Mason Meinershagen – HS Athlete of the Week

In the sport of track and field, there are easy events that are just running and jumping. But one of the most difficult events is the pole vault. It takes agility, strength, and speed to be successful. Mason Meinershagen has used all three of those parts to be one of the top performers in the area and the state.

Meinershagen is second in the area with a pole vault of 3.63 meters and is tied for the best High Jump with a leap of 1.68 meters this season. But she turned to the Pole Vault and High Jump after a successful career as a gymnast and a diver at Oakville.

“I was a gymnast for over 12 years, and I grew up at the gym and it was my life,” stated Meinershagen. “I was a level nine gymnast, so I was high on the rankings as a gymnast as there are 10 levels. So, I grew six inches in my eighth-grade year and that was so much that I got to the point that my feet would hit the low bar in the uneven bars, and I was breaking my toes, so I was too tall to continue gymnastics. I had to look for more sports to participate in and I had done soccer my whole life and competed at Scott Gallagher where I was on the elite clubs and traveled all around the country. Then I decided to put another sport in there and I was trying Pole Vaulting. I got an email from this camp, and I fell in love with it. From there, I went to my first meet and jumped 9’6” in seventh grade and the rest is history.”

In track and field, you must love what you are doing daily and Meinershagen loves the sport and what comes with it.

“I love the sport and I have worked hard for it,” said Meinershagen. “I go to practices every day and love what I am doing. I travel across the country for it, and I have both a club coach that is in Arkansas and a club coach here in St. Louis, Jim Hill. I also go to the Missouri Pole Vault Academy.”

When we talk about the elite athletes in the area, they are all multi-sport athletes. Meinershagen not only was a gymnast and a soccer player, but she also was a diver for the Oakville swimming and diving team. She placed in the state diving meet in both her freshmen and sophomore seasons.

“They asked me to not only be on the track and field teams and the soccer team but also be on the track and field team,” stated Meinershagen. “I did diving in high school and placed at state in my first two years, but it was getting to be too much for me.”

Pole vaulting is not an easy sport to do, yet again be successful at, but Meinershagen used her ability as a gymnast to aid her in mastering the sport.

“A lot of it has to do with my gymnastic background,” said Meinershagen. “It has given me an edge in the event. My coaches have guided me with my form. I am still trying to improve my form and I have still a lot of things that are wrong, but I am working on it daily. For the most part, I have the basics down and now I must get nitpicky with my form and try to make it as perfect as I can.”

Putting in the extra time is critical in sports, but when you are a pole vaulter, it becomes more difficult to do what other athletes can do in those unseen hours. Meinershagen has been able to put in that time at home thanks to her father, who helped develop some interesting training techniques.

“I cannot get on the pit every single day, so I will pole vault a few days, but I will do drill work, which gives you the body awareness to do what you will do,” stated Meinershagen. “My dad made this makeshift invert box and I just worked on inverting because you go upside down when you pole vault. He built it with wood and bungee cords, and we have rings set up in our garage that I work inverting on. I would say that I spend more time off the mat than I do pole vaulting. I am always going to the track and running so that I can get faster because if you run faster, you will pole vault higher.”

The junior is not only getting things done on the track, but also in the classroom. But as we have talked about with many of our student-athletes, it can be a struggle to maintain a high level in the classroom.

“I am mostly in AP honors classes, so I spend a lot of nights working on my academics,” said Meinershagen. “I probably should not be up that late, but I want to have my grades good. I need to put the work in for that as well. There are many nights that I go to bed past midnight so that I can be ready for class so that I can get on the track and do what I love.”

Meinershagen has some big goals to accomplish this year as she as tied the state record for the state record in the pole vault last year but finished as the runner-up. She has the school record in the pole vault, but there are some big goals for her to achieve.

“My goal is to be on the podium at the state and finish in first place,” stated Meinershagen. “I want to get a personal best. I want to get better and place at state not only in the pole vault but in the high jump. I got third last year in the high jump, but I want to improve on that.”

Congratulations to Mason Meinershagen on being out HSSC/Scoops with Danny Mac Student-Athlete of the Week and we wish her the best of luck over the next month.