After clicking on senior track and field athlete Jenna Niedermayer’s roster post, a huge list fills the screen. Below the complete listing of her personal bests for each indoor and outdoor season are Niedermayer’s multiple accomplishments as a competitor at Elizabethtown College. Arguably the Blue Jays’ most decorated and accomplished jumper, Niedermayer’s accolades hit a high point this March when she earned an All-American honor in the triple jump at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships.
While some people may not think much work goes into becoming a successful jumper, Niedermayer’s journey to the top disproves that theory. She began competing in track in sixth grade. “It was the only available sport to play in the spring at my middle school, and I stuck with it from then on,” she said. Niedermayer also played soccer from a young age up until her senior year of high school.
She began jumping right at the beginning of her track career, as she was thrown into those events at her first meets. Describing middle school track meets as “organized chaos,” Niedermayer expressed her love for the event right from the start. “What kid doesn’t want the opportunity to play in sand essentially?” she said.
Coming to Etown, Niedermayer was fortunate to start working with the team’s head coach Joel Hoffsmith, who has coached her jumping technique over the past four years. For each practice, Hoffsmith compiles a unique workout for Niedermayer. While her workouts are similar to those of sprinters and hurdlers, Niedermayer does short speed workouts, approach drills, jumping drills and weight lifting five days a week. “We work with the facilities we have for the indoor season to practice jumping by maneuvering the mats around in the hallway as best we can,” she said.
In addition to being pushed by her coaches, Niedermayer has an intrinsic desire to push herself harder each practice. However, she attributes that characteristic to her upbringing. “[My dad] instilled values in us kids to work for what we want, that nothing worth winning comes cheap or easy and to be dedicated,” she said.
Those workouts and dedication have led to Niedermayer’s capturing of school records in the indoor and outdoor long jump and triple jump, 25 All Middle Atlantic Conference performances and two Field Athlete of the Year at the MAC Indoor Championships. Niedermayer has also been successful as a sprinter, holding the school record in the 60m dash and serving as member of several relay teams.
The triple jump has become Niedermayer’s favorite event during her time at Etown. “I think it’s such a technique specific event that I can always improve upon,” she said. “When you get stronger, faster and more technically sound you improve. Therefore I have so much potential if I work hard at it. Also, it’s such a strange event that most people don’t know about; I like how it is a little out there.”
Despite Niedermayer’s potential to shine during the outdoor season and make another trip to the national championships, her biggest goal in her last season as a Blue Jay is to win a conference championship. “I have never won a team championship in either indoor or outdoor in four years,” she said. “I want nothing more than to see our women’s team pull together to take the title at LVC [Lebanon Valley College], especially since they won the indoor championship.”
Next year, Niedermayer will still be at Etown completing her fifth year in the occupational therapy department, but she will miss her time spent with the track team. She commented that she will miss the dedication it takes to be part of a team and the benefits of being in shape. “Without track, I can honestly say my fifth year in OT is going to feel strange,” she said.