DES MOINES, Iowa — Southeastern Louisiana's Kovey Simmons earned All-America honors Friday in the men's pole vault at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on the campus of Drake University.
“Kovey represented Southeastern well,” head coach Sean Brady said. “He will leave as a two-time All-American and the best pole vaulter we've ever had.”
Simmons finished 17th, tying with Samford's Michael Seaman and earning third team All-America honors. He topped out at 16 feet, 10 3/4 inches. Oral Robert's Jack Whitt is the national champion after vaulting to a height of 18-06.50.
“He jumped well, but things didn't fall his way,” Brady said. “Kovey went through the first two bars clean and was right n the mix, but he was just too adrenalized for the pole he was on.”
The senior from DeRidder, La., joins Robert Martin, Donald Dykes, Greg Lawrence, Ralph Smith and Adonson Shallow as Southeastern's only multi-year All-Americans.
Simmons also owns both the school indoor and outdoor men's pole vault records. He broke his own record at the NCAA East Preliminaries in qualifying for the NCAA Championships.