Kendricks Breaks American Record, Reese Snags Eighth U.S. Outdoor Title

DES MOINES, Iowa – Olympic bronze medalist Sam Kendricks cemented himself as one of the world's all-time best pole vaulters after breaking the American record, while three-time Olympian Brittney Reese captured her eighth career outdoor national title at a spectacular Day Three of the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships at Drake Stadium on Saturday.

Kendricks – an Oxford native and the reigning world champion with an automatic bye to the IAAF World Championships in Qatar later this year – was flawless over his first eight bars, wrapping up the competition and his sixth consecutive U.S. outdoor title with his clearance of 5.86m (19-02.75). He went on to clear 5.91m (19-04.75) on his first attempt as well before instructing officials to move the bar to an American record height of 6.06m (19-10.50).

Kendricks missed his first attempt, but on his second try and with the crowd behind him he was able to narrowly slip around the cross bar for the American record. As he looked up to see that it had stayed on the standard, he was mobbed by the other competitors in the pit to celebrate clearing the best height in the world since Ukraine's Sergei Bubka set the world outdoor record of 6.14m (20-01.75) on July 31, 1994, when Kendricks was not yet two years old.

🚨 AMERICAN RECORD 🚨 @samkendricks
6.06m/19-10.50
Swipe 👈 to watch#ToyotaUSATFOutdoors pic.twitter.com/QqViQ71LVl
— USATF (@usatf) July 27, 2019

"As I came over the bar I looked to the left and saw that I hit it, but I didn't hit it as hard as I did the one before, and I said, that's gonna stay," Kendricks told reporters after the competition. "And as I was falling I said, they're about to come tackle me. All of these guys, I know them, we've been jumping together for years. I looked and they were lined up on the edge of the runway clapping for me. I've never been to a competition where there's enough guys that want success for you that bad."

His performance on Saturday puts him No. 2 on the all-time world outdoor list and tied for third on the combined indoor/outdoor list, in addition to toppling Mondo Duplantis' American record of 6.05m (19-10.25) from 2018. Kendricks' win is his sixth outdoor title in a row, making him the first American to win that many consecutively. In 2018, Kendricks became the first American to win five in a row since Cornelius Warmerdam won five from 1940-44.

"My only goal was formulated when I went to my first USA Championships. I said when I get the chance to wear USA, all I can say is that I want to be hard to beat," Kendricks said. "If you want to be unbeatable, you'll never attain anything worthwhile. There's so much more to our sport than just winning, and I just want to compete well."

Reese – the 2012 Olympic gold medalist and 2016 silver medalist – had a superb competition of her own, winning her 12th overall U.S. long jump title and her eighth outdoors with a Drake Stadium record 7.00m (22-11.75) on her second attempt. It was her first wind-legal seven-meter jump of the season, and it was good for a dominant eight-inch victory in her 11th year on the pro circuit since leaving Ole Miss in 2008.

"This was a good one," Reese said. "I wanted to just go out and try to get the world lead, and I still ended up getting a seven-meter jump. Finally got one to be legal, so I'm really impressed with that. I'm a little bit behind on my training. I know I've got eight weeks left to be where I need to be. To me, I'm right on schedule. I'm where I need to be, just got to shore up some things and get some more speed work in and everything will fall into place."

BEAST MODE. @DaLJBeast wins her 8️⃣th USATF Outdoors 🥇, jumping 7.00m/22-11.75! #ToyotaUSATFoutdoors pic.twitter.com/tzjAc9RXir
— USATF (@usatf) July 27, 2019

With an automatic bye to her 11th World Championships (her sixth outdoors) already in-hand, Reese did not have to compete this weekend, but her victory further enshrined her as one of the top American-born athletes of all-time. Her eighth outdoor long jump title puts her in a tie with six-time Olympic medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee for third all-time, trailing only 11 from Stella Walsh (1930, '39-46, '48, '51) and 10 from Willye White (1960-62, '64-66, '68-70, '72).

"I'm real blessed to be 10-plus years into this sport and still winning," Reese said. "I can't complain at all."

Fellow Olympian Isiah Young returned to the track after finishing sixth in the men's 100-meter final on Friday night, running in the 200-meter prelims on Saturday. Young earned a time qualifier spot to Sunday's semifinal after finishing third in Heat One and running the 11th-best time in the prelim at 20.84 (-1.5). All three of Young's trips to the World Championships for Team USA have all been in the 200-meter in 2013, 2015 and 2017.

Janeah Stewart, the 2018 NCAA hammer champion, made her second consecutive U.S. hammer final on Saturday as well, finishing sixth overall at 69.96m (229-06) in what ended up as one of the most prolific finals in world history. The competition on Saturday joined the 2012 Olympic final as the only meets in world history to have four women throw 75 meters – led by a new American record and world lead from U.S. champion, DeAnna Price, at 78.24 (256-08).

The fourth and final day of the USATF Outdoor Championships picks up Sunday at 4:35 p.m. CT for Rebel Olympian Ricky Robertson in the men's high jump, followed by Young in the 200-meter semifinals at 5 p.m. CT, volunteer coaches Jessica Ramsey and Jeneva Stevens in the women's shot put at 6:20 p.m. CT and Craig Engels in the men's 1500-meter final at 7:33 p.m. CT.

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Players Mentioned

Craig Engels

Janeah Stewart

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