March 11, 2013

NEW ORLEANS - Three Rebels participated in last weekend's NCAA Indoor Championships, and all three came away with first team All-America honors, as announced Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Sophomore Sam Kendricks was named a first team All-American in the pole vault, senior Ricky Robertson made it in the high jump and freshman Asia Cooper in the 60 meters.

Robertson also earned honorable mention All-America honors in the triple jump.

First-team honors were given to those who placed in the championships' top eight in an event or were a member of an eight-person final. Second-team honors were earned by those who finished between ninth and 16th place. Honorable mention honors went to any other athletes who competed at the championships. USTFCCCA membership by a program is required to earn All-America awards.

Kendricks and Robertson combined to score nine points and lead Ole Miss to a tie for 23rd in the team standings. It was the ninth time in program history that the Rebels have finished top 25 nationally indoors.

Kendricks, an Oxford, Miss., native, cleared 18-4.5 to shatter his own school record and finish third in the pole vault on the first day of competition in Fayetteville, Ark. He achieved the highest national indoor pole vault finish in school history and was named an All-American for the second time in his career (2012 outdoor second team).

Robertson is an indoor All-American for the fourth straight year after he placed sixth in the high jump on Saturday. He cleared 7-5, which would have been good enough to win a national title at last year's meet. He only took one attempt in the triple jump before bowing out due to an abdominal injury, thus receiving honorable mention status in that event.

A native of Hernando, Miss., Robertson is now a seven-time All-American, six-time SEC champion and holds two school records when combining his indoor and outdoor careers.

Cooper capped her incredible freshman indoor season with an eighth-place finish in the 60 meters (7.41). She tied her personal best of 7.31 in the preliminaries to make Saturday's final. The Jackson, Miss., native is just the second woman in school history to earn All-America honors in the 60 meters (along with Teneeshia Jones).

Ole Miss now turns its attention to the outdoor season, which begins with the SEC/Big Ten Challenge on March 23 in Starkville, Miss.