Kentucky freshman Kemarah Howard earned her first career SEC honor on Monday by winning the Women's Freshman Field Athlete of the Year award, according to UK Athletics.

Howard completed a historic freshman campaign in women's high jump, becoming the first true freshman in SEC history to sweep the conference's indoor and outdoor championships in the same year. She cleared 1.87 meters (6 feet 1.5 inches) at the SEC Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas, claiming the gold medal and setting the second-best mark in Kentucky program history.

At the SEC Outdoor Championships in Auburn, Howard continued her dominance by winning again with her season-best height of 1.90 meters (6 feet 2.75 inches), which ranks her in a three-way tie for second nationally heading into the NCAA Championships. That mark also set a new UK women's outdoor freshman record.

Howard qualified for the NCAA Championships on her home track in Lexington two weeks ago, posting 1.82 meters (5 feet 11.5 inches) to earn one of 22 individual qualifiers for the Wildcats at the NCAA East First Round. She enters the national meet with a season-best mark that is second only to former Wildcat Ellen Ekholm's school record of 1.91 meters (6 feet 3.25 inches) in program history.

The NCAA Outdoor Championships are scheduled for Wednesday through Saturday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Howard and the Kentucky women's team open competition on Wednesday, June 10.