Harrison, Laird, and Pedigo earn SEC Outdoor Athlete of the Year honors

Baton Rouge, La.  –  Three LSU track and field athletes – JuVaughn Harrison, Terrance Laird, Tzuriel Pedigo – were recognized by the SEC on Wednesday afternoon as SEC Athletes of the Year for outdoor track and field in their respective categories; Harrison was named the Men’s Field Athlete of the Year, Laird was named Men’s Track Athlete of the Year, and Pedigo was named the Men’s Newcomer Field Athlete of the Year.

Harrison won the SEC title in the high jump and placed second in the long jump at the conference meet a few weeks back in College Station, Texas. It was his immaculate performance in the high jump where he cleared seven straight bars with en route to an SEC meet record mark and clearance of 7’ 8.75” (2.36 meters); the performance made him the second best performer in collegiate history. Harrison is 6-1 in outdoor competitions this season and has leaped to an outdoor PR of 27’ 8.25” (8.44 meters) in the long jump to become the sixth best jumper in collegiate history.

Laird garnered SEC High Point Scorer of the Meet honors at the SEC Championships after winning titles in the 100 meters (9.80w), 200 meters (19.82), and 4×100 meter relay (38.87). Laird has had a sensational outdoor season particularly in the 200 meters. He ran a career best of 19.81 seconds in the event at the Texas Relays in March to become the third fastest sprinter in collegiate history over the distance. His wind-legal time of 19.82 seconds broke Justin Gatlin’s SEC meet record of 19.86 that was run back in 2002. Laird has also shown promise in the 100 meters this year, and his wind-aided time of 9.80 at the SEC Championships currently leads the NCAA this year.

Pedigo shared the Newcomer Athlete of the Year award with Joseph Palmer (Kentucky) and Mitch Weber (Missouri). The newcomer award is a specialized one that allowed freshman who did not get to compete during the 2020 outdoor season, because it was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic, to win awards this spring. Pedigo most recently tossed the javelin 246’ 5” (75.11 meters) at the NCAA East Preliminaries to advance to the NCAA Championships; that mark has him ranked No. 9 in the NCAA, and fourth amongst freshmen. Pedigo placed fourth at the SEC Championships with a throw of 232’ 7” (70.89 meters), and his two event titles this season in the javelin came at the Crimson Tide Invitational and Louisiana Classics.

Harrison becomes the second straight LSU athlete to win the Field Athlete of the Year award outdoors as Mondo Duplantis did so in 2019. Damar Forbes (2013) and John Moffitt (2004) have also won the field athlete of the year awards. For the track award, Laird becomes the fourth LSU athlete to win it joining the likes of Xavier Carter (2006), Richard Thompson (2008), and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (2016).