nugent remains No. 2 in both the Big 12 and NCAA and is tied for ninth in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">“You are what you repeatedly do every day,” Nugent said. “Excellence is not an act, but a habit. I really am honored that I was chosen for Big 12 Women’s Outstanding Freshman
of the Year.”</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Lightfoot and Nugent have both been officially announced as qualifiers for the 2021 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, which will take place March 11-13 in
Fayetteville, Ark. Live results from the championships can be found at <a href="https://dt8v5llb2dwhs.cloudfront.net/Indoor/2021/index.htm">
https://dt8v5llb2dwhs.cloudfront.net/Indoor/2021/index.htm</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">For continued updates on the Baylor Track & Field team, follow the team's social media accounts all season long: @BaylorTrack.</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">2021 Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Awards<br>
</span></u></b><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Men’s Performer of the Year: </span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">KC Lightfoot, Baylor<br>
<b>Women’s Performer of the Year: </b>Ruth Usoro, Texas Tech**<br>
<b>Men’s Outstanding co-Freshman of the Year: </b>Kyle Gale, Kansas State<br>
<b>Men’s Outstanding co-Freshman of the Year: </b>Yusuf Biziamana, Texas<br>
<b>Women’s Outstanding Freshman of the Year: </b>Ackera Nugent, Baylor<br>
<b>Men’s Coach of the Year: </b>Edrick Floréal, Texas**<br>
<b>Women’s Coach of the Year: </b>Edrick Floréal, Texas<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Baylor Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Men’s Performers of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">2021: KC Lightfoot, Jr.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">2007: Reggie Witherspoon, Sr.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">2006: Reggie Witherspoon, Jr.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">1999: Brandon Couts, So.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Baylor Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Women’s Outstanding Freshmen of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">2021: Ackera Nugent<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">2018: Morgan Stewart<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">2007: Nichole Jones<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:black">__________________________________</span></b><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:6.5pt;color:black"> </span></b><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#154734">Kellen Coleman</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#18481F"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black">|
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Associate Director of Communications</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Department of Athletics | Baylor University</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">O: 254-710-4049 | C: 254-749-6507</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:7.5pt;color:black"> </span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"> </span><a href="http://baylorbears.com/"><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="153" height="43" style="width:1.5937in;height:.4479in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D71111.354ACDD0" alt="/var/folders/pf/02zg9swd0fz7qy7f5nkl4mymsr0bxx/T/com.microsoft.Outlook/WebArchiveCopyPasteTempFiles/cidimage004.png@01D50713.9CE40560"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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