University of Arizona freshman Jathiyah Muhammad will represent the Wildcats at the USA Track and Field U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon, on Thursday.
The 19-year-old pole vaulter is the only UA representative at the championships.
βItβs pretty cool. It didnβt really hit me until I got here, but I think itβs really cool that I was able to come and just be able to represent my team,β Muhammad said.
During the regular season, Muhammad placed first with a jump of 4.20 meters during the Willie Williams Classic at Drachman Stadium and second at the Arizona Spring Break Fiesta with a jump of 3.96 meters.
At the NCAA Div. I West Regionals in Texas last month, she set the UA freshman record with a jump of 4.32 meters, according to Dominic Johnson, UAβs pole vault assistant coach.
Jathiyah Muhammad leaps during the Willie Williams Classic Day 2 at Drachman Stadium on March 22, 2025.
Muhammad recalls knowing in the moment that she successfully made the record leap.
Jathiyah Muhammad, a pole vaulter with Arizona Track and Field, competes in the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships West Region at E.B. Cushing Stadium in College Station, Texas, on May 29, 2025.
βI screamed when I was in the air, falling, for making (the jump),β she said. βBut, then after I was like, OK, calm down and just point and give them a thumbs up.β
She says the moment βmeant a lotβ because, as a freshman athlete, it can be easy to get into your head about how well (or poorly) youβre performing. And logging the record at the NCAAs was the place to do it.
Now with her focus on the USA Track and Field U20 Championships, Muhammad is excited for a fun competition to end her season.
Once the Pittsburg, California, native returns to the UA next season, sheβll focus on fall training, which she initially missed out on last year due to being a mid-year athlete.
Both Muhammad and Johnson canβt wait to see what sheβll accomplish with a full season of training.
βI think sheβs going to be absolutely one of the top in the NCAA,β Johnson said. βWithout question, she will continue to break records in Arizona. β¦ (She) also represents the program weβve been building and to have an athlete of this caliber here, itβs fantastic, because we started a program five years ago, made up, really entirely, of walk-on athletes. And over the years, weβve built it up to become a program thatβs recognized nationally as a pole vault program. So, to have Jathiyah here is pretty fantastic.β
Update:Β Muhammad finished in second place at the USA Track and Field U20 Championships women's pole vault event. She logged a jump of 4.30m.
