by Jake Terry
LSU Sports Information
It is easy for Katelyn Rodrigue‘s opponents to look down on her during the course of a competition. After all, LSU’s sensational freshman pole vaulter barely stands 5-feet tall.
But when Rodrigue takes the runway and clears the bar at 13 feet, it is easy for her them to look up at her in amazement.
Many of her competitors cannot believe their eyes as they see Rodrigue push herself high enough to clear the bar, and that is something Rodrigue has encountered since she started vaulting for LSU at the beginning of the 2007 season.
However, the New Orleans native does not let their views bother her. In fact, she doesn’t let much of anything affect her in her pursuit to be the best.
“When I get out there, people just underestimate me mainly because I am so tiny,” Rodrigue said. “But that doesn’t bother me. I don’t really get too nervous about anything. I get really excited before every meet.”
The excitement that Rodrigue has brought into each meet this season has translated into great success for the freshman. She has broken the school record in the pole vault in both the indoor and outdoor seasons four times.
In fact, she broke the indoor school record in the very first meet of her career as a Lady Tiger, while breaking her own record three more times. The LSU indoor record now stands at 12 feet, 10 ? inches.
The outdoor school record also fell in the first meet in which Rodrigue competed following the conclusion of the indoor season. She has since bested that mark three times, most recently at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships where she finished second after clearing a height of 13-3 ?.
That was the second time Rodrigue cleared 13 feet during the outdoor season, which made her the only women’s pole vaulter in LSU history to accomplish such a feat. Although she has experienced such a great amount of success during her young career at LSU, Rodrigue is careful not to let it go to her head.
“I don’t really like thinking, ?Oh, I got the school record. Yeah!’” Rodrigue said. “I just want to keep getting better and break my own records.”
Despite the many events in which the Lady Tigers have excelled in over the years, pole vaulting has never been one of them. But since Rodrigue arrived on campus in the fall, it appears that is about to change.
She became the first Lady Tiger to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with her performance at the regional meet last weekend, and she has one clear goal in mind when she steps onto the runway in Sacramento, Calif., this week.
“I’m going to try to jump 13-3 again or even higher, but I would just like to go out and try to help score points for my team so we can win (a national championship),” Rodrigue said.
Even though Rodrigue has broken both school records and is one of the nation’s premier performers in her event, the question still remains ? what made her decide to become a pole vaulter?
To find the answer, one only has to look to Rodrigue’s sophomore year at Dominican High School when she attempted her first vault.
“We were about to go to our district meet, and we needed extra points,” Rodrigue said. “We were really neck and neck with Mount Carmel (Academy) and (Archbishop) Blenck (High School), and Mallory Thompson, who vaults for LSU now, asked me if I wanted to pole vault. I told her that I’d give it a try.”
Rodrigue received the blessing of her parents after much reassurance that she would not injure herself. She ran the 200 meters, 400 meters and 4×400-meter relay for Dominican and was a standout in the open quarter.
Naturally, her father ? Brian Rodrigue ? was concerned that she might be injured while attempting a new event, thus hurting her chances to compete in the 400 meters.
“I had to convince him that it would be OK, and it took a few days to do it,” Rodrigue said. “Then, that week I went out for my first practice. It’s been a great decision for me ever since.”
With the help of one of her high school coaches ? Doug Fraley ? Rodrigue progressed rapidly, winning state titles in the pole vault in both her junior and senior seasons at Dominican High School.
One thing that helped Rodrigue progress as fast as she did was her background in gymnastics. She grew up competing in gymnastics for five years, training her body for the rigorous movements associated with the different events in the sport.
Little did she know at the time that one event ? the uneven bars ? was perfect preparation for pole vaulting.
“Bars are pretty much the same thing as pole vaulting,” Rodrigue said. “Some of the same motions are involved. Right after you get off the ground ? the swinging upside down and the turning ? that’s pretty much exactly what you’re doing on bars. Once you train your muscles and your body to do it for about five years, it’s pretty much instilled in you.”
With that built-in confidence, Rodrigue had the opportunity to join the LSU women’s track and field team where she has already met one of her biggest goals for her freshman season ? to clear 13 feet.
Now, she has set her eyes on an even higher mark.
“Before I leave here, I would really like to jump 14 feet,” Rodrigue said. “Next year, I want to keep progressing gradually until I get there. I would just like to keep jumping higher.”
And the higher she jumps, the higher her opponents must look up to the 5-foot tall record breaker.