Baylor Track & Field: Lightfoot Garners Regional Field Athlete of the Year Award

[Coleman, Kellen]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – March 6, 2020

Baylor Track & Field: Lightfoot Garners Regional Field Athlete of the Year Award
Lightfoot won his second-consecutive Big 12 Indoor Championship in the pole vault this season.

For more information contact: Kellen Coleman, 254-749-6507, Kellen_Coleman at baylor.edu<mailto:Kellen_Coleman at baylor.edu>


WACO, Texas – Baylor sophomore KC Lightfoot can add U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division I South Central Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year to his list of accolades, as the USTFCCCA announced its awards for the 2020 indoor track & field season on Friday.

“It’s a great honor for a great young man,” head coach Todd Harbour said. “It’s very well deserved. He’s having a great season, and we hope to be able to keep it up for the rest of the year.”

Lightfoot won his second-consecutive Big 12 Indoor Championship in the pole vault, winning a historic dual with Kansas’ Zach Bradford with a meet-record 18-11 (5.77m). The Lee’s Summit, Mo., product competed in five meets this indoor season, winning all five of them. His wins included head-to-head victories over the No. 1 (Chris Nilsen) and No. 3 (Bradford)-ranked pole vaulters in the NCAA.

“It’s cool to be named regional athlete of the year,” Lightfoot said. “I’m happy that my season has been good enough to win the award. It wouldn’t be possible without the help I get from our trainers and coaches. I’m excited to face off at NCAAs next week with some of the best.”

Lightfoot set a conference record with three Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Week honors in one season, and his four awards overall is just one shy of the Big 12 career record. He was named National Athlete of the Week by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Feb. 18 after defeating Nilsen with his season-best mark of 19-1.5 (5.83m) at the Iowa State Classic.

Lightfoot holds the Baylor school record in the indoor pole vault, a mark he set or tied four times this indoor season. He holds the top eight jumps in school history, and heads into the NCAA Championships as the No. 1-ranked pole vaulter in the Big 12, No. 2 in the NCAA, and No. 7 in the world.

Lightfoot will compete for the NCAA Indoor Championship next Friday at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, N.M. The men’s pole vault will begin at 5:15 p.m. CT.

For continued updates on the Baylor Track & Field team, follow the team's social media accounts all season long: @BaylorTrack.



__________________________________

Kellen Coleman | Associate Director of Communications
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
O: 254-710-4049 | C: 254-749-6507

 [/var/folders/pf/02zg9swd0fz7qy7f5nkl4mymsr0bxx/T/com.microsoft.Outlook/WebArchiveCopyPasteTempFiles/cidimage004.png at 01D50713.9CE40560] <http://baylorbears.com/>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/localmedia/attachments/20200306/ffabcc4b/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 14096 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://mailman.baylor.edu/pipermail/localmedia/attachments/20200306/ffabcc4b/attachment-0001.png>