Trio pushes each other new heights

They seem to be inseparable. Especially in the final results of the pole vault.

First, second and third.

Vandebilt sophomore Christopher Watson is always on top, with teammate junior Jaora Jackson usually third and South Terrebonne senior Brad Stoufflet the runner-up.

The two and three spots were reversed at last week’s Tarpon Relays at South Lafourche. At practice the next day, the track meet was the last thing on anyone’s mind.

There are more pressing matters to address: improving for today’s district meets and clowning Chris and Jaora over those “too short” red shorts they are wearing.

They are friends. They are rivals. They are “frivals.”

“We’re all here to help each other to get better,” said Watson. “It’s like, we will all be friends no matter what at the end of the meet.”

Like most of the area’s best vaulters, the trio trains under the watchful eye of pole-vaulting coach Kevin Trosclair at Vandebilt.

“The best coach ever,” assured Jackson. “He is the reason why all of us are where we are.”

Trosclair’s ability to get talented athletes from other schools to train in one location has helped forge the bond between the fellows.

“When I started vaulting with them, it was kind of weird because we have to compete against each other,” said Stoufflet. “But now, everybody is friends; so it’s the same as my friends at school.”

Watson, 16, is the best among the group (as far as winning), but he also has the biggest footprints to follow. His older brother, Paul, won three state pole vault titles (2004-06) at Vandebilt.

He started vaulting in 8th grade to compete against Paul, who is now at LSU. This year, he set a personal best with a leap of 14 feet, 8 inches.

“I’m going to have to jump a lot higher if I want to win state,” said Watson. “I’m going to have to jump 15 [feet] 3 [inches], 15-6. I’m not sure I can jump that high by the end of the year. I am sure going to try.”

Trosclair, however, believes he can. “He’s capable of breaking his brother’s personal best, which is 15-4,” he said. “By the end of the season, I think he will. He’s nowhere near peaked.”

Stoufflet, 18, got into vaulting as a freshman at his older brother Josh’s urging. The younger Stoufflet quit his sophomore year but rejoined the team last year and started working with Trosclair before districts.

Since then, he has gone from jumping 12 feet, to a best of 13-6. “My biggest improvement is in my pull through because when I first started, I had none,” he declared. “It’s starting to come along.”

Trosclair thinks Stoufflet is the best athlete of the three. “He has a lot of natural ability as far as speed and strength,” Trosclair said. “He just needs better coordination.”

Stoufflet will attending UL-Lafayette in the fall.

Jackson, 17, began vaulting in 8th grade, convinced he could be as good as friend and former Vandebilt vaulter Jonathan Price. Unlike his father and older brother Seth, who both ran track, Jackson found that the pole vault was his best event.

“My best jump is 13 feet, but I know I can jump much higher,” he said. “My biggest improvement is my takeoff because I didn’t jump off the ground as well as I do now.”

Trosclair says Jackson has the best technique of all his current crop of vaulters. “I have video of some of his takeoffs and it’s picture perfect,” he said. “You can do a seminar on it.”

Besides their dominance in the sport, the trio also runs in the relay events. Watson and Stoufflet are part of their school’s 1,600-meter relay team.

Jackson has not competed this year because of knee injuries, but hopes next year to be on the 400- or 1,600-meter relay squad. Last year, he did the triple jump.

Despite their consistency, all three vaulters are extremely critical of shortcomings keeping them from reaching their potential.

Watson thinks his approach on the runway is out of rhythm; Stoufflet says his plant is bad, noting if he didn’t keep count on the approach it would be even worse; and Jackson insists he has a tendency to slightly rock back on his swing over the bar.

Their coach is not as blunt, but gave a similar assessment.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, Chris would be about a 6.5, Brad would be a 6 and Jaora would be a 7.5,” he said. “[Chris and Brad] just have an advantage over him with height and strength.”

The trio will be somewhat broken apart for today’s district meets.

Watson and Jackson will be at Vandebilt competing for the District 8-4A title, while Stoufflet is 40 miles south in Galliano for the District 8-5A meet at South Lafourche.

But that will not stop them from supporting each other in the quest for a championship.

“I’ll probably call Brad after I’m done, or even during the meet just to see how he’s doing and how everything’s going for him,” said Watson. “I’m expecting him to win; I’ll be mad if he doesn’t.”

Vandebilt’s Jaora Jackson, Christopher Watson, and South Terrebonne’s Brad Stoufflet practice executing a proper plant. * Photo by KEYON JEFF