Keaton Daniel won his first-ever NCAA pole vault championship

Keaton Daniel won his first-ever NCAA pole vault championship in Boston earlier this month, and describes what that was like. Daniel and the Wildcats will return to outdoor competition March 27-30 as they compete in the Battle on the Bayou, Stanford Invitational, and Texas Relays. Andrew Kappes also gives a recap on UK Baseball & Softball.

Hosted by Andrew Kappes. 

Presented by the Big Blue Brew, subscribe now: UKAthletics.com/BigBlueBrew

Episode Transcript

(00:19):
What's up, Big Blue Nation?Welcome inside UK Sports Network Today, presented
by the Big Blue Brew. AndrewKappi is here with you and great guests
lined up for you. Today.We have Keaton Daniel of UK Track and
Field, recently crowned not only anSEC champion but an NCAA champion in the
indoor poll vault. He is boththe indoor and outdoor record holder in the

(00:43):
pole vault at University of Kentucky.Pretty pretty storied program, so an incredible
accomplishment, one that he's looking toadd to as a UK Track and Field
moves to the outdoor portion of theirtwenty twenty four schedule. In addition to
that, we'll take a look backat the mid week action on the diamond
between softball and baseball, a littlebit of a look ahead as well to

(01:06):
this weekend. It's a jam packedweekend across the UK Sports Network between baseball
and softball before we get to Keaton. As always, the UK Sports Network
Today podcast is brought to you bythe Big Blue Brew and you can sign
up today at Ukathletics dot com slashBig Blue Brew. It's the official newsletter
of UK Athletics and it's completely free. It hits in boxes every weekday morning.

(01:30):
Once again, that's Ukathletics dot comslash Big Blue Brew. Now here's
NCAA champion Keaton Daniel recently crowned SECand NCAA champion. Keaton Daniel of UK
Track and Field joins us here andKeaton first of all, big congrats to
you. We asked you right beforewe sat down for the interview if you

(01:51):
got the hardware already. You do, So how has that been for you?
Oh? No, it's been sick. I've definitely been chasing this one
for a while. You know.It's awesome to see my my hard work
payoff, and it happened in quicksuccession, you know, to get the
SEC crown and then to get then C Double A crown as well.
So that's a bit of a worldwhirlwind for you. Yeah. No,

(02:12):
definitely going to you know, weekon, week off and then back onto
the national championship. It's definitely it'sa journey. You're a pole vaulter.
What goes into that as far asnot just the actual meat itself, but
to just get ready for a meetfor you, I don't know, there's
definitely a I have a whole sequence. You know, I like to follow,
you know, two weeks out we'repreparing for the meat you know,

(02:36):
like I think a lot of peoplesee the meat day and kind of like,
well, that's that's crazy. Butjust the amount of work and dedication
it takes to to jump those highheights and consistently. It's a task.
So it's not something that you're justkind of rolling out of bed and on
meat day, you know, nothaving done it for six days or five
days or whatever. Absolutely not,definitely not. Yeah, I know you
wanted to become a pole vaulter.Is that is that something you were in

(02:59):
track and then just asked to tryor is it something you sought out yourself?
So actually I've been vaulting now forabout fifteen years. So I started
I was doing a summer track programin Texas, so I did competitive gymnastics
as well, so I was asa really mid high jumper and a mid
sprinter. So then I was eightyears old at the time, and I

(03:22):
kind of wandered over the pole vaultand technically we weren't allowed to pull vault
until we were twelve years old.And so for four years I was out
there and I just did drills justwith a coach, and so I was
just kind of fall in love withit, kind of perfecting the craft,
and then ultimately once I was Iwas actually eleven and a half, I
registered as a twelve year old andended a vaulting. But for four years

(03:44):
I just did drills and kind offell in love with the sport and definitely
helped me out to where I amnow. You said he had a little
bit of a gymnastics background. Iimagine being as a man that's afraid of
heights, like terrified of heights,I imagine gymnastics kind of helps you,
uh you know a little bit ofthat adrenaline, a little bit of that
kind of fearlessness because you're just doingall sorts of all sorts of roles.

(04:05):
Oh definitely not. I'm textbook definitionadrenaline junkie. So that's what that's kind
of the rush for you, becauseI would be terrifying, like you're high
up there basically unsuspended, Like that'sjust unfathomable to me. That's the best
part. Anytime when someone asked,oh long, scat of heights, always
just telling them I close my eyes. Is that something you really do?

(04:27):
Or is that a joke. Iwas gonna say that would be incredible.
That would be incredible. So thisseason, when you were coming into it,
your senior campaign, obviously the championshipwas a goal in the SEC and
at the NCAA level as well.What did it take to get there?
Because you had a lot of solidresults in the indoor campaign leading up to

(04:48):
those two weekends. Mm hmm.I think I think sometimes it's really easy
to look at your and your topand when you're doing well. But for
the past I guess maybe two I'vedefinitely struggled as I've I've been changing my
form, trying to perfect my craft, right, So I think that would
speak a little bit louder about,you know, kind of persistence and not

(05:10):
necessarily letting my lowsed fund to fundme or letting my eyes define me as
well. So I think just perseveranceand pushing through the hard times has really
helped me open up these these newavenues and drump consistent heights. So now
that you're an NCAA champion and indoorit kind of shifts to outdoor. Is
there any type of break for youguys between those two seasons or is it
just jumping right in. Luckily,Luckily I had a week a week off

(05:33):
weekness. Yeah, yeah, no, we went down to Florida, helped,
you know, kind of coach orjust kind of be a little support
then, yeah no, but kindof back into it and continue to energy
into outdoor and hopefully, you know, ultimately win another outdoor title. You're
picking up votes on the Bauermann watchList, which is the most prestigious award

(05:55):
in track and field. Abby Steinerthe last cat to win it back in
twenty twenty two. That's some prettyexclusive company to just be mentioned with that
award. So that had to bea pretty cool thing for you when when
you found that out Oh no,definitely, I think I think something for
me is kind of focused on vaultingand vaulting as high as I can and
consistent as I can, and youknow those it's an amazing opportunity. I

(06:16):
think that was just kind of kindof come with it. What's that transition
like for you when you go outdoor? I know you said you had
the week off, but do youdo you approach it differently from a training
aspect or you just mindset or isit just kind of business as usual for
you as it was the winner.Yeah. No, definitely, I mean
you're gonna have different different runways,that's a big thing. So indoors,

(06:38):
all the runways are are these perfectconditions, you know, no wind,
no rain, the runways are allamazing runways. And then you go to
outdoor and it's ultimately you'll jump higheroutdoor just because you have more variables with
it. But no, that definitelynothing really changes, just kind of you
know, still going about early,still eating right, you know, keep
my doing my homework on time.I think nothing really changes. And I

(07:00):
know I found success in indoor doingthose things. I'm going to continue doing
them outdoor. You obviously have tocontend with the elements in the outdoor portion
that you don't As you mentioned,sometimes that can be a good thing in
terms of you know, whether thatbe a tailwind or whatever it might be.
Is that something you enjoy those elementsbecause I'm a baby when it comes
to cold, and I know we'regoing to get some cold days even on
some of those outdoor meets. No. Since then, my my girlfriend's mom

(07:26):
has helped me out a lot withthis. So she talks about the controlling
the controllables. I think that's that'sspoken really really well for me, is
okay, Like what can I doto control this environment and put myself in
the best position? And I can'tcontrol it, then that's just you know,
that's whatever you know, Like,but I've done my part to make
sure that that I'm in the bestposition to jump higher, you know,

(07:47):
succeed on that thing. And Ithink that that applies to more than just
POLBO. I think that works inlife. I think it's a huge,
you know, something that's brought mea lot of success. You're a Las
Vegas native, Nevada na of sowhat made you choose and I'm sure you
had a litany of offers coming outof high school? What made you choose
Kentucky? I mean, definitely Kentucky. So Chris Grimes, here's my coach,

(08:11):
Here's a major, major factory,by far, best coach in the
NCAA. Just biomechanics and just solidguy. I think that was a huge
attract to Kentucky. And also justthe environment here a Kentucky and just knowing
that, you know, building championsisn't something new to Kentucky. I think
it's nice, not necessarily paving myown path, but kind of following the

(08:33):
path of others. I think it'sbeen a huge help for me. Besides
the time zone. What what kindof adjustment was it to to move from
out west to Oh, It's ahuge difference, I think. I don't
know if you've ever been out there, but just just culture, you know,
it was being in the Bible Belt, and there's so many different things.
But ultimately I love Kentucky. It'sbeen it's been a great home for

(08:54):
me. We were talking off theairs speaking of speaking of Kentucky and what
you know, some things that greatthings that it brings to the table.
You're a big fisherman, so howhas the fishing been for you since you
since you got to the Bluegrass.It is funny going, you know,
from being able to drive to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, whatever. But

(09:16):
it's it's a transition. I'm slowlybranching out and then going out to the
gorge, Red River Gorge, justtrying to find new places that everything's just
so overfished over here. It's funny. Yeah, the stocking season doesn't always
hit the the tributaries and the streamsthat that you always hit, so no
waiting for the trout to to popback up at h at Gunpowder and Boone

(09:37):
County, so hopefully not giving awaytoo much about my spot. Yeah,
yeah, it's like we can cutthat out. We'll cut that out and
posted don't tell people about those,keep those at all. Uh. So
you have a you have a hugeroster. And I was given a I
was given a tip that you werekind of the clown that the kind of
the funny guy. I've no ideawhat you're talking about. Would you say
you're the funniest or is there isthere somebody that you would think that might

(09:58):
actually top. And I didn't sayI don't intend to be funny. I
just kind of just I'm honestly surprisedabout the things I say too, you
know, like I'm on this ridewith y'all, so, uh, there's
definitely there's some clouds on the team, and I think it's a very it's
a very fun environment to be around. How hard is it to kind of

(10:18):
you know, everybody's doing different thingsbecause you got the short distance folks,
the long distance folks, and thenkind of the specialists and pull vultures like
yourself. Is it different? Isit difficult to develop like a camaraderie because
it's unlike any other sport. You'rereally you're doing such different things. I
wouldn't say it's difficult. I thinkwe're all there with a similar goal and
it's all just trying to be thebest athlete you can be. It's kind

(10:39):
of nice being in an environment whereyou know everyone's willing to sacrifice something and
you know they're all dedicated to theircraft. I think it's you know,
it's an environment for success. It'sit's really nice to be in. Last
question for you, Keaton speaking environmentfor success. You know, I know
you had that week the quote unquoteoff season, if you will, what
are some of the goals now thatyou're you're a two time SEC champion and

(11:01):
an NCAA champion uh in indoor,what are some of your goals as you
look to the outdoor campaign. Ithink my biggest goal is just consistency and
just kind of going and you know, folks on the meat, you know,
on the days, is what canI do on that day to be
the best athlete I can be andnot get caught up in the details of
it all. I think that'll that'llbring me success. Keaton, love that

(11:22):
approach, love the trophy as well, by the way, can we see
that one more time for the folkson the on the mid stream. That's
cool. I didn't realize that yougot it right away. So you got
to take that home from the meatyep right away. Traveling home with it.
They got a picture of it inthe in the seat belt. It
was funny you did. You didbuckle it up. I think that is

(11:43):
a law. Is a federal seatbelt law for I think so. Yeah.
NCAA Championships, thank you so muchfor your time. Best of luck
in the in the outdoor season,and look forward to catching up soon.
All right, as I was talkingwith you, we look forward to tracking
his season, his teammate season asthey move to the outdoor portion of the
schedule. Lots of big things ontap for University of Kentucky Track and Field.

(12:07):
Let's move to the diamond on Tuesdaynight, beginning with UK baseball as
they were able to pull out awild one against Miami nine to five,
a free pass to Mitchell Daily drivingin albeit forcing in a run as UK
went ahead one nothing. But thenMiami went to work. They got a

(12:28):
pair of RBIs from Tye Bodizich inthe top of the third inning, and
a base hit extended that lead evenfurther for Miami, they led three to
one. Kentucky would answer, though, quickly cutting that lead to one.
A very rare day off for DevinBurks, albeit very deserved for Devin Burks,
nonetheless, but a base hit fromAustin Fawley right back up the box

(12:50):
scored Ryan Nicholson and Kentucky was withinone three to two. A two run
home run in the fifth inning extendedthat Miami lead to five to two.
Kentucky went scoreless in the bottom halfsof the fifth and sixth innings, so
they were facing a deficit with timerunning out when they put up a six
run seventh inning, albeit in someinteresting fashion. Grant Smith with the bases

(13:13):
full, hit by a pitch,Patrick Carrera a walk, Melean Petrie hit
by a pitch, Ryan Nicholson walkfour consecutive Kentucky Wildcats, forcing in a
run, and then the inning washighlighted by a base hit by Nick Lopez
as he singled into right field,knocking in two. When it was all
said and done, Kentucky scored sixtimes in that seventh inning, expanding what

(13:37):
was deficit and turning it into alead at eight to five. Kentucky would
play add on in the bottom ofthe eighth and they played the long ball
game to make it a nine tofive game, which would prove to be
the final margin going Yard was theWestern Kentucky transfer Ty Krittenberger and Kentucky would
hang on for that nine to fivetriumph and Evan Byers picking up the win

(13:58):
out of the bawl. He movesto three and zero on the year.
But the final four innings really reallygood from the Cats bullpen, Frieda and
Robinson also contributing to four scoreless inningsfour hitless innings. Out of that Kentucky
bullpen, combining with five strikeouts,did not issue any free passes. So
some perfect baseball from the Kentucky pitchingstaff that now sets them up for a

(14:22):
big, big weekend. But moreon that later. First, let's hear
the postgame comments from head coach NickMangeo. I don't know if I've been
a part of a day like PatHerrera, like I'm trying to think of
that day, you know where wehave four walks and two hvps. I've
been a part of a lot ofwalks and things like that. But give

(14:43):
our guys a lot of credit,just bought back. They really wanted to
win. I think it'd be reallyeasy to, you know, just go
mad it's not our night. Butwe don't do that and give them a
lot of credit. I thought CamO'Bryan came in, gave us some huge
outs. I thought that double playsloaned. It was awesome. Robert Hogan,

(15:03):
you know he's gonna want to makea little better on two pitch,
but he still end up getting ussix outs and Kobe Freedom was fantastic,
fantastic having buyers. You know,I told our team we got six six
outs from ever buyers. And afterthat long inning where they threw over fifty
pitches in one inning, you know, you're just sitting there and he's like
doing everything. You cannas they losethat. It's not easy. If you

(15:24):
get your buddy cranked up, youget fired up and throw one and you
got to sit that long. Itwas a winning night at John Crops Stadium
for Kentucky softball as well. Theyposted a four to three triumph over the
Dayton Flyers, and much like thebaseball team, Kentucky fell behind early top
of the first inning, Dayton gettinga run on a sack fly to go

(15:45):
ahead one nothing. That was quicklyanswered though a home run off the video
board in the bottom of the secondinning from Grace Larsung and I was on
a three to two pitch to knockthe game up at one all. Dayton
would go back in front two toone in the top of the fourth,
but as they did in the second, it was a quick answer for the
Cats to tie things up, EmeryDonaldson, the true freshman, scoring on

(16:07):
a fielding air to make it twoall. Heading for the fifth inning.
Dayton poked in front with a runin the top half of the sixth inning
on a solo shot, but inthe bottom of the sixth Kentucky would go
ahead for good. Kats would tieit on a double by Cassie Reasoner as
she knocked in Hallie Mitchell to makeit three all, and then quickly in
that still bottom of the sixth frame, a base hit from Lauren Borzolari would

(16:32):
put the Cats in front, andthat would be for good as Cassie Reasoner
crossed the plate, making it afour to three ball game. That would
be the final score as well,Stephanie schoonover coming in to get her eleventh
victory of the year. She wasgreat out of the bullpen. Inside the
circle, she went four innings,allowing two hits, one run, one
walk, and three strikeouts. Katsalso got a good start inside the circle

(16:56):
from Sydney Langdon. She went threeframes, allowing two runs just one earned,
though did not walk about her andstruck out three. Langdon season era
now at two point six zero,very impressive in her young career, and
Schoon over the Ace has her earnedrun average mark down to two point three
zero. Big weekend for both ofthese clubs, and one of them is

(17:18):
occurring at home Kentucky hosting Alabama becauseof Easter weekend. That game, that
series, i should say, againstthe Crimson Tide, falls Thursday through Saturday,
and we will have the coverage onthe UK Sports Network on Thursday,
beginning at six point thirty PM,game one of a very big three game
Southeastern Conference series the thirteenth rank CrimsonTide. As we mentioned in town on

(17:42):
Friday and Saturday as well. Muchlike Thursday, the Friday's game is at
six point thirty that can be foundon SEC Network Plus, as can Saturday's
contest. That one a little bitearlier Bark in the Park all three of
these nights, by the way,looking forward to seeing the Dogos out at
John Crops Stadium, but that seriesfinale against number thirteen Bama will be at

(18:03):
two pm Eastern Time at John CropsStadium. Baseball hitting the road after a
very short stay at Kentucky Proud ParkBig Road Series in Oxford, Mississippi,
as they look to continue their strongoverall start, but especially a strong start
in the SEC. The Batcats arecoming off a road series victory against Maszoo,
taking two out of three from theTigers, but they will face a

(18:26):
step up in competition at number twentytwo Ole miss beginning this Friday seven thirty
pm First pitch. That means DarrenHedrick will be on the air at seven
point fifteen Saturday a two thirty start, so two to fifteen airtime, and
much of the same for the seriesfinale on Sunday two thirty first pitch,
Darren taking the airwaves at two fifteen. All three of those games can be

(18:48):
found on SEC Network Plus, butmake sure to mute that feed and listen
to Darren and UK Sports Network coverageas Kentucky looks to stay hot in Southeastern
Conference play off to a bit ofa xtoric start twenty and four overall and
five and one in conference play,including a very impressive six in one mark
away from Kentucky Proud Park that theCats will look to improve this weekend.

(19:12):
So a lot to come on theUK Sports Network this Thursday, Softball at
six point thirty, baseball Friday throughSunday from Oxford, Mississippi. It should
be a great, great weekend andhope you enjoy it. Hope you enjoyed
this episode, especially that interview withKeaton Daniel. Big thanks to him for
taking time out of his very busyschedule as he moves from being an indoor

(19:33):
Ncuba champion to now his pursuit ofbeing an outdoor Ncuba champion. Best of
luck to him, look forward tofollowing his and his UK Track and field
teammates his progress this year. Andbig thanks as well for everyone involved with
the baseball and softball programs for contributingto this episode. Two, So for
everybody at the UK Sports Network,for Curtis Birch, Darren Hedrick and others.

(19:57):
I'm met hercappus saying thanks for listeningto UK Sports Network today and we'll
talk to you next time you