TicketsCINCINNATI — Track and field standout Loretta Blaut will be inducted into the James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame, the athletics department announced Monday. Blaut was selected for the Bearcats' 2026 Hall of Fame class on Oct. 23 — the Friday night before Cincinnati's football game versus Texas Tech.
More details and the rest of the 50th anniversary class will be announced in the coming weeks. Legendary men’s basketball head coach Bob Huggins’ selection was announced last week.
Blaut, a high jumper who competed for the Bearcats from 2015-2019, will enter the Hall of Fame as arguably the most decorated female athlete in Bearcat track and field history. A six-time All-American — five on the first team — she holds the program record for most All-America honors by a UC female athlete. A five-time AAC Champion, Blaut was a two-time national runner-up in the high jump, earning runner-up finishes at both the 2018 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Her indoor bid was especially dramatic, as she tied for the national title before falling in a seven-round jump-off.
At her peak in 2018, Blaut cleared 1.80 meters or better in seven of eight outdoor competitions. Her crowning moment came at the 2018 AAC Outdoor Championships in Cincinnati, where she set school, meet, conference and facility records with a clearance of 1.88 meters. She closed that summer by finishing sixth at the USATF Championships and representing Team USA at the NACAC Championships in Toronto, where she earned a bronze medal.