BATON ROUGE (KATC) – Winning is a Duplantis family tradition, and few chapters have been as successful as 2019.
LSU outfielder Antoine (senior, outfielder) and his younger brother Mondo (freshman, vaulter) have cut up the record books this spring.
Antoine broke LSU’s hits record. Mondo broke the collegiate pole vault record at the SEC Championship and that May 11th set the bar for what one family could do.
“I don’t try to hit home runs,” said Antoine. “I just wanted to drive in a run for the team.”
Enduring a 5-game losing streak, LSU was in Fayetteville, AR taking on the Razorbacks. The Tigers trailed 2-0 in the 8th inning when Antoine blasted a 3-run home run. The game winning home run.
Across town Mondo was competing in the SEC Track & Field meet when he heard the news.
“One of the officials said, ‘oh you go to LSU, I saw a Tiger hit a 3-run home run to take the lead,” Mondo recalls. “I though, sweet, but didn’t think much about it…. After warmup my dad said, ‘you heard Toine hit that bomb?’ ‘That three run bomb?’ That guy was talking about Toine.”
Five hours and four blocks away, Mondo vaulted higher than any college vaulter had before on a very special Saturday night.
“We watched Antoine bat and hit the home run and we said we had to go after the inning. We watched the rest as we drove over to watch Mondo warm up for the SEC championships,” said their dad Greg Duplantis. “It’s the kind of thing you can’t expect, it just happens.”
2019 stands to get a little better in the coming days. As Antoine prepares for the Super Regionals, he will hear his name called in this year’s MLB draft, which begins Monday. Then on Wednesday Mondo will compete in the NCAA Championship Track & Field meet where he will be the favorite to win the pole vault.
“Honestly this is the best year ever. Regardless if Antoine makes it to MLB or Mondo wins,” said Greg. “To have them both here at the same time, I don’t think that can top it.”
Editor’s note: Both Mondo & Antoine’s parents Greg and Helena competed at LSU, as did their older brother Andreas. Their younger sister Johanna plays soccer and competes in track & field at Lafayette High School where Mondo and Antoine graduated from.
