By Curt Guillory
Up, Up, and Awayyy!
LSU freshman and Pole Vaulting phenom Mondo Duplantis has been named to the Bowerman 2019 Preseason Watch List. It should come as no surprise to anyone as Mondo is easily one of the most recognizable college athletes today, and already in the world elite for pole vaulters.
A native of Lafayette, the 19-year old has both set and broken his own records an amazing eight times in 2018 alone while on the indoor and outdoor circuits.
Duplantis is only the eighth athlete in LSU history to be named to the Bowerman List as it consist of the top ten athletes in collegiate track and field and presented each December. Mondo is also the only freshman to have made the list. Ain’t no mountain high enough…
The Boys of Spring are Mid-Winter #1:
For the second time this preseason the LSU Baseball Tigers have been named number one in a national poll. Perfect Game’s preseason poll gave the Tigers their latest top billing, while the newspaper, Collegiate Baseball, had designated Coach Paul Mainieri’s squad as number one.
Soon it will be time to smell the grass and see of the Tigers can live up to the preseason hype.
Excellence in Aquatics:
An LSU diver has recently been named the SEC Men’s Diver of the Week. Juan Celaya-Hernandez received the honor after winning two spring board events at the Georgia Diving Invitational.
The junior from Mexico scored 382.90 for his six dives on the one meter, and 428.50 for six dives on the three meter apparatuses. Said Tiger diving Head Coach Doug Shaffer, “This is a good indicator of the championship season ahead of us.” This marks the eighth time Celaya-Hernandez has won SEC male diver of the week honors. Who says cats are afraid of water?
Golf Coach Named Women’s Legend:
The word legend is thrown around pretty carelessly. Video game players often refer to each other as legends…although none come to mind. Indeed, it is rare to know of someone who is truly deserving of that title.
Enter LSU Women’s Golf Head Coach Karen Bahnsen, who was recently named to the SEC’s 2019 Women’s Legend Class. A student-athlete herself, she became the women’s golf head coach prior to the 1984-85 season. In 34 years at the helm, here are some of her legendary highlights:
- 1 SEC Championship
- 2 SEC Coach of the Year
- 33 WGCA Scholar-Athletes
- 124 Academic & Freshmen Academic All-SEC
- 23 WGCA All-Americans
- 46 All-SEC
- 7 NCAA Top 10 Finishes (includes 3rd place finishes in 2011 & 2012)
- 12 NCAA Finals Appearances
- 1 NCAA Individual Champion (Austin Ernst, 2011)
- 40 Team Tournament Wins
- 23 Former players on professional tours or serving as golf pros
- 2008 Women’s Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame
Talk about legendary.
Official LSU sport schedule posters are available at LSUSports.net for $1.00 each plus shipping and handling. Want to get a unique view of LSU Athletic facilities? Head on over to LSUSports.net and click on the 360° link to see panoramic images of where the Tigers play.
