This weekend’s track and field meet is named in honor of Rodriq McCravy, a former UK track athlete. McCravy, who quickly established himself as a leader with great respect and care for others, died in 1987 at age 19.

McCravy was just a sophomore, but he had already made a lasting impact on his teammates, coaches and the UK administration.

“He was such a great guy and an extremely well-liked member of our team,” former UK track and field head coach Don Weber said. “He contributed in so many ways other than what he did on the track. He was really a unique person in that regard.

“The thing that really stands out was how universally, everyone had such a high regard for Rod. I’ve had a lot of great kids over the years, but I don’t know if we’ve had anybody that everybody thought of him that way. It was people on and off the track team. He was an exceptionally unique person.”

This weekend’s Rod McCravy Memorial Meet, which was first held the year after McCravy died, extends his legacy and continues to teach others about what made him so special.

“He was a fabulous person,” Weber said. “This is an opportunity to recognize Rod and also an opportunity to, each year, talk about Rod with the team. We talked about his qualities, and his impact and contributions to the team.”

A graduate of Louisville Trinity High School, McCravy was a two-time state champion. Upon his arrival at UK, he set the freshman record in the 400-meter hurdles, finished sixth in the TAC National Junior Championships and was a member of the school-record 1,600-meter relay team.

Along with his actions away from the track, Weber remembers McCravy’s demeanor as being just as positive on the track.

“He didn’t have a negative attitude, in that ‘They’re defeating me.’ ” Weber said. “It was, ‘They’re helping me run faster and I have to do my best to run with them.’ That, in a strictly athletic sense, Rod’s story helped us, but also stressing the importance of all the qualities that Rod had and how those are important.”

McCravy made a great first impression on Weber, who immediately saw something special in the high-school student during his recruiting visit to campus. McCravy was planning on competing for the Blue and White as a walk-on.

Instead, McCravy earned a scholarship based off his work ethic, attitude and leadership qualities. Weber knew he would make an impact not only on the track, but away from it as well.

“He came and visited,” Weber said of McCravy’s recruiting trip. ‘We did not have any intentions of giving him a scholarship. I met with him and his dad in my office. His dad didn’t say anything, he and I just talked. Over the course of our conversation, Rod impressed me so much with his leadership skills, him as a person that we ended up offering him a scholarship, mainly because of him as a person. That was the first non-athletic, ‘people’ scholarship that we gave out.”

Now, 26 years later, the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet — this year designated as the weekend’s “best meet in the nation” by the United States Track Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) featuring perennial powers Oregon and Florida — lives on, and so does McCravy’s legacy. Current student-athletes and the coaching staff didn’t know McCravy, but he continues to have an impact on the team and the track and field program. His influence lives on, even as the people he directly impacted move on.

This weekend as some of the nation’s best track and field athletes compete at the Nutter Field House, McCravy will be remembered.