Brian Mondschein prepares for Olympic trials

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Clearing the bar
Hershey's Mondschein prepares for Olympic trials
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
BY JAMES PHILLIPS
Of The Patriot-News
Brian Mondschein has a firm grasp of the big picture.

The former Hershey High and Virginia Tech standout is entering the Summer Olympics track and field trials June 27 with a cool mind-set. When Mondschein begins competing in the pole vault qualifier round, he has only one thought in mind.

"My goal is to make the finals and take in the experience," said Mondschein, 25.

Especially in the some times slick weather in Eugene, Ore., where the meet will take place at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.

"I will be in my prime for the 2012 Olympics [London]," Mondschein, 25, said. "Typically, a pole vaulter peaks around 28 or 29."

That's his focus.

The pole vault is a wacky and unpredictable event, one that is also dangerous. Competitors have nerves of steel and plenty of heart to compete in such an event.

Mondschein was attracted to the event and excelled at it right from the start. While at Hershey, he captured the PIAA Class AAA pole vault championship in 2001 with a height of 15 feet, 3 inches, but had hit 15-10 with a goal of 16-0 that year.

He then took his act to Virginia Tech and developed into a three-time All-American and ACC champion.

"I have no regrets at all going to Virginia Tech," Mondschein said. "My coach [Dr. Robert Phillips] taught me a lot about vaulting.

"I learned about the importance of refining your technique, and how it was the key in improving your height. Many vaulters want to concentrate on just getting as high as they can. Technique, however, is the key for getting higher."

Mondschein had to overcome an accident in his first year at VT when his pole broke, splitting open a huge gash in his hand that required 21 stitches to close.

A tragic episode in February 2002 spooked -- as Mondschein described it -- a lot of pole vaulters and caused some to back away from the sport.

Former Penn State athlete Kevin Dare, the 2000 PIAA Class AAA champion from State College, died after a fall during the Big Ten Indoor Championships at Minnesota. The accident shook Mondschein to the core.

"He was a friend," Mondschein said. "I remember plenty of athletes in our sport gave it up after that happened."

But Mondschein maintained the passion necessary to be one of the best in the nation. He graduated in 2006 with a degree in mechanical engineering, but stayed in the Blacksburg area to go to graduate school and train.

VT went through a tragedy of its own on April 16, 2007, when South Korean student Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 people and wounded several others in the largest one-man massacre in American history. Mondschein remembers that day as if it was yesterday.

"I had surgery on my left knee [days earlier] and I was in the training room that morning," recalled Mondschein. "There was disbelief at first ... the weird thing was how slowly word spread around the campus.

"I was a volunteer coach on the track team at the time and all of the athletic teams helped with the healing process together. The support came from everywhere [in the nation]."

Mondschein has recently hooked up with Earl Bell, one of the most accomplished U.S. men's pole vaulters, and a three-time Olympian (1976, '84, '88), at Bell's camp in Jonesboro, Ark.

"I've been training there for three weeks and it has really prepared me for the trials," he said. "He [Bell] is an amazing coach. It was also great to train with some outstanding vaulters out there."

Mondschein's personal-best is 18-6. The American record is 19-93/4, established by Brad Walker this year at the Prefontaine Classic at the site of the Olympic Trials.

"I'm ready to hit that next level and just jump high," Mondschein said. "In this sport, anything can happen."

JAMES PHILLIPS: 255-8182 or jphillips@patriot-news.com