A Hall of Fame Athlete and a Lifesaving Physician

Kelsey Falcone Lytle '15, an emergency medicine physician with Methodist Healthcare in San Antonio, credits Trinity with helping start her on the road to working in the medical profession.

"Classes at Trinity were the first to require me to truly digest the material I was learning," says Lytle, who earned diverse degrees in biology and communication. "Science courses, in particular, encouraged me to move beyond rote memorization and to integrate information I've learned to critically evaluate new problems. As an ER doctor, I do this with every single patient, every single day."

Following a successful academic and women's soccer career at Trinity, Lytle went on to McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. She graduated in 2019, then attended Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville for her emergency medicine residency before moving back to San Antonio in 2022.

Lytle's soccer awards at Trinity were numerous. She was an All-American in 2013 and 2014 as well as a three-time All-Region player and four-time All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference selection. Lytle was also elected as an Academic All-American in 2013 and 2014 and the SCAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2014.

She paced the Tigers to four SCAC Championships and an equal number of appearances in the NCAA playoffs. Falcone led the team to its best finish in school history when the Tigers were national runners-up in 2013. She ranks in the top five in both Trinity and SCAC history in goals, assists, and points in a career.

Lytle will become a member of the Trinity Athletics Hall of Fame on October 17 during Trinity's Alumni Weekend. Her Hall of Fame classmates include fellow soccer players Emily Jorgens Cardone '15 and Kyle Altman '09, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at Methodist Healthcare whom Lytle often consults with.

"I am so grateful to even be considered for induction to the Hall of Fame," says Lytle, who entered Trinity from San Antonio's MacArthur High School. "I don't think I would be in this position without having Emily as a teammate, constantly pushing me to be quicker, more technical, and a stronger leader. It's fun to see us now with our own families a decade later getting one last award together!"

Lytle also gives a great deal of credit to her coach, Lance Key '00, who led the Tiger women's soccer team from 2004 to 2015.

"I got the opportunity to coach Kelsey Falcone when she was 10 or 11 years old," says Key about his former standout player. "We were able to recruit her late out of MacArthur High School. I remember thinking, 'what an incredible blessing we are about to get.' She came to Trinity and was everything I had hoped for and expected. She was, and is now, an elite person with elite character and elite determination to be successful at whatever she endeavored to do. She was a leader both on the field and off the field."

As an example of that leadership off that field, Lytle helped kick start Trinity's YoungLife program, a Christian ministry which reaches out to students all over the world. She and her teammate Kirby Peddicord Young '15 worked together to make YoungLife a successful organization on campus.

From the soccer field to the classroom and now to the emergency room, Lytle's path has been defined by excellence and a commitment to serving others.