Jess Johnson (’26) became the first Bryn Mawr student to win in the triple jump event in the college’s history when she won gold at the Centennial Conference finals on March 3. She is also the first student to win an event in the conference since 2020.
Nonetheless, Johnson remains humble and hardworking. This year, Johnson captained both the varsity soccer and track and field teams. She has been playing soccer since fourth grade and doing track and field since seventh grade. “I love both sports very dearly,” Johnson said. “It’s very fun, but it’s also different because they’re two very different teams.” According to Johnson, soccer is a team sport, while track and field is more individual, and so they bring out different aspects of teamwork and athletics.
In addition to captaining two teams, Johnson also majors in physics. Balancing academics, athletics, and free time is a challenge, but her advice is that “you have to go through the motion and figure out what’s best for you and what works for you.”
Johnson noted, “I do feel a lot of pressure. I think more so pressure from myself rather than my coaches and my team. I put a lot of pressure on myself to do the best I can for myself and for other people.”
As a captain, Johnson places an emphasis on mental health for herself and her teammates. “My mental health has gotten progressively better over the time I’ve been playing sports,” she said. “They can lose themselves in the results… you’re stuck in the mindset, who am I without this sport? Who am I if I don’t perform well in this sport? But at the end of the day, you have people around you, whether you think so or not, that still love you without being a student-athlete and just being you.”
Over the course of her four years at Bryn Mawr, Johnson has had a successful tenure as a student-athlete and has broken multiple school records in track and field, for example, in the outdoor 4x100m relay, indoor triple jump, and long jump. Her mantra is “There’s always room for improvement.” However, Johnson also found that “over time, I found a lot more joy in this, and I’ve had a lot more fun.”
Even after breaking multiple school records and becoming a decorated and successful athlete, Johnson is ultimately most proud of the friendships she has made. “I made lifelong friends from both teams,” she said. “I know they support me no matter what, no matter how I do, who I am, and how I’m feeling that day.”
Johnson’s advice for new student athletes is that “it’s going to be a struggle here and there, but you’ll find your people, and you’ll always have a family, no matter what you’re going through, and that’s your team.”
Moving forward, Johnson is looking forward to the outdoor track and field season, which begins after spring break. The Centennial Conference Championships for outdoor track and field will take place the first weekend of May.
