Mark Langlois Article

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.mlive.com/sports/muchronicle ... 259251.xml

Fruitport pole vaulter making strides for MSU


Sunday, 02, 2004
By Scott Brandenburg

CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT

For now, Fruitport's Mark Langlois is sticking to the pole vault.

Langlois, a sophomore at Michigan State University, has showed off his athletic prowess in various events in track and field, including the heptathlon.

But for the immediate future, Langlois, an all-american vaulter while at Fruitport, will be going with what he knows.

"I'm a lot more comfortable with the pole vault," said Langlois. "I like it. It's what I'm good at. Right now that's what I'm doing."

The 20-year-old kinesiology major hopes to find a groove in his first outdoor season after redshirting last year.

Langlois made good strides in his second indoor season with the Spartans. He finished third at the Big Ten Championships with a leap of 16-6 -- six inches higher than his best jump.

It's the type of clutch performance the Spartans are coming to expect.

"Mark gives it his all," said MSU track assistant coach Will Waubansee. "He's the type of guy you want in there because he really goes after it."

Langlois has posted several wins this season in the pole vault by using his blazing speed and strength.

Both he and Waubansee say he's still got a lot to learn about the sport.

"My roommate tries to tell me about all the technical stuff," said Langlois. "I don't worry about that so much as to just keep working hard at it."

It didn't take long for MSU coaches to see Langlois' talent.

The Spartans were quick to get Langlois into training for the decathlon and heptathlon, a grueling test of 10 and seven different events, respectively.

Langlois may still focus on those down the line. He was a respectable 11th in the heptathlon in the Big Ten Indoor Championships as a freshman.

"We scaled him back to just pole vault because right now we've got some depth in the other events and we need Mark in pole vault," said Waubansee. "It was a lot to learn coming out of high school."

[bjvando]

I KNOW HIM!!!! hahahhaa, Mark is awesome, His roommate is Brad Gebauer- who has just recently jumped 5.20, and 5.10 2 meets in a row, which are both PR's for Brad. Brad has pretty much coached himself and is very knowledgable of the vault, i see big things for big Brad.