(Photo credit: Christine Heeren. High Jumper Priscilla Frederick at the Great Dane Classic 1/12/19)
by Christine Heeren
As a child, Priscilla Frederick didn’t set out to be a high jumper in the Olympics, but that’s exactly what she did.
Born in New York City on Valentine’s Day, the 29-year-old Frederick spent her childhood in southern New Jersey. “I started running track at 6 years old, ran the 800 and hated it,” Frederick laughed. She followed other passions, like singing and acting. But during her senior year at St. Paul VI High School in Haddonfield, New Jersey, Frederick fell in love with high jump, which came naturally to her, being 6 feet tall and a muscular 150 lbs.
She then got a full ride to St. John’s University, whom she credits for a lot of her success. Frederick amassed an astonishing six 1st place finishes throughout her senior year, in addition to setting the school record for indoor and outdoor high jumps, and making the All-American team three times.
After college, Frederick competed in the 2012 World Trials for the United States and placed 7th in high jump, despite only being seated 24th. “I was really happy about making finals and representing the USA for that short amount of time,” she said, “It really solidified that I could be a better athlete.” Frederick continued to train, got a new coach and switched countries in 2014 to Antigua and Barbuda.
“It’s been absolutely incredible to represent a small island that most people are unaware even existed. It’s really humbling and honoring that they selected me to be a part of their team”, said Frederick, who has dual citizenship. Her father was born in Antigua and Barbuda, a series of islands southeast of Puerto Rico that belong to the British Commonwealth.
In 2016, Frederick had the amazing opportunity to participate in the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but didn’t make the finals.
“I pulled my hamstring a couple of months priors, but I went out there and gave it my all,” she said. Frederick has been named “Athlete of the Year” numerous times, but that desire for an Olympic medal was still there.
After coming back to the states, Frederick shared her talent & electric personality with young athletes in New Jersey. She is the head coach for both boys and girls track at Paul IV High School & volunteers for the Princeton University Tigers. “It’s been a whirlwind, probably one of the greatest challenges of my life, but one of the greatest rewards,” said Frederick, “I’m trying to get those athletes to have that mentality of doing something bigger than yourself.” Something she has experience with.
“The last two years have been difficult. I felt like I had an Olympic hangover,” said Frederick, who came home from Rio super-amped, but then experienced a lull and decided to set her sights on Tokyo 2020.
This weekend, Frederick competed in the Great Dane Classic, hosted by the University at Albany at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, NY.
Her winning jump was 1.89 meters. Second place, Anika Hibbard of UAlbany at 1.70 meters. Federick holds the facility record of 1.90 meters set two years ago.
Frederick stands out in a crowd, with her purple hair and warrior confidence. The deadly combination of intelligence, drive and natural athletic ability, in addition to her faith, is a force to be reckoned with. “Never be afraid of success or a challenge. I’m not the person who likes easy,” she continued, “I like a bit of a challenge, to put work into it and go from stage 1 to 100.”
Follow Priscilla Frederick on Instagram: @priscilla_frederick
Full results from the Great Dane Classic here: https://oceanbreezenyc.org/sports/2019/1/12/great-dane-classic.aspx
