RECRUITED: Tessa Mudd‘s Path to Princeton

Tessa Mudd’s Path to Princeton

By Julianna Hallyburton

As a young girl, Tessa Mudd thought she would hate pole vaulting, but her childhood babysitter, Anthony, a collegiate vaulter himself, convinced her otherwise.

Ironically, Tessa became a 2X national indoor champion; she holds both the South Carolina high school indoor and outdoor records; she joined the 14’ club; and she will vault in college..

This is Tessa’s path to Princeton.

After 8 years of gymnastics, Tessa retired and took up competitive power tumbling and trampoline. She won two national titles in that sport and earned a spot on the junior national team. She also ran track in middle school.

Between her 8th grade and freshman years, before moving from Illinois to South Carolina, Tessa decided to take track more seriously, since South Carolina did not have power tumbling. To Anthony’s delight, she also gave vaulting a try. Anthony immediately bought a pit for his backyard and had Tessa jumping on 10 and 11 feet poles. A severe case of Osgood-Schlatter disease prevented Tessa from competing while living up north. When the family moved south, Tessa met her new pole vault coach: Tom Reagan of the Mt. Pleasant Track Club.

An exceptional athlete, Tessa started her high school career in the 100m, 200m, and vault, but wasn’t too serious about it yet. She was also a middle blocker on the varsity volleyball team.

Tessa faced a huge challenge her sophomore year: extreme cramping in her calves. Tessa recalls that it “made training difficult and sometimes hurt my legs even to walk.”

After numerous visits to the doctor, MRI’s, X-rays, and supplements, Tessa’s thyroid doctor diagnosed her with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the thyroid. At first, Tessa was upset, but who wouldn’t be? After some time to process, Tessa said “it was nice to know what was causing me so much pain, and it was even better to know that there were ways to improve the day-today issues I was having.” By adopting a new supplement regime and making dietary changes, Tessa felt like herself again.

By her junior year, Tessa knew she wanted to vault in college. She stopped sprinting and focused all of her attention on pole vault. Tessa hit training hard. She never backed down from a bigger pole or bigger bar. Coach Reagan said, “Tessa is the complete package you want for a prospective pole vaulter. She has the speed of a sprinter, the strength and spatial awareness of a gymnast, and just enough craziness to never question any pole I hand her. She just grabs the pole and goes for it. I have been blessed to be her coach.”

Tessa completed the year as the SCISA State Champion, USATF Regional and State Champion, Adidas Indoor National Champion, and she placed 3rd at the USATF Junior Olympics.

With an outstanding athletic and academic resume, Tessa just needed to figure out where she wanted to go. Princeton was fairly low on her list and it was her dad, Nate, who convinced her to reach out to the Ivy League schools. That’s when things fell in place.

After talking to Coach Reuben Jones, the recruiting coordinator, sprints, and horizontal jumps coach, Princeton moved to the top of her list, along with UNC-Chapel Hill. This was a tough decision for Tessa. Two outstanding schools with great academics and great athletics.

Ultimately, she went with her gut feeling and took an official visit at Princeton. She fell in love with the campus and met her future vault coach, Mike Maira. Coach Maira adds, “If I had to sum up the reason why we recruited Tessa, I would say that she is a tenacious competitor, yet humble and level-headed. I think that she has extraordinary upward potential (pun intended) due to her mindset, maturity, and sheer athleticism.” Could not have said it better myself.

Tessa remarks “Princeton felt like the best place for me to continue growing as a student and athlete. I’m so happy with my decision and can’t wait to join the Tiger Vault Squad in the fall!”

Tessa continued a lofty progression her senior year. She won Adidas Indoor Nationals again, and joined the 14’ club with a jump of 14’1.25”, a double PR at one of the biggest meets a high schooler attends. Tessa earned herself the South Carolina Indoor HS All-Time Record and according to South Carolina Milesplit, is the first high school female to jump 14’ in the state’s history.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Tessa will continue to climb higher and higher. Her peers, classmates, friends, teammates, coaches, and family all can’t wait to see where Princeton takes Tessa on her new path: the one to even greater personal success.