DES MOINES, Iowa – Two-time Olympic performer Sam Kendricks will join fellow pole vaulter Sandi Morris as members of the 2025 Drake Relays Athletes Hall of Fame class during an April 23 luncheon at the Schickler Club in the Knapp Center on the Drake University campus.
 
Kendricks' induction will increase membership in the Drake Relays Athletes Hall of Fame to 230. The Athletes Hall of Fame was established in 1959 during the Golden Anniversary of the Drake Relays with 72 charter members, including Jesse Owens, who was named the outstanding performer during the first half-century of the Drake Relays.
 
"We are thrilled add Sam Kendricks to our Athletes Hall of Fame, alongside fellow pole vault legend Sandi Morris," Franklin P. Johnson Director of the Drake Relays Blake Boldon said. "Sam has earned remarkable achievements here on the Blue Oval and the world stage, making his Drake Relays Hall of Fame inclusion a no-brainer."
 
Kendricks has won four Drake Relays men's pole vault titles and holds the Drake Relays and Drake Stadium records in the event. Morris has dominated the women's pole vault at the Drake Relays, claiming six individual titles as well as setting the Drake Relays record at 16-0 in 2018.
 
Kendricks began vaulting at the Drake Relays as a freshman at Ole Miss in 2012, placing fourth in the university-college division. He claimed the invitational pole vault title at the Drake Relays in 2015, 2017 and 2018, setting the Relays record of 19-1 1/2 in 2018.  He also won the Capital Square pole vault in 2018 and finished second in the invitational pole vault at the 2019 Drake Relays.
 
Kendricks was the world outdoor champion in 2017 and 2019, earned a silver medal in the 2024 Olympics and a bronze medal in the 2016 Olympics. He captured the silver medal in the 2016, 2018 and 2024 World Indoor Championships.
 
He has been ranked in the top three in the world in the men's pole vault eight times in the last nine years dating back to 2016, including a No. 1 ranking from 2017-2019 
 
Kendricks set an American record (broken in 2023) of 19-10 1/2 at Drake Stadium in 2019 in winning his sixth straight USA outdoor championship. Only five other vaulters in the world have higher clearances. He also won USA outdoor titles in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2024 and was runner up in 2025. Kendricks also was a three-time USA Indoor champion (2015-17).
 
Kendricks was the NCAA outdoor champion in 2013 and 2014, indoor runner-up in 2014 and third in 2013, as well as the SEC indoor and outdoor champion in 2014.