Gebauer And James Earn All-Conference Accolades

May 18, 2006

PARK RIDGE, Ill. - Michigan State seniors Brad Gebauer and Taren James were named to the All-Big Ten men's and women's outdoor track and field teams, respectively, the conference announced Thursday afternoon. Gebauer captured the conference's pole-vault title, clearing a height of 5.15 meters, while James claimed the triple-jump crown with a leap of 12.35 meters, on Sunday, May 14, the final day of championship competition.

Gebauer has dominated Big Ten pole-vaulting for the past three seasons, capturing four-out of-five conference titles. The Bad Axe, Mich., native is the two-time defending conference indoor champion and also claimed the outdoor title in 2004, before red-shirting during the 2005 outdoor season. Gebauer has been named to the all-conference team on four occasions (indoor: 2005, 2006; outdoor: 2004, 2006), becoming the first Spartan to earn all-league honors four times since Paul Terek.

In addition, fellow senior Mark Langlois (Fruitport, Mich.) was named to the second team. Langlois finished second in the pole vault at the Big Ten Championships and was one of three remaining competitors to clear a height of 5.05 meters, earning a second-place finish after having posted the fewest overall misses.

James, who added a second-place finish in the long jump (6.15 meters) on Saturday, finished just 0.01 meters ahead of Illinois' Kristina Jones in the triple jump, giving Michigan State a female All-Big Ten selection for the fifth-straight season.

Gebauer posted a season-best pole-vault of 5.42 meters at the Bulldog Invitational, on April 22, while James' leaps at the Big Ten meet both set season-highs. Based on those performances both will represent the Spartans at the 2006 Mideast Regional Championships on May 26-27, in Knoxville, Tenn.

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