Vaughn Takes Home USTFCCCA Scholar-Athlete Honor

NEW ORLEANS, La. – University of Memphis men's track and field standout and 2018 NCAA discus champion Luke Vaughn has been named the U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Men's Outdoor Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the organization announced Thursday. It is the 11^th year the USTFCCCA has awarded the honor.

Vaughn is the second Memphis men's track and field performer to receive the award. Manuel Ziegler earned the same accolade in 2013 when he finished second in the triple jump and took home All-America first team honors.

Vaughn, an East Peoria, Ill., native, graduated from the University of Memphis with both his bachelor's (business management) and master's (teaching) degrees in 2017 and 2018, respectively. He held a 3.43 grade-point average (GPA) as an undergraduate and a 3.77 GPA in his year as a graduate student.

Below lists the accomplishments of Vaughn's outstanding collegiate career at Memphis:

2018 NCAA champion in the discus
Sixth-place finish in the discus at the 2018 USA Track and Field Championships in late June; set school record with a throw of 207-1 (63.13m)
Three-time All-American in the discus (2014 and 2015 second team; 2018 first team)
Seven-time NCAA East Preliminaries qualifier (4 discus/3 shot put)
28 career titles in all of his throws events combined (indoor/outdoor), including the NCAA crown
Placed 15^that the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Championships and 14^that the 2015 national meet
2018 American Athletic Conference Male Most Valuable Performer
Five-time American Athletic Conference throws champion
Won gold at the league outdoor meet in the discus in 2015 and 2018 and shot put in 2016 and 2018
Also won gold at the indoor meet in the shot put in 2018
12-time American Athletic Conference medalist (5 gold/3 silver/4 bronze)
Holds three school records in the indoor shot put, outdoor shot put and outdoor discus – all set in 2018
Posted the indoor (61-5; 18.72m) and outdoor (61-11.75; 18.89m) shot put records in winning league titles at both conference meets
2018 Zach Curlin Award recipient, given annually to Memphis Athletics' top male student-athlete
Four-time American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team member
Three-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree (2013-14, 2014-15, 2017-18)

University of Memphis Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Luke Vaughn

Related Videos