Kendricks Named To Team USA For World University Games

Ole Miss Sophomore One Of 16 Members Of Team USA

Sam Kendricks
Photo by Josh McCoy / Ole Miss Athletics

Ole Miss pole vaulter Sam Kendricks has been selected as a member of Team USA for the upcoming 2013 World University Games.

Kendricks is part of the 16-member U.S. team that will compete July 6-17 in Kazan, Russia. (See complete U.S. team here)

Athletes eligible for the World University Games include those born between 1985 and 1995, have taken at least one three-credit course toward a degree or diploma in the last year and have met the 2013 WUG qualifying standard.

More than 40 hours of the Games will be shown live on ESPNU, while an additional 250 hours will be shown live on ESPN3. The coverage will focus mainly on basketball, water polo, swimming, track & field, beach volleyball and volleyball.

“It’s always a great honor when you get the opportunity to represent your country,” Ole Miss head coach Brian O’Neal said. “With Sam being in the ROTC here on campus, he is doing that both on and off the track. In every facet of his life, he represents the United States at the highest levels. It’s exciting to see him doing it in the realm in which I work, that is track and field. He’s a great kid, and I look forward to him going over there and doing really well.”

This will extend the Oxford, Miss., native’s phenomenal sophomore season. Kendricks won the 2013 NCAA pole vault title earlier this month and helped the Ole Miss men place eighth at the NCAA Championships, their highest national finish ever.

Kendricks ranks eighth in the world this year with a school-record mark of 19-0.75 that he set at the Texas Relays on March 29. It was the best vault in the NCAA since 1998 and placed Kendricks fifth-best in collegiate history.

Kendricks is the latest in a long line of Ole Miss Rebels that have represented Team USA at international track & field competitions. That list includes Olympic gold medalist Brittney Reese, as well as such standouts as Isiah Young, Mike Granger, Savante’ Stringfellow, George Kersh and Clarence Daniel. — Ole Miss Sports Information