Baton Rouge, La. – Freshman LSU pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis made his sixth-straight appearance on The Bowerman Watch List on Thursday afternoon. Duplantis is one of 10 male athletes on the pre-conference championships list, and he is only one of three male athletes to be on all six ‘The Bowerman’ watch lists this year with Grant Holloway (Florida) and Divine Oduduru (Texas Tech).
Duplantis currently owns the NCAA and world lead in the pole vault with a season-best clearance of 19′ 5.75” (5.94 meters) that he set last weekend at the LSU Invitational. The mark of 19′ 5.75” that Duplantis registered broke his own Bernie Moore Track Stadium facility record and it was the second best jump in NCAA outdoor history behind Tennessee’s Lawrence Johnson, who cleared 19′ 7.50” (5.98 meters) back in 1996.
Duplantis has competed for LSU seven times so far this year with five of those appearances coming indoors, and the last two having been outdoors. He won a national title indoors and he set the collegiate indoor record with a clearance of 19′ 5” (5.92 meters) at the SEC Championships. He has claimed gold all seven times he has competed collegiately.
Duplantis and the rest of the LSU track and field will compete next at the SEC Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., May 9-11. The Bowerman Watch List features the top 10 male and 10 female athletes across the country throughout the track season. After the NCAA Championships in June, a semifinalist list of 10 will be announced and then it will be narrowed down to three finalists. The winner will be announced at the annual U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association in December in Orlando, Fla.