Cudmore heading to Penn State
Gwen Cudmore’s gap year is anything but a vacation.
After graduating from E.L. Crossley in the spring, the Thorold Elite Track Club high jumper has been working five days a week at a restaurant in Vineland and trains every day at the gym or at the track.
That work ethic has caught the eye of Thorold Elite jumps coach Jason Pilkington.
“The biggest thing I have noticed about her is her commitment,” he said. “She works out more than your average jumper, even through the pandemic and stuff. We saw results from other jumpers from across the province going down but she stayed level to what she was and now we are looking for her to go a bit higher.”
The 17-year-old Port Colborne resident’s busy schedule is with a goal in mind.
“I wanted to get into a good school where I could improve. My main motivation is to improve in high jump.”
Cudmore send out a bunch of emails to schools known for their academics and athletics and Penn State expressed an interest in her about a month later. She started calling back and forth with the coach and she was invited to make an official visit to the school in early October.
“When I went on my visit, I knew right away it was the school for me,” she said. “It is a huge school but there was still a family aspect and all the athletes I went to practice with trained really hard but they could still focus on school. There were also a lot of resources to help with school and that spoke to me.”
She is planning to major in engineering.
“I talked to two girls on the team who are in engineering so I know that it is possible,” Cudmore said.
She has committed to the school and is waiting to hear about an academic scholarship. Her marks at Crossley were in the high 90s. An athletic scholarship is on the table if she can raise her personal best jump to 1.75 metres from 1.68 metres.
“The thing I really like about Penn State is it doesn’t matter when I hit the 1.75. If it’s in my second year they can give me the scholarship then,” she said. “I can jump really easily but it is just my technique that I need to work on because I haven’t jumped in a while. I am confident I can do it.”
Cudmore is planning to head to Penn State in September 2022.
“I am looking to being somewhere where I can improve. Here in Canada it hasn’t been the best with COVID and all that,” she said. “As of right now, I have to go to Toronto to jump on a track. But at Penn State the track will be a walk away when I am in residence and I will have all the tools I need to improve.”
Pilkington thinks the American university is the perfect spot for Cudmore.
“When she gets to Penn State, they will be going five days a week. She will be on the track and in the weight room every single day working with seriously talented Division 1 coaches.”
This summer, Cudmore won a silver medal at the 22 and under provincial championships.
“I didn’t actually jump my best that day but I didn’t miss at a lot of heights so that put me in a better position,” she said. “I was hoping I would be better but the training wasn’t ideal.”
Pilkington liked what he saw at the provincials.
“The only girl who beat her was a college level athlete and I think she was 21 or 22,” he said. “There were a few jumpers she had been jumping against the whole season who were consistently beating her and when the big meet came, she showed up.”
