Kris Grimes, Keaton Daniel Earn USTFCCCA Regional Awards

NEW ORLEANS, La. — Kentucky track & field Assistant Coach Kris Grimes and senior Keaton Daniel earned United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Southeast Region awards this afternoon for their achievements during the 2024 outdoor season.

Daniel was named the southeast region’s Men’s Field Athlete of the Year while Assistant Coach Kris Grimes was named the Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year.

Daniel, who won the same honor after the indoor season, takes home the second USTFCCCA regional honor of his career. Daniel, who hails from Henderson, Nevada, won the pole vault at the 2024 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a clearance of 18’7.25”/5.67 meters and earned his sixth straight Southeastern Conference gold medal at the SEC Outdoor Championships last month. He also became the first pole vaulter in program history to sweep both the indoor and outdoor national titles in the same calendar year.

In his sixth year as an assistant coach at Kentucky, Grimes coached Daniel to a sixth SEC gold medal and first NCAA Outdoor Championships title in the pole vault. He also guided All-American Luke Brown to his first SEC gold medal and a fifth-place finish in the triple jump at the national meet. That duo scored all 14 points for the Wildcats on the national stage. Grimes, who took home the same award after the indoor season, adds a fourth USTFCCCA Assistant Coach of the Year award to his resume.

The Southeast Region is comprised of 35 Division I schools in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Kentucky. Daniel and Grimes will now move to a national ballot that includes all region winners, plus the coaches of the top-four placing programs at the national championships in the Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year categories.

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