Junior pole vaulter Joey Jennings hopes to soar in new season with the Eagles
Winthrop men’s track athlete Joey Jennings is a junior pole vaulter from Jefferson City, Tennessee. Jennings is entering into his third season as a Winthrop pole-vaulter. He is excited for the season and has put in a lot of work in the offseason, which he thinks will translate into a positive season for both him personally and for the team. Jennings has set the school’s indoor and outdoor records, despite having had to battle many injuries over his career. Jennings described his athletic experience at Winthrop in one word: crazy. Crazy because of the strenuous nature of pole vaulting on the body, but also crazy because he has been able to find great success in his event. Jennings’ next goal is to compete at nationals.
Outside of track and field, Jennings is an avid music listener. His favorite musical artist is J. Cole. Jennings has a lot of respect for J. Cole and for the thought that he puts into his music. 
“He’s real, he treats his music like art and his lyrics tell a story,” said Jennings. Jennings enjoys that, unlike an artist like Drake, J. Cole releases music that is “true to his heard as opposed to just releasing songs his fans will like.” Jennings’ two favorite songs by J. Cole are 4 Your Eyez Only and Love Yourz. In both of the songs, Cole speaks to the importance of surrounding yourself with people who value and love you. J. Cole is also known for having social commentary in his storytelling lyrics, which is another aspect of his music that Jennings enjoys.
The social commentary aspect relates to Jennings’ future aspirations. After graduation, he hopes to be an applied researcher in the criminal justice system. Jennings wants to research different injustices within the criminal justice system in hopes of making the justice system truly equal.
The Winthrop men’s and women’s track team have two home meets this year. The first is March 22-24 and the second is April 6-7. According to Jennings “the cool thing about track meets is that they last all day so you can come whenever you get a chance, but I’ll be vaulting at 12:00.” So come out and support Joey and the Eagles!
