The TAKEOFF Magazine

AKEOFF

Katie Nageotte Leading the Way

PUMA Morgann Leleux in the You’ve Got to Believe Pit PUMA in the Pit PUMA in the pit

#4 JUNE 2021 #3 APR 2021

HELLO THERE!

July 2021 Welcome to a special issue in honor of the XXXII Olympiad!

Here I am congratulating Katie Nageotte on her Olympic Trials win!

After witnessing the women’s pole vault competition at the Olympic Trials, we saw tales that could not wait until the next issue to be told.

Morgann Leleux finished a devastating 4th at the 2016 Trials, yet believed her highest jumps were still ahead. She regrouped and earned her spot on Team USA in 2021. Grant Overstake chatted with Mo (Meaux) the day after she was honored with a parade in her hometown of New Iberia, Louisiana.

Morgann’s delightful interview You’ve Got to Believe begins on page 10.

Four of the six members of the Team USA pole vault squad jump on ESSX poles, as well as seven more Olympians from around the world. We reached out to ESSX to learn the formula for their success. Page 6.

Shannon Penn wrote a song to honor the legacy left by her father, 2-time Olympian and 6-time world record holder in the pole vault, John Pennel. Jose R. San Miguel tells the history behind the music video Raise the Bar on page 20.

We thank Grain Valley Press and Maggie Vaults Over the Moon for advertising with us!

All the Very Best,

Adele San Miguel Publisher, TAKEOFF Magazine

Cover photo provided by Morgann Leleux

T A K E O F F

O N

M A G A Z I N E

D E C K

Issue Number 5

ESSX - UST Mamiya The Next Level

6

Morgann Leleux - You’ve Got to Believe

10

John Pennel: The Star Who Raised the Bar

20

CONTRIBUTORS

Grant Overstake

Novelist - Maggie Vaults Over The Moon, Masters Pole Vaulter

Adele C. San Miguel Editor TAKEOFF Magazine, Publisher

Jose R. San Miguel

Head Coach of Pole Vault Carolina

“Olympians are Cheering for Maggie!”

Like Maggie, our success in life and in sport comes from listening to the voice that whispers to us from within, to get back up and try again!”

Katerina Stefanidi, Olympic Champion (from the Foreword of Maggie Vaults Over the Moon)

“The positive influence this book can have is invaluable. I’m thrilled to have my young athletes read it and be energized by its positive message: Stay driven and never give up!”

Erica Fraley, Team USA Olympic Pole Vaulter

"I experienced loss when I was a young girl. Sports were my outlet and helped me through some of the hardest times of my life.

This book captured me cover to cover. I highly recommend it."

Becky Holliday, Team USA Olympic Pole Vaulter

“Girls who play sports and the coaches and families who support them will thoroughly enjoy this warm, uplifting story.”

Christine Brennan, Olympic Games Columnist USA TODAY —————–——————————————————————— A perfect back-to-school read! Get bulk discounts for classrooms, clubs, and street vaults! Contact Grain Valley Publishing for details.

Order your copies today! *Citius Mag "100 Books All Runners and Track and Field Fans Should Read"

ESSX-UST MAMIYA The Next Level

By Adele San Miguel

Team ESSX has a lot to brag about, including eleven athletes competing in the XXXII Olympiad using their vaulting poles.

But they are not boastful. Instead, a small team of former pole vaulters, Tye Harvey, Brian Mondschein, Jeremy Scott, and Mike Vani intently focus on the needs of their profes-

sional, collegiate, and club athletes.

A part-time crew with full-time jobs elsewhere, their love for the sport and the relationships they foster within the vault community are their why.

Listening is their how.

6

In 1996, track and field entrepreneur Bruce Caldwell purchased a shell company with the intentions of bringing a new pole to the market. The company made a box device called Essx that split the interchange between fax and voice on an incoming line. The device itself was sold to Ma Bell (AT&T), but Bruce owned the trademark. Liking the snappy sound of Essx, he used it for the name of the pole company he launched in ’98, took public in 2001, and private again in 2004.

Bruce’s acumen for designing a pole to get the most from it, paired well with Beto Sanchez, the engineer who knew how to build it. When Sam Kendricks needed a solution for how to take massive jumps on small-

T A K E O F F T A K E O F F

M A G A Z I N E M A G A Z I N E

er poles without breaking them, his parents reached out to Bruce. Bruce and Beto constructed two sets of poles and drove them to Sam’s house, confidently telling him to try and break the poles. Eight years, and a medal-filled career later, Sam is still jumping for ESSX. In 2012, Bruce sold ESSX to UST-Mam-

iya Golf, a Japanese enterprise that engineers the shafts for golf clubs. In this partnership, UST-Mamiya augmented the aerodynamic details and contributed the next tier of materials for pole making. Considering the high quality of the existing pole, the new team pondered, how can this be improved?

They interviewed the athletes. What would a dream pole feel like in your hands? When you plant and swing, what do you want the pole to do?

How can we make a pole that will help you achieve your potential?

Retooling something great to make it even better, they created the Recoil Advanced from the lens of possibility rather than the limitations of manufacturing, producing what is arguably the most vaulter friendly pole in the market. It is easy to roll with and offers a powerful return.

The streamlining of ESSX poles meant that poles with heavier weight ratings did not have to increase in diameter. Athletes can

move up to the next pole more easily, because the poles are easier to manage, lighter in the hands, and flexible.

Sam’s success, which includes two world championships; the American outdoor record; 3-time indoor national championships; 6-time outdoor national championships; an Olympic bronze medal and another trip to the Games this month, put ESSX on the map. Other elite athletes followed.

In fact, quite a few. In 2016, four Olympians competed on ESSX, Sam, Ruby Peinado of Venezuela, Luke Cutts of Great Britain, and Pauls Pujats of Latvia. In 2021, nine vaulters and two decathletes will take the runway in Tokyo with an ESSX pole to plant in the box and hopefully take them to Olympic medal heights.

From the USA, four of the six Olympic pole vaulters are ESSX users: Katie Nageotte, Morgann Leleux, Chris Nilsen, and Sam Kendricks. Other Olympic athletes include: Valentin Lavillenie – France; Ruby Peinado Venezuela; Seito Yamamoto - Japan; Maryna Kylypko - Ukraine; Zach Ziemek, Team USA decathlete, and Damien Warner, decathlete, Canada.

In a press conference anticipating the Olympic Trials, Katie Nageotte said, “The ESSX pole allows me to get

Photo credit: ESSX

upside down more quickly and stay upside down longer.”

Katie won the Olympic Trials, and is the most recent athlete to join the ESSX family. The poles appear to have been made for her style of jumping. Since switching, Katie has improved her indoor and outdoor personal bests to 4.94 (16’2.5) and 4.95 (16’2.75)”. Last month, she attempted the indoor and outdoor world records, and breaking them looks not only possible but imminent.

The Olympic meets are not the only place we see more black and yellow being slid out of pole bags. At the North Carolina High School State Championships, about half of the vaulters jumped on ESSX, and in our own club, Pole Vault Carolina, we have grown from 10 ESSX poles in 2015 to 100 + today. We are home to 25 state champions.

Photo provided by Grant Overstake

The new partnership reimagined their product and their ethos. They considered how to help vaulters reach their highest heights as they themselves sought their next level as a company. Knowing that the future of the sport lies in the clubs, ESSX set affordable price points early on, and built trust with club coaches who are bringing up the next generation of vaulters. Their goal was to get the poles into the hands of young athletes and see what they could do.

A cooperative working spirit makes it easy to bring new ideas to fruition and get things done for their athletes, like having a back-up plan for every Olympian’s poles.

Traveling with poles is an exercise in anxiety. ESSX is proactive.

They have built duplicates of every Olympian’s must-have poles, and identified a group of masters’ ath-

letes who are on standby to travel to Tokyo at a moment’s notice should anyone’s poles be damaged en route to the Games.

ESSX serves the sport. While their product is a vaulting pole, their service is trustworthiness and reliability. At ESSX, the decision-making table is round; everyone has a say, and each team member interacts with sponsored athletes. In an environment of open-endedness and respect, lies the groundwork for something swifter, higher, and stronger to occur, another Olympic medal.

But the team concentrates on delivering the best product so vaulters can soar. And when you anticipate the customers first, and pay attention to what they need, success is sure to follow.

8

Photo credit: ESSX

T A K E O F F

M A G A Z I N E

T A K E O F F

Distributor of New and Used Equipment

Poles

Mats

Standards

(919) 523-8333 jose@polevaultcarolina.com

M A G A Z I N E

Hurdles

Morgann Leleux You’ve Got to Believe

By Grant Overstake

Way down south in the Louisiana bayou, about as far as you can go before spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, sits the city of New Iberia - a proud Cajun stronghold with three languages on its historic street signs, which Forbes Magazine once called America’s Prettiest Town.

father Shane told the media. “Her maturity level is off the charts right now. I hate to use a baseball analogy, but I will. When she was on her third try at 4.70, it was like having three balls and two strikes with two outs in the ninth inning, and she was the last batter.

Whether dancing to a fiddle and accordion at a fais-do-do or relishing scalding hot food at year-round festivals, people down in New Iberia are dedicated to their signature expression: Laissez les bons temps rouler! Let the good times roll!

“And all she did was hit it out of the park.”

Rolling along with the good times going for them already, New Iberia is soon to be well-known for being the home sweet home of Morgann Photo credit: Morgann Leleux LeLeux Romero, Team USA pole vaulter and the town’s first-ever Olympic citizen.

10

LeLeux, (who still competes under her maiden name) made the Olympic team when she placed second at the U.S. Olympic Trials with a third-attempt clearance of 4.70m (15-5) behind winner Katie Nageotte, 4.94m (16-2 ¾), to secure a spot for the delayed games of the XXXII Olympiad. Sandi Morris, the world’s No. 3-ranked pole vaulter and 2016 silver medalist, earned the third spot on the U.S. team after clearing 4.60m (15-1).

“We’re still on cloud nine,” Morgann’s

T A K E O F F

M A G A Z I N E

Her triumph was a team effort that includes her husband, Jacob Romero, her mom and dad Bridget and Shane, sisters Kristynn and Reagann, and of course, her support entourage: all the vaulters who’ve known her since, like forever; her followers on social media, the gymnasts she coaches at New Heights Gym; the legions of knee-worn prayer warriors and New Thought practitioners who believed with her, that “If you can dream it, you can do it.” Morgann’s second place finish came as a surprise only to those who don’t belong to the club of true believers who can actually, properly, pronounce her maiden name.

After coming up short in two prior Trials, Morgann accomplished more than an Olympic perch on that third attempt. Many heartaches, doubts, and failures lay under the crossbar she vaulted over.

LeLeux left for Tokyo on July 27th. The women’s pole vault, which promises

to be one of the most hotly contested events at these Games, will be held August 2nd and 5th. Because of Covid, everyone but coaches will watch the competition on TV. TAKEOFF Magazine spoke with Morgann by phone the morning after New Iberia honored their Olympian with a hometown parade.

She spoke in joyful outbursts about her experiences before, during and after making the vault that changed everything.

We discovered that Morgann altered her life in many ways in preparation for the Trials, physically, emotionally, mentally, and nutritionally.

TAKEOFF: Congratulations, Morgann! You’ve been an Olympian for a week now. How does it feel? What a great homecoming you had!

Morgann: It’s been insane! The love and support I have received from my hometown is unbelievable. The parade felt like my own Mardi Gras.

It rained, but we had the best time ever and I signed autographs and took pictures with all of my local home people.

TAKEOFF: Our magazine is focused on the mental and emotional aspects of sport: overcoming challenges, and cultivating perseverance. We hope to instill resiliency in the next generation of vaulters. Tell

T A K E O F F

M A G A Z I N E

Photo credit: Morgann Leleux

Photo credit: Morgann Leleux

12

us about your journey to the Olympics.

your family go in the Cajun bayou history there?

Morgann: It’s been an extremely long journey. And the fact that I am finally here today making my first Olympic team, makes the entire journey worth it. I’m excited to tell my story and reach the younger generation because I can honestly say now that if you have a dream and you fight for it, anything is possible.

Morgann: Pretty dang far. My dad is somewhere really deep down the family tree, because I couldn’t get a French citizenship or anything. His family is actually from Bordeaux, France. My mom’s grandfather, my Pop, actually spoke Cajun French and French just as much as he spoke English. I live in my Pop’s house now.

My husband and I were lucky enough to do small renovations to it and make it our own. My Big Nanny lives to the left of me and my Granny lives to the right. We’re all close and rooted in New Iberia.

TAKEOFF: Yours is an amazing story.

I’d like to get a few things clarified.

First, and foremost, how do you pronounce your maiden name?

Morgann: I usually tell people my name is pronounced like lullaby, Luh-Luh. TAKEOFF: What a great community you come from. How far back does

T A K E O F F

M A G A Z I N E

TAKEOFF: And you have two sisters…

Morgann: Yes. My middle sister is two and a half years younger than me, and she has a baby boy named Whitley. She’s pregnant right now

with her second baby - who may arrive while I’m in Tokyo! My youngest sister is twenty-one and she competes in track and field at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette. She pole vaults and runs the hurdles.

TAKEOFF: And your father has coached you. He’s got to be excited.

Morgann: He and my mom are just over the moon about the whole thing! It’s so cool to be from a hometown, to start off with my dad, and then come full circle and compete for New Heights Gym and make the Olympic team while representing it.

I can’t even explain how amazing it is! My parents couldn’t believe it because this was my third time competing at the Olympic Trials. The first time, in 2012, I was a University of Georgia Bulldog, which was awesome. In 2016, I was a Ragin’ Cajun for the University of Louisiana, Lafayette.

T A K E O F F

So, I slowly started making my way back to home.

TAKEOFF: It seems like gratitude is everywhere in your life right now.

Morgann: That’s all I feel is grateful and thankful and so blessed to be where I am today.

TAKEOFF: Are you a third-time-is-acharm type of person?

Morgann: Yes, my magic number is three, and my color is blue. I have a sports psychologist who gave me a band that says, “Mind of a champion,” and we have a little exercise we do with it. It is blue. I painted only my ring finger blue; my mom painted her toenails blue; and then my husband showed up with a blue shirt. The marks that I had to put down on the runway? Blue was the last color.

The third time is a charm. Three was my number in Eugene, because I made 4.35, 4.50, and 4.60 all on the first attempts, which was three bars.

And then I made 4.70 on my third attempt. This was my third Olympic tri-

als. So yes, I had plenty of signs that I was thankful for, and it was so cool to look back and see them after it was all said and done.

I’m a big believer in God. I truly felt deep in my heart that He gave me all these little signs and supported me every step of the way, and that’s why I couldn’t help but point to the sky when it all happened because it was obvious that this was all His doing.

TAKEOFF: I want to touch base on the temperature on the track there at Hayward Field. It sounded more like Louisiana weather out there in Oregon.

Morgann: It was great! The last two Olympic Trials were cold and raining.

In 2012, they canceled the prelims and made us all finalists because it rained so hard and was so chilly. It 2016, it was also cold and raining, and that’s so not up my alley. This time it was complete Louisiana weather, warm! It was also less humid, which was really nice. I really thought it was a beautiful day. Yes, it was hot, but I enjoy that and I looked forward to it.

M A G A Z I N E

TAKEOFF: And you get technical help in the vault from coach David Butler?

Morgann: David Butler knows every bit of history there is about the vault.

He’s an incredible person to not only talk to, but to be mentored by. I’m very blessed in that he gave a speech at the Pole Vault Summit and I was at the elite workshop. He discussed pole carry and that was something I was really, really struggling with. Me and my dad just couldn’t figure out how to fix it because I was so stuck in my comfort zone about it.

And when David gave that speech on the pole carry, I said, “This is our guy, Dad. I’m telling you, this is our guy.”

My dad reached out to him, and then David and I had a really great conversation, and it’s been history since.

He’s been helping me so much not only with my pole carry, but also just appreciating the sport and where it’s come from.

TAKEOFF: It sounds like since you made the decision to go for the Olympics again, you’ve surrounded yourself with people who have want-

Photo credit: Morgann Leleux

13

ed the highest and best for you. Even so, that’s a long quest to be on. You’ve been pole vaulting for eighteen years now, since you were ten?

Morgann: Yes. TAKEOFF: You’ve had great successes and also challenges in different areas.

Even at your peak in 2016, you placed an unlucky 4th at the Trials and didn’t make the team. That’s the most painful place to be.

Morgann: It was very brutal because I felt like I missed out on an opportunity that was given to me. It was a tough spot, being an alternate, and at the same time, I feel like that’s what built the motivation to say I will never be in that situation again. I will do whatever it takes to completely break down those walls in my comfort zone to make sure I am on that team next time. Just to be wearing USA on my chest on the world stage at the Olympics is what motivated me the most.

In high school, pole vaulting was easy for me. I was a gymnast first, and gymnastics was my heart and soul up until my junior year in high school. But pole vaulting, I could tell, was going to be my calling. I ended up with twenty-one full-ride scholarship offers all across the country, and I just knew that this is what I was meant to do.

14

ing. You are able to get out of your head and just do. Things happen and you can’t explain it. Freshman year, I ended up, believe it or not, beating Katerina at NCAA Indoors. I took second to Tina Sutej but it’s still cool to look back and say, ‘Oh, I did beat Katerina at one point, as she is now an Olympic gold medalist.’ She came back that outdoor season and beat me, though. I ended up getting second both times. It was a wild experience, so much fun, and the girls are awesome. Pole vaulting is competitive, but we really are competing against the bar and I think that’s why vaulters can get along and support each other so well. I will actually be competing with both Katerina & Tina in Tokyo.

During my sophomore year, I jumped 4.50 meters, which at the time was a big deal because it was the Olympic A standard. That was what I was fighting hard for in 2012. The next day, I found out that I had a detached retina. Not from any kind of injury, I just have really bad eyes. And I guess, over time from gravity, either flipping or pole vaulting, it just tore. I went blind in half my eye and was in surgery two days after I jumped 4.50.

At the time, I thought, ‘Oh, it’s just my eyes, it’s just my eyes. It’s not like a limb. I can get back to work.’

But because of the fluid buildup, I had a buckle around my eye to hold the retina in place. That had to heal, and I had to lay down for two weeks straight. Then the medication I was on suppressed my appetite so I lost a lot of muscle mass and weight.

In trying to come back, Petros and I came up with a plan to work out two to three times a day to get me back in shape. I ended up getting food poisoning two days before I left for nationals and our whole plan fell apart. I made the decision to come back and fight and not take the redshirt. I rushed my recovery and didn’t see the big picture. I was just too young and naive to realize it at the time.

And honestly, I thought it cost me my career because it started so many mental troubles. That’s when I started to run through. I was planting the pole and coming off. I couldn’t figure out why the pole would come out of my hand. It was a horrible year. Somehow, some way, though, we slowly brought it back. This is

I also broke the national record my senior year in high school at 4.34 meters, which is 14-2 and some change.

With all the scholarship offers, I ended up choosing the University of Georgia.

Petros Kyprianou was incredible. The way he fights for track and field and the way he fought for me to be on that team, I thought, ‘Yes, this is my guy.’ He helped me so much.

My freshman year at Georgia was incredible. I was in that flow, which I would consider Katie Nageotte in right now, but on a way higher level. You put in the work and trust your train-

T A K E O F F

Photo credit: Morgann Leleux

M A G A Z I N E Photo provided by Katie Nageotte

T A K E O F F

M A G A Z I N E

nobody’s fault, it was just the cards I drew. It came down to how I was going to handle it and take the next steps forward. I was still able to win many SEC titles and place in the top 8 and became All American at many NCAA’s nationals.

My last year at Georgia, honestly, was probably the worst year out of all four because I ended up no-heighting at SEC Indoor. I did not make it to NCAA’s for the first time outdoors because I didn’t make it through regionals. I went home that summer and Dad and I had a huge discussion. I was either going to move on with my life or go ahead and try this pole vault thing.

I didn’t want to give up. I didn’t feel like that’s how I wanted everything to end. So, I graduated from UGA - I will always be a Bulldog at heart. I came home, and Coach Lon Badeaux gave me the opportunity to compete at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, because I had a redshirt year with one more outdoor season left. I started my master’s degree, and competed as a Ragin’ Cajun for my very last collegiate outdoor season.

It was amazing being home with my dad, finding the love for the sport once more, and being able to, again, place second at NCAA Outdoors. For some reason, I just could not get that number one spot. But, that’s what keeps you motivated, keeps you humble, and keeps you fighting. Even though I placed fourth at the 2016 Olympics, and that’s a hard spot to be in, I felt like, ‘Okay, I’m back. I can do this.’ It’s what pushed me to go ahead and try for a professional career on another 4-year journey to reach my Olympic dream because I was definitely not ready to give up at that point. I had made so much progress and I knew I had more in me.

2016 to 2020 was all about growth and finding myself as a person. That’s when

Photo credit: Jay Bendlin

I took control of my career and met David Butler. And David introduced me to Jonathan Hill, who is the sprints coach at Rice. Jonathan taught me quality over quantity because I had that gymnastics mentality. I trained myself into the ground and beat myself up because that’s what I thought I would have to do to get to the top.

It’s been a blessing to learn how to take care of my body, to take care of my training and make sure it is helping me, not hurting me. It’s been awesome to have my dad right there alongside me, supporting me the entire time and also learning as well. We learn together and that’s only going to help the next generation, the kids who come after us.

TAKEOFF: Very inspiring! Do they call you Coach Mo at the gym?

Morgann: They call me Coach Meaux.

I used to be Meaux Dawg. And now, it’s Tokeyeaux Meaux.

TAKEOFF: Nobody gets to the Olympics alone. It’s too difficult of a journey and there are too many variables. To have everything happen at exactly the right time like it did, is no accident, but also, a lot of people were in your corner at that moment. Can you speak to that?

16

Morgann: A lot of people. First off, I’ve got to go with my family because they’ve been supporting me since the very beginning. I have, obviously, my husband, Jacob Romero, Mom and Dad/Coach, Kristynn and Reagann.

I have my Granny and Grandpa, Big Nanny and Little Nanny. And the only reason we call them that is because of age. My Big Nanny is actually teeny tiny. My Little Nanny is taller but she is also little. And then my Uncle Barry and Uncle Mark, which Big Nanny is Uncle Mark’s wife and Little Nanny is Uncle Barry’s wife.

Jacob’s parents, Shannon and Har-

T A K E O F F

M A G A Z I N E

old Romero, have been so supportive since he and I have been together.

Jacob’s an only child and they took me in as if I am the daughter they never had. Shannon works under Chris Cormier at The Nerve Health Institute, and Chris has not only helped me physically, he also works a lot on my mental preparation.

Jonathan Hill creates my sprint workouts and helps schedule my training and cycles. David Butler is my mentor and has helped with my pole carry.

David is a living breathing piece of art.

He wrote a book called The Violent Ballet. It not only has most, if not all, the drills he taught me, but also beautiful pictures of the vault and its history, plus so much more. I don’t want to spoil it, but I highly recommend it even if you are not a pole vaulter.

When COVID hit, it gave me time to really pinpoint everything I could do to help get me to the Olympics. I reached out to Chase Duhon with Prolific Fitness for help with my diet, which I’ve always paid attention to.

I’ve been gluten-free probably about three years now. I really wanted to dive in and understand what food could do to fuel me.

Chase does my meal plans. Every Friday, I check in with him. I measure my

waist. I get on the scale. I take pictures to track progress. I do the whole thing.

It’s not about, ‘Oh, I need to look this way.’ It’s about taking accountability and Chase holds me accountable.

That’s the only way you can keep track to know what the food is doing for you.

Then if I’m jumping really high at this weight, we need to keep this weight or we need to lose a little weight. It’s just makes it easier to determine what to do for when I compete. But for a good cheat meal, which I get every now and then, Jacob will make a chicken and sausage gumbo so good, nobody else in the family would ever know it was gluten free.

I took a leap of faith with my sports psychologist. I really wanted to get with him earlier, but had to make sure I had the budget to do it. Robert Andrews is based out of Houston and he worked with Simone Biles. He is the sports psychologist to go to, and was the final puzzle piece that made all the difference.

Finally, there is a club that used to be called Louisiana Athletic Program.

They supported mine and my father’s travel pretty much the entire four years up until Covid. Without them, I don’t think any of this would be possible. I’m going to be making a huge post about them here soon.

T A K E O F F

And that’s my posse!

TAKEOFF: Without digging too deeply or getting too personal beyond your comfort zone, what did Robert Andrews help you discover about yourself that made the difference for you?

Morgann: Mr. Andrews showed me the door to gratitude. I was stuck in my past and refused to let go. He showed me how to move forward and stay present. He helped me take my thought process about the Olympic Trials - which I saw as my last opportunity at a U.S. Olympic team – and view it as a grateful opportunity. Many

people don’t get a shot like that and I did. I had a chance to do something with it. I decided through his reframing of the situation to appreciate it and take full advantage of it. I resolved to look at every step of the way as a once-in-a-lifetime event to enjoy and feel blessed by, and that I deserved it.

He rewired my thought process about different situations that not only help in my sport, but in my life.

TAKEOFF: So, you’ve been training your mind as well as your body?

It’s gratitude and perspective. And then, of course, belief.

M A G A Z I N E

TAKEOFF: So, you did not have a sponsorship to help pay for your training?

He’s pretty much been my agent this whole time because he knows the ins and outs of traveling and who to get ahold of. He’s been a huge blessing and I really cannot thank him enough.

Morgann: No. The only support I really had was Louisiana Athletic Program and the Nerve Health Institute, though that wasn’t a contract. New Heights Gym gave me the place to train for free. I train during the day and coach gymnastics at night. My husband has a full-time job working at Morton Salt.

He works underground in a salt mine all week.

Now, I did sign finally, with an actual agent right before the Olympic Trials. Karen Locke has been my dream agent for a long time. I straight-up asked her ‘What do I need to do to get you to represent me? I’m doing all these things. I feel very confident going into the Trials. What else can I do to prove to you that I’m worth representing?’

TAKEOFF: He’s pretty happy that his wife’s an Olympian?

At first, she said, ‘Make the Olympic team.’ And then literally, within minutes, she sent me a contract and said, ‘I believe you’re going to make the team,’ and I did. Karen also represents Katerina and Katie. I feel like I’m on the Dream Team.

Morgann: Oh, my gosh. He’s ecstatic! He’s been there for me the whole time. We started dating my senior year in high school, and have been inseparable since. It is the best thing in the world. If I could choose a travel buddy, I would choose him every single day because he’s so bright and he just knows what’s going on around him. He could seriously be an agent.

TAKEOFF: With the Olympics coming up you don’t sound like you’re finished yet with what you want to accomplish.

Morgann: No, I feel like this is where

Morgann: I almost train my mind more than I train my body. Mr. Andrews made me aware of my thoughts. Through different visualization exercises, I got rid of my past fears and now zone in on the present. He showed me how to calm my anxiety with breathing exercises and to look at my fears in a whole different light. He taught me how to take big, complicated situations and make them simpler by either standing up for myself and getting rid of what holds me back, or taking it one step at a time. He trained me to use my energy wisely.

TAKEOFF: It sounds like that’s where the sport of pole vaulting is right now, on the cutting edge of human potential.

Morgann: Right. I 100% agree with that.

Photo credit: Morgann Leleux

17

it starts. The weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I actually have something in my back pocket so I can say, ‘I’m going to the Olympics. I’m an Olympian. I deserve to be a part of this whole professional pole vault scene.’

So yes, this is where it begins.

TAKEOFF: You’ve been a role model for a long time now with the young gymnasts. That seems like a 2-way street though. Those kids inspire you, even as you inspire them.

Morgann: Yes, those kids inspire me and have taught me so much. They all wrote little cards and gave them to my

mom before she headed out to meet

me at the Trials. Every single one of them wrote, ‘If you can dream it, you can do it,’ because they know that is the quote I live my life by. And it’s just amazing that they get to see it, live it, and know it.

And now, I can actually say it is so possible if you fight for your dang dream.

It takes a lot more than just laying down and dreaming. You have to put the work in and you have to have the really low lows, but if you dream it and stick to it, anything you put your mind to is absolutely possible.

It was the first time I really felt like I manifested this. I did all those things

that I was supposed to do to send those positive, I don’t know if you can call it signals, to the universe. It’s just an incredible experience, and the kids have witnessed this.

My way of giving back as an Olympian is going to be somehow through kids. I will probably coach the rest of my life.

I want to do something for youth, to make sure that no matter what situation they’re in they know it’s all about how you look at it; it’s about perspective, and you’ve got to believe. You’ve just got to believe. Even when you feel like there’s no hope left, you’ve got to believe.

18

Photo provided byt: Morgann Leleux

John Pennel

The Star Who Raised the Bar

By Jose R. San Miguel While on the internet a few days ago, a music video titled Raise the Bar caught my attention. The vocal artist is Shannon Penn and to my surprise, it is a touching dedication to the memory of her father John Pennel, 2-time Olympian, 2-time world indoor record holder, and 4-time outdoor world record holder in the pole vault. The video is a montage of John’s athletic career and life as a family man. It illuminates the legacy he left his daughter.

John was the first man to ever clear 17 feet in the pole vault. A pioneer and a risk taker, John broke that barrier using one of the first fiberglass poles made. The year was 1963, before landing mats, standard base pads, fiberglass crossbars, and carbon fiber poles existed. Vaulters jumped on aluminum or bamboo poles, propelling themselves over a three-sided aluminum cross bar to land in a pile of saw dust.

20

Since 1912, the pole vault outdoor world record has been broken 74 times by 34 men. You probably know a few of them: Bubka - 17 times and Thierry Vigneron - 5. But there were others with multiple world record clearances including Bob Seagren – 4, Charles Hoff – 4, Cornellius Warmerdam – 4, and John Pennel – 4, making John one of the greatest pole vaulters of all time.

Wikipedia says John started pole vaulting on his father’s farm using

T A K E O F F

M A G A Z I N E

an old television aerial, but family lore tells it differently. During track practice at Coral Gables High School in Florida, John’s oldest brother Bill challenged him to vault. Suspecting a set up, but refusing to back down, John jumped without any instructions. He failed miserably to the delight of Bill’s friends who were hanging around the pole vault pit.

John’s competitive nature, and strong Irish will would not let that be the end, so he made another attempt, soaring higher than all the others, including his brother. The laughs turned to shocked silence and John knew it was a good jump.

A loud voice began shouting at him from across the field.

“Hey you! What do you think you’re doing? Who are you?’ It was Coach Injachock, the high school coach, and John thought he was in trouble. “I expect you at practice tomorrow at 6:30 am!” And just like that, a world record and Olympic career began.

August 5, 1963. Fred Hansen and Bob Seagren jumped higher in subsequent years and John reclaimed the world record in ‘66 with 5.34m and again in ‘69 with a clearance of 5.44m/17-10.25, a mark that stood until 1970.

Representing the USA at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, John was the favorite but he finished 11th while competing with an injured back. At the 1968 Games in Mexico City, he finished 5th amidst a rules’ controversy.

The Olympics are the greatest stage for the human drama of athletic competition. We witness the thrill of victory for some and the agony of defeat for others. Results at the Games do not have an asterisk next to them to tell the full story and we will give John his due.

John dedicated himself to becoming great. He trained in his backyard with bamboo sticks, jumped over fences, and taped up TV antennas to use as a pole. Appreciating that the conflict in pole vault is not beating a competitor but besting the self, he sought personal improvement.

John cleared a medal winning height at the ’68 Games, but the jump was ruled a foul because the pole passed under the bar while he was landing, which was illegal at the time. John finished 5th and the antiquated IAAF rule which had already been rescinded but was still in effect, was abolished the following year, too late for John’s jump to be ruled fair. John retired in 1969 with the world record, without achieving his Olympic medal dream.

John set his first world record with a 5.13m vault in London, England on

Instead of being bitter, John moved on. He became a typical retired

T A K E O F F

M A G A Z I N E

Photo credit: Shannon Penn

Photo credit: Shannon Penn

22

pole vaulter. While on a drive with his daughter, Shannon noticed him inspecting the height of an upcoming overpass. She asked what he was doing. He replied, “I imagined myself vaulting over the overpass. I can clear it. I love that feeling.”

he appeared in the television show What’s My Line? He loved to go into his basement and create home videos of himself singing or being goofy.

He mastered the art of the selfie decades before cell phones with cameras were invented!

A comedian and entertainer with the personality to fill up the room and command everyone’s attention, John was also the Marlboro Man in the TV and print commercials; a participant in The Dating Game against Burt Reynolds; and

Yet John was humble to a fault, unassuming, and unimpressed by his own success. Shannon describes her father as her best friend, an awesome person with a passion for living life to the fullest. A dedicated parent with a kind soul, John was a star

T A K E O F F

M A G A Z I N E

who radiated positive energy. He loved playing the guitar and singing, imparting his love for music to his daughter.

But the greatest gift John gave Shannon and her siblings Sean and Erin, was perseverance. He taught them to never give up no matter the odds. His love for life was evident even during his devastating cancer diagnosis. He sought one treatment after another, ounces of hope to live one more day. Even facing death, he inspired those who knew him.

T A K E O F F

M A G A Z I N E

Shannon was 15 years old when John died. She sought solace by running.

Mile after mile, while eating less and less, Shannon eventually faced the consequences of a serious eating disorder that required many years of treatments and hospitalizations.

But Shannon knew she had what it took to overcome this, because her father taught her to never lose hope and she never has. She now advocates for youth to receive the proper support and medical help needed to deal with this lonely disorder that affects so many.

23

The music video starts with John asking 4-year old Shannon what she wants to be when she grows up. A nurse. He prompts her again and she says ‘an artist’, a foretelling moment when a father ignites a light within his daughter to carry her own torch forward.

Years later, inspired by the 2021 Olympics, and the challenges surrounding it, Shannon composed Raise the Bar, to encourage people to set the bar a little higher whether in hardship or triumph. Wearing John’s 1964 Olympic Team USA gear, she brings him to life, at times walking alongside him, showcasing him as a great athlete and tender parent.

The true gifts we pass on to our children are not material or financial, but intrinsic. A life filled with meaningful pursuit, a determination to challenge your personal best, and the willingness to overcome. The gift back to the parent is what the child does with the legacy, and in this Shannon has remembered, honored and raised her own bar.

She hopes you will do the same.

Click here to watch the music video Raise the Bar by Shannon Penn.

Photo credit: Shannon Penn

Raise The Bar Lyrics by Shannon Penn

First you learn how to crawl, then you walk and you fall With every new step you don't feel so small Gotta get off the ground to learn how to fly Gotta move on, keep climbing til you touch the sky Uncompromising the search for your star You fail then you fight back and try even harder Don't give up, don't think you can't win in the end And when you break down take it higher and higher No limits, no mercy, go stronger and then Run into the flames throw your fear on the fire And always raise the bar And just when you think you're a star Raise the bar The laws of gravity are yours to break Defy human frailty with the chances you take Push yourself, test yourself and let every scar Be your badge of honor, remind you who you are The will is relentless, the struggle sublime The triumph euphoric, this is your time CHORUS

24

Raise the bar when you're losing Raise the bar when you win Raise the bar when you're all alone Raise the bar when the whole world's watching Of all the reasons why you're here today It's no secret that all of the sacrifice, all of the pain Is the biggest part of the game CHORUS As the lights fade to black This is forever Don't ever look back T A K E O F F

Photo credit: Shannon Penn

M A G A Z I N E Photo provided by Katie Nageotte