Track Star Sets the Bar Higher and Higher

She has high hopes. How High? Over 6.03 feet high.

That’s how high Julisa Tindall jumped while participating in the high jump portion of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships in March. The 1.84-meter jump is the indoor College of Charleston record for the high jump.

She also set the outdoor school record in the high jump at 1.83 meters. That record was set during the Colonial Athletic Association championships in spring 2015.

This year, Tindall made it two CAA championships in a row when she made a season-best 1.76-meter jump to take the conference title again.

But, as she will tell you, those new records wouldn’t have been set if it weren’t for Tindall’s sister.

Tindall never tried the high jump until she decided to go out for the track team while in the 10th grade at Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, S.C. Her coach convinced her to try the high jump, after reminding Tindall that her older sister was a successful high jumper on the team several years earlier.

“That really motivated me to try it,” she says. “It was a different feel and kind of weird, but it soon felt natural and I was able to catch on quickly.”

Her impact on her high school team was felt immediately. The higher she jumped, the more the school records started to fall.

For the next three years, she was the state champion in the high jump. She was named to the Charlotte Observer’s girls track all-state team for three years, and the Rock Hill Herald dubbed her Athlete of the Year during her senior year.

As a member of the Cougars, she hasn’t just set school records. She’s also qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary (placing 18th in the high jump) and the USA Track and Field Senior Outdoor Championships (placing 13th nationally).

Despite her success on clearing the bar, her biggest hurdle may be trying to explain her sport to other people: “Most people think that it’s the pole vault, so I compare it to pole vault. I tell them that it’s just like pole vault without the pole. It’s just me jumping over the bar.”

In case you’re wondering, no, she has never tried to pole vault and has no desire to try. However, Tindall does have some personal goals for the next few years.

“I want to continue to get better,” she says. “I broke school records last season. My goal now is to jump higher and break those records again.”

After graduating from the College, Tindall, a psychology major, hopes to attend graduate school and eventually go into social work.

People who know her are not surprised. They realize that she is known for reaching lofty heights.