Sports Photography
Kelly Lemons / Waco Tribune-Herald

It was only after pulling up all her images from the Baylor-Las Vegas game back at the Tribune-Herald that Kelly Lemons realized she had the crucial photo of the game's key player.

Poised on Las Vegas' goal line, Baylor led with seconds to play. Instead of taking a knee and running out the clock, Baylor's quarterback handed off to a tailback. He fumbled, and a Las Vegas defender scooped up the ball and ran 100 yards for the winning touchdown.

"We [photographers] went running on field and were just shooting guys," Lemons said. "Then I saw this player who was emotionally distraught. He threw his jersey off. A coach came to comfort him, but he pushed the coach away. I shot his jersey on the ground so we would know his number. It turned out he was the tailback who had fumbled."

A Brownsville native, she joined the photography staff of the Tribune-Herald in 1999, five months before receiving her bachelor's degree in mass communication from Southwest Texas State University.

Lemons interned two summers at the Valley Morning Star in Harlingen, Texas, and was a sports photographer at the San Marcos Daily Record before joining the Tribune-Herald.

She is working on a master's in journalism from Baylor University.