See all 80 Kentuckians who received votes for 2021 Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year

Final voting

One hundred fifty-nine current and former media members from across Kentucky helped select the 2021 Lexington Herald-Leader Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year. Voters submitted up to 10 names. Points were awarded in the following manner: 12 for a first-place vote; 10 for second; eight for third; seven for fourth; six for fifth; five for sixth; four for seventh; three for eighth; two for ninth; one for 10th. First-place votes in parentheses:

x-tie broken by number of first-place votes received

Others receiving first-place votes in order of total points received: Walker Buehler, baseball (1), 76; Ja Morant, basketball (1), 64; Preston Spradlin, basketball (1), 47; Philip Haywood, football (1), 30; Justin Haddix, football (1), 29; Matthew Robertson, bass fishing (1), 12.

Others named on at least two ballots: Justin Thomas, golf, 75; Ben Rhodes, auto racing, 66; Dana Evans, basketball, 60; Scott Davenport, basketball, 51; Kayla Kowalik, softball, 49; Harry Mullins, rifle, 48; Kevin Wallace, football, 47; Reed Sheppard, basketball, 42; Jeff Brohm, football, 41;

Kendra Harrison, track & field, 40; Chris Oliver, football, 40; Isaac Dixon, football, 35; Julius Randle, basketball, 34; Tori Dilfer, volleyball, 32; Donna Moir, basketball, 30; Nick Albiero, swimming, 29; Johni Broome, basketball, 29; Malik Cunningham, football, 29; Christopher Rodriguez, football, 29;

Sophie Galloway, track & field, basketball, 27; Daylen Lile, baseball, 27; Jeff Walz, basketball, 27; Sam Vinson, basketball, 24; Will Levis, football 24; Avery Skinner, volleyball, 21; Travis Hudson, volleyball, 19; Ben Johnson, basketball, 19; Cameron Dukes, football, 17; Liam Draxl, tennis, 13; Dane Key, football, 13; Jerreth Sterns, football, 13; Riley Gaines, swimming, 12; Charles Bassey, basketball, 11; Cam Hergott, football, 11;

Jaime Gordon, volleyball, 10; Trey Sweeney, baseball, 10; Donovan Mitchell, basketball, 9; Abby Steiner, track & field, 9; Anna Stevenson, volleyball, 9; Lars Jorgensen, swimming, 8; Terry Taylor, basketball, 7; Grace Berger, basketball, 6; Michael Mayer, football, 6; Brandon Smith, football, 6; Brandon Reed, wrestling, 5; Essential Quality, horse racing, 4; Carlik Jones, basketball, 4; Jalen Boyd, football, 2; Paige Briggs, volleyball, 2.

Ballot leaders

Candidates included on the most ballots:

Voting by region

How the leaders fared in each region of the state (Eastern Kentucky is the 606 and 859 area codes outside of Lexington; Western Kentucky is the 502 and 270 area codes outside of Louisville)

Past winners

All-time results in Lexington Herald-Leader Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year Award voting:

Note: The award was known as Kentucky Sportsman of the Year from 1981-2015.