Jathiyah Muhammad

Tracy, CA, c/o 2024
AthleticNET Bio

Jathiyah Muhammad was very flexible and active when she was younger. Though she was not enrolled in gymnastics or dance, she would practice in her routines on her own in her room; she enjoyed it that much. She “would love to do flips, back handspring, front flips, cartwheels and handstands.”  

Her father, Gary, was a pole vault coach. When he went to practice, he would take her younger brother, Khaliq, and her to the track. She liked watching the pole vault. It reminded her of the gymnastics she practiced in her room and thought she’d give it a try. Her first attempt may have resulted in injury had her father not stopped her. Her father, she says, tells the story any time anyone asks how she got her start. She paraphrases.

“When I was younger, I decided to pick up a pole and go for it. But it was a 12 foot pole. If I had jumped, and he didn't stop me, I probably would have ended up injured. So I'm very glad that didn't happen. But ever since then[age 7], he's been teaching us and I've been pole vaulting.”

Jathiyah and her brother have been homeschooled through her sophomore year. She is Muslim and the school was enrolled in celebrated non Muslim holidays so she left that school. In ‘22 she was enrolled in independent studies which allowed her to compete in the CIF state series. She won the pole vault that year with a leap of 13-09. However, this past junior year, it didn’t work out due to required vaccines that her Muslim faith disallows so “sadly” she wasn’t able to compete again in the CIF State series. 

Her homeschool arrangement has worked out rather well for the pole vault. She was able to compete in pole vault competitions early on and has attended the National Pole Vault Summit in Reno ever since she was in seventh grade(age 12). That year, she finished third with a height of 9-04. 

Her father has been her primary coach, but she has had about five coaches in all. In her eyes, each one has contributed something to her pole vaulting.

“My dad has always been open to having other coaches coach us[ her and her brother],” she says. “ All coaches to me are different. It may not work out in the end, but I did learn something from them. The pole vault  is so technical so each coach gets credit for my plant or my swing or my pike or whatever. That's basically how I see with all of the coaches that I've had.”

Her progress in the pole vault has gone up nearly each year she has competed. After her seventh grade year, she moved up to 12-02 her eighth grade year; 12-00. her ninth grade year; 13-07,  her sophomore year; and 14-02 this past year. This year she won  the USATF U20 meet with a 13-09.25, but due to not having a passport, she was not able to compete at the Pan Am U20 Track and Field Championships in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; and she won the USATF National JO Championship(age 17-18) with a  14-00.5.

She is motivated by her younger brother in practice. He has a best of 16-06 and will be entering his junior year. There is a sibling rivalry there she says and she wants to beat him. She strives to get better each practice to do so.  The technical aspects of the pole vault have come easily to her. On her progressions she says:

“The body position just came easily to me. Of course, there was a period where you have to perfect something, and then you lose another thing so it's kind of stagnant. When I was 10, I had made 10 feet, but I had to fix some other things and I lost a bit of height after that.  I came back and I think around 11 to 12 years old, I was clearing 11 feet. Not consistently but I cleared it and ever since then it's just been good for me. I'm a quick learner.”

Since she is homeschooled, her father has worked out arrangements for her and her brother to work out at different facilities. This past year there was a lot of rain that limited her practice time, but with the time that they had, she said they were able to make progress.

She has shown tremendous resolve with coaching changes and in competition. Between her seventh and eighth grade year, she switched coaches and a week before the National Pole Vault Summit in ‘20, she was stricken with the flu. 

“I wasn't really feeling my best going to that competition, but I still managed to make that 12-02.”

Her strength comes from a pledge she makes to herself before every competition. 

“To me, It’s always been about having a good warmup, keeping myself in a good mood, and staying positive about the position that I am in. Every time I go onto the track, I have the mindset of ‘I can, and I will do this.’ Sometimes I have my days in competition where I’m tired, but I know I have to put my game face on. It’s never ‘I can’t’ or ‘I don’t think.’ It will always be ‘I can, and I will.’”

She continues:

“It's not just for me. I also look at what my parents do for me, along with the hard work that I put in. I don't really want that to go to waste. Even if I'm not feeling well, I still want to try to give it my all. So whatever I do that day, whether it's a low height or a higher height, it doesn't really matter. As long as I get out there and I do something.”

Standing 5-08.5, she has great height and she says this year, she’ll be focusing on working with a sprint coach to improve her speed. Her father tells her she can run under 13 and she wants to improve on her speed. Her current 100 meter personal best  is listed at 14.26. Something she feels she needs to elaborate on since it does not indicate how fast she really is.

“That [14.26 time] was on a really bad week. It was cold out and stuff happens. I don’t like talking about it. I’m much faster. I actually trained with a strength coach this year and I feel like that kind of got me going. I mostly rely on my run and my plant when I jump off the pole. It's always been whenever my run is good, my plant is good and that means my top part is going to be good. If I get all those out of the way, then I guess I'll be fine.”

With reaching such high heights and being one, if not the top rated pole vaulter out of this year’s class, she has received a lot of interest from colleges. She’s narrowed her choices to Arizona, Oregon, and San Diego State, but is still considering other options.

She’s excited about this upcoming season and what she can do. She has competed against the Moll sisters who have been very kind to her and hopes she can reach their heights one day. A miss at Nike Outdoor Nationals had a hip height of 14-06 so possibly 15-0 is on her horizon. She has thought of possibly competing in Paris if she can get faster and attempt higher bars. She is not quite sure what her expectations will be after this past year.

“Lately, I have just been kind of looking at what I'm capable of. At the beginning of my high school season, I didn't really believe I could get to a certain height and I was very passive. I feel like once I hit 13-07 last year, I want to push my limits and see what I can do. Now my PR of 14-02 and I am still able to do more. And you know, I just want to see what I can do.”