The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Track And Field Announces Four Signees
2/9/2011 | Track and Field
Feb. 9, 2011
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss has received four national letters of intent from standout high school student-athletes to join the Rebel track and field program for the 2011-12 academic year, head coach Joe Walker announced Wednesday.
Joining the Rebels next year will be nationally ranked pole vaulter Sam Kendricks (Oxford, Miss.) on the men's side, as well as long-distance runners McKenna Coughlin (Johnson City, N.Y.) and Haley Cutright (Roanoke, Va.) and nationally ranked 400 meter standout Monica Williams (Virginia Beach, Va.) on the women's side.
"We are really excited to have signed these athletes," head coach Joe Walker said. "They are all quality athletes and also great people. They should make an immediate impact on our program and we are excited to have them coming to Ole Miss."
One of Oxford's own, Sam Kendricks will join the Rebels after a highly successful prep career at Oxford High School. A three-time All-State honoree, he won the state title in the pole vault last year. He has the No. 1 all-time Mississippi high school pole vault mark for indoor (15 feet) and the No. 2 all-time mark for outdoor (15-4). He emerged onto the national scene last year by placing second in the pole vault at the New Balance Emerging Elite competition and has recently been ranked No. 15 in the nation in the event. He also helped Oxford High claim the 2007 and 2009 state championships. Kendricks, who also runs cross country and plays soccer, is an honor roll student and active in a variety of clubs and leadership roles at school. He is a student battalion commander with the OHS Marine Junior ROTC with a rank of Cadet Lt. Col., and he plans to study engineering in college and pursue a career in the United States Armed Forces.
A senior at Johnson City High School in Johnson City, N.Y., McKenna Coughlin is a two-time captain of both her cross country and track teams. She holds personal bests of 10:03 in the 3,000 meters and 7:13 in the 2,000 meter steeplechase. She competed at the 2010 New Balance national track meet. Also a model student, she is a member of the National Honor Society and is president of the Key Club at her school.
A standout long-distance runner, Haley Cutright will join the Rebels by way of Hidden Valley High School in Roanoke, Va. A top-four finisher in the Virginia state cross country championships in all four years of high school (state runner-up as a freshman and senior), she qualified for the Nike Cross Country Nationals after a fourth-place finish at the Nike Southeast region meet. She is competing in track for the first time in her life as a senior and has already recorded the eighth-best time in the state in the indoor mile (5:05.82) and in the indoor 1,000 meters (3:01.31) after just one running of each event. Her personal-best 5K cross country time is 17:43. She is also the captain of her Hidden Valley soccer team and is involved in a number of community service and academic clubs.
One of the nation's top 400 meter runners, Monica Williams is a senior at Green Run High School in Virginia Beach, Va. She won the state title in the 400 with a time of 54.60 as a junior last year and was ranked No. 17 in the country in the event. In the 500 meter indoor race, she ran the top time in the nation last season with a 1:13.30 to win the state championship. Her personal best in the 200 meters is 24.25.
