MSU pole vaulter headed to US National meet

EAST LANSING, Mich. (WOOD) — Most Spartans are off Michigan State University’s campus by July, but not East Kentwood product Trevor Stephenson. The pole vaulter is taking his career to new heights.

“He was always a risk-taker as a kid, always jumping off stuff,” his mother Stephanie Stephenson said. “We were trying to channel that into good instead of evil.”

A lot of good has come Trevor Stephenson’s way since he picked up a pole, but it didn’t come easily.

“I was awful my first year,” he recalled.

“He wasn’t very good,” his mom agreed.

He told his mom, who was also his coach at the time, that he was ready to quit.

“I wanted to quit from just a few months of it after my freshman season because it just sucked and I was awful,” he said.

“I said, ‘Trevor, if you hang in there for another year, you’ll get better, and as you get better, you will like it more,’” his mother said.

Mom’s always right. He stuck with it…