UM reservist top USA track athlete

On the strength of a miraculous pole-vaulting season, Army Reserve 1st Lt. Sam Kendricks of Oxford, Miss., was voted the USA Track and Field’s top male athlete for 2017. Kendricks, who won the pole vaulting world title in London this past summer went 17-0 in competition throughout 2017. He took the bronze medal in last year’s Rio Olympics becoming the first U.S. military member to ever medal. The Army reservist had been the first Ole Miss Rebel to win an NCAA pole-vaulting championship. He’s already looking past 2020’s Tokyo games to perhaps the 2024 Olympics in Los Angeles. He will be honored at the USA Track and Field annual banquet in Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 2. (Source: The Associated Press 11/23/17) Kendricks serves with the Army Reserves’ 655th Transportation Company in Millington, Tenn. (Source: The Associated Press 11/23/17)