Eight-time NCAA champion and Division 3 record holder in both indoor and outdoor triple jump looks to soar again in South Carolina in final meet representing Johns Hopkins, before shifting focus to U.S. Olympic Trials and new challenges next year as graduate student-athlete at Texas A&M

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

John Hopkins assistant track and field coach Alex Jebb remembers the text.

It was the spring of 2020 and incoming recruit Victoria Kadiri was messaging Jebb about wanting to learn how to high jump when she arrived on campus. “It looks fun,” the message read.

“I was like, ‘OK, cool, yeah, we can try that,” Jebb said, who coaches the jumps.

Kadiri, who had a background in sprinting, long jumping and had experience throwing the shot put in high school, had never done the high jump before.

Jebb said he then received another message. It was a video clip of Kadiri in her home driveway of Lynn, Mass., leaping and trying to touch the rim of her basketball hoop.

“I was like, ‘Oh, OK. we can definitely try the high jump, it was very impressive,” Jebb said with a laugh.

Since COVID-19 officially canceled her senior high school spring season, she improvised and sent a video of her abilities.

“That was kind of the first time we were like, ‘Wow, we could have something here,’” Jebb said.

More than four years later, and Kadiri, a senior, has developed from the driveway video into one of the nation’s top track and field athletes – in particular the jumps.

She heads into the NCAA Division 3 Outdoor Track and Field Championships, scheduled for May 23-25 at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, S.C., as the defending champion in the long and triple jump.

Kadiri is the top entry in the triple jump, ranked No. 3 in the long jump and No. 7 in the heptathlon. Her triple jump effort of 44-0.75 (13.43m) is the seventh-best performance in the NCAA this season, regardless of division.

“It’s been really exciting for me,” Kadiri said. “Obviously, when I first started, I didn't know I would reach these levels, but as I’ve gotten better and better, it’s just kind of inspired me to keep going and see where track can take me.”

A basketball player first, Kadiri started running at age 8, but didn’t focus on sprints and jumps until the middle school and high school levels.

Attending one of the top independent schools in the country, Phillips Academy Andover, she focused on sprints and the long jump, and was also able to try a few other events such as the shot put and relays.

One of the top track and field athletes in the New England prep division, Kadiri said as she started to get better, her love for the sport and its team aspect increased.

“As I was winding down, I realized I didn’t want that to be the last time I was a track athlete,” she said. “I thought college athletics would be the best fit to keep that going and having the opportunity to get a great education.”

Jebb doesn’t immediately recall, but he believes it was Kadiri’s junior year of high school when she first reached out.

“I honestly think she filled out the online questionnaire,” he said with a laugh.

Kadiri, who Jebb describes as an incredibly thoughtful individual, knew she wanted to attend a school that provided a great education – she wanted to major in engineering in some way. She also wanted to join a successful track and field program.

Johns Hopkins provided both. 

With the pandemic, Kadiri wasn’t able to live on campus until the spring of her first year. 

Jebb said that the first season was all about putting together a foundation for an athlete with her diverse background. The idea of exploring the multis was introduced.

During the 2021 spring season, Kadiri experienced a lot of success, qualifying for the NCAA Division 3 Outdoor Championship in the long jump, placing fifth at 18-5.75 (5.63m).

She was also named the Centennial Conference Outdoor Outstanding Rookie.

“Things were a little slower, but one of her best qualities is that she’s not afraid to fail at something, she’s not afraid to look dumb,” Jebb said. “One of the first days we had her jump over the hurdles, it wasn't pretty, but she was able to laugh about it and wanted to get better. The first year, she learned how to hurdle, learned how to high jump, learned how to be an athlete and how to carry herself.”

Kadiri’s journey to becoming a national champion in the triple jump didn’t begin until the tail end of her first year at Johns Hopkins.

Jebb explained they started off with a shorter approach and didn’t rush anything. A fast and strong build, Jebb explained they worked on fixing Kadiri’s bounce and the technical aspect, while gradually adding strides as she became more comfortable with the event.

Her sophomore year, Kadiri made a bigger name for herself as she won the NCAA Indoor long jump on her final attempt, becoming the first athlete in program history to win a national title. That spring, she added to her resume by winning outdoor national titles in the long jump 19-9.50 (6.03m) and triple jump with a 40-9.50 (12.43m).

“She just gets it,” Jebb said. “She’s able to hone in on things very well, she’s had clutch jumps in her career winning nationals on third attempts, and has her best performances at nationals. If you take the power and speed that she has and put it together with her brain of being able to think through things and focus on it, it’s a good combination.”

That winning combination has led to historic things for Kadiri and Johns Hopkins.

She’s become an eight-time NCAA Division 3 national champion and owns the all-time indoor (43-3/13.18m) and outdoor (44-0.75/13.43m) triple jump performances in the triple jump in division history.

Kadiri also ranks No. 2 all-time in the outdoor long jump at 20-9.25 (6.33m) and No. 7 all-time indoors with a 19-8 (5.99m). She also sits at No. 10 all-time in the division in the pentathlon with 3,746 points.

“I think a lot of it has been buying into Jebb’s programming and his vision for me as an athlete and for the team, and trusting that he knows what he is doing,” Kadiri said of her success. “I also think training for multis got me in a lot better shape and it’s all worked together to make me a better athlete and train my body to be able to work and be flexible in different ways.”

Earlier this spring, she improved on her own Division 3 record in the triple jump at the Bison Outdoor Classic, achieving a sixth-round performance of 44-0.75 at Bucknell, in addition to winning the heptathlon title.

With all of her accolades and the transfer portal a more accessible and viable option for student-athletes to explore, that prospect of perhaps bigger and brighter lights wasn’t for Kadiri.

“For me, I never really thought of transferring as an undergraduate,” she said. “I felt like Hopkins was a great place for me to be. I really love (Division 3) athletics in general just because of course we are athletes and very serious about our sport, but the coaches and entire program is centered around you guys being students and being very flexible and making sure we are getting the most experience out of the student experience as well as the athlete experience. I found I really wanted to continue and close up that experience as one whole thing and get my degree from Hopkins.”

Jebb explained those characteristics are part of what makes Kadiri such a unique individual. A self-described quieter and more reserved person, Kadiri said the sport brings out her personality.

She tends to favor fun socks, enjoys keeping the energy up at practice, and throwing out some jokes. Jebb said she can be a little mischievous, but keeps things fun and light.

“She’s one of the most amazing people we’ve had here to the point where other coaches will just unprompted come up to me and talk to me about how much they and their team love Victoria and how much everyone looks up to her and what she does and the way she carries herself,” Jebb said. “It’s very humbling to be as successful as she is and totally bought into what we’ve been doing here as a program and jump squad.”

With another year of eligibility remaining due to COVID-19, Kadiri, who is a double major in General Engineering and Africana Studies and a minor in mathematics, will use that fifth year to transfer to Texas A&M, where she’ll compete at the Division 1 level and pursue her graduate degree.

But for now, she’s focused on the present, hoping to represent Johns Hopkins well at her final Division 3 outdoor championship meet in South Carolina, and then move onto the Olympic Trials in late June and see what she can do at Hayward Field in Oregon.

“We know what the goals are, and those are goals that would scare a lot of people,” Jebb said. “But for us, if we have fun and execute, that will take care of itself.”