T&F: Lightfoot Hits Nation's Best Pole Vault Mark

Saturday, January 18

Iowa City, IA

All Day

Baylor

Larry Wieczorek Invitational

T&F: Lightfoot Hits Nation's Best Pole Vault Mark

1/18/2020 9:30:00 PM | Track & Field

Complete Results

Sophomore picked up where he left off in 2019, raising the school record to 18-8.25.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – KC Lightfoot cleared a national-best and school record mark of 18-8.25 (5.70) to win the men's pole vault and earn Field Athlete of the Meet to highlight Baylor track & field's final day at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational Saturday on the campus of the University of Iowa.

Lightfoot, a sophomore from Lee's Summit, Mo., just missed clearing 19 feet but still walked away with the event title and Field Athlete of the Meet award for his performance. Riley Richards made his return with a runner-up finish, jumping 17-2.75 (5.25m), while Reese Sarnowski flew past his personal best with a mark of 16-10.75 (5.15m) to place fourth.

Tuesdi Tidwell had a similarly spectacular performance to win the women's pole vault, posting a personal-best jump of 14-3.25 (4.35m) to rank No. 4 nationally and earn female women's field athlete of the meet. Freshman Mackenzie Hayward debuted with a runner-up finish, jumping 13-5.25 (4.10m) to quickly become the No. 3 all-time indoor pole vault performer in school history.

"Pole vault, what can you say?" head coach Todd Harbour said. "Tuesdi – it was a PB (personal best) for her and a facility/meet record. Mackenzie, great start for her. We went 1-2 in the women's pole vault and 1-2-4 in the men's vault. Riley had a big day. That was three PBs for Reese, so a big day for him. And KC just missed 19-foot and broke the school record."

On the track, Howard Fields III won the men's 400 meters premier race and also anchored the men's 4x400-meter relay premier team to victory. The junior from Manvel, Texas, clocked in at 47.11 to win the 400, while he, alongside Maxwell Willis, Matthew Moorer and Jayson Baldridge, won the 4x4 with a time of 3:09.89.

"That was a great way to end it," Harbour said. "Super anchor by Trey (Howard Fields III). Those guys ran really, really well. Trey had a great day, winning the open quarter and beating a good field."

Kennedy Bailey opened the season with a personal-best time of 8.25 to win the women's 60-meter hurdles premier.

"That was an outstanding performance for Kennedy in the hurdles," Harbour said. "A PB, and that's a really good time this early for her."

Alex Madlock won the women's triple jump with a mark of 42-7 (12.98m) to rank sixth nationally, while freshman Koi Johnson placed third in her first meet with a jump of 39-11.5 (12.18m) to move to the No. 10 spot on the school's all-time indoor performers list.

"With Alex winning it, she could have very easily been the performer of the meet," Harbour said. "She and Tuesdi were 4 and 6 nationally. (It was) just a toss-up between those two who you picked. Alex jumped great, and Koi had a great meet."

In the men's triple jump, Jalen Seals recorded an indoor personal-best mark of 51-11.75 (15.84m) to finish in third place.

"It was great to see Jalen jumping that way," Harbour said. "Starting off, he did a great job getting his PB indoor."

Willis (6.71) and Kamden Jackson (6.73) finished second and third in the men's 60 meters premier to cap off a strong weekend for them.

"I thought Maxwell had a big day for him," Harbour said. "(And then) Kam in the 60. Those guys did a good job today… It was fun to watch, trying to keep up with all of it. It was really a good opener. It's not where we want to be six weeks from now, but it was a really good start. Both teams got third. I thought we competed hard and got a lot of freshmen some experience. Across the board, there were a lot of solid performances."

Baylor now heads to the Texas A&M Invitational Saturday (Jan. 25) in College Station, Texas.

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