Baylor T&F: Lightfoot Repeats as USTFCCCA Regional Athlete of the Year
WACO, Texas – For the second-consecutive year, KC Lightfoot has been named U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division I South Central Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year, as the USTFCCCA announced its awards for the 2020 indoor track & field season on Thursday.
“Regional field athlete of the year is an exciting award to say the least,” Lightfoot said. “Unfortunately, it won’t be presented at NCAAs during the banquet. But that doesn’t take away from the excitement of getting it for the second year in a row.”
Lightfoot is the first Baylor athlete to win multiple USTFCCCA regional awards, and is one of only two (Trayvon Bromell, 2015 outdoor) in school history to be honored with a USTFCCCA yearly award. Lightfoot won his third-consecutive Big 12 Indoor Championship with a meet-record jump of 19-4.25 (5.90m) this past weekend in Lubbock. The junior from Lee’s Summit, Mo., set a new collegiate record on three separate occasions, becoming the first collegian to ever clear the 6.00-meter mark indoors (19-8.25, 6.00m) at the Texas Tech Shootout on Feb. 12-13. Lightfoot is ranked No. 1 in both the NCAA and Big 12, and is No. 3 in the world as one of only three men’s pole vaulters to clear 6.00 meters this season.
“This is another very nice and well-deserved award for KC,” head coach Todd Harbour said.
Lightfoot tied his own conference record with three Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Week honors in one season, and his seven awards overall is two clear of the next person on the Big 12 indoor career list. He was named both 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).
Lightfoot has been officially announced as a qualifier 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 https://dt8v5llb2dwhs.cloudfront.net/Indoor/2021/index.htm.
For continued updates on the Baylor Track & Field team, follow the team's social media accounts all season long: @BaylorTrack.
Baylor USTFCCCA Indoor Track & Field Regional Athletes of the Year
2021: KC Lightfoot, Jr. (Indoor Men’s Field Athlete of the Year)
2020: KC Lightfoot, So. (Indoor Men’s Field Athlete of the Year)
2015: Trayvon Bromell, So. (Outdoor Men’s Track Athlete of the Year)