COLUMBUS — Heading into her seventh grade year at Columbus Middle School, Cierra Crusoe had never heard of shot put.
Although the event was foreign to her, she was encouraged to pursue it. Her curiosity piqued, Crusoe’s introduction to the sport came from watching online videos of successful shot putters.
That curiosity sparked a love, and eventually, a highly decorated career in shot put, complete with two Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A state titles.
“I try to be a humble person,” Crusoe said. “When people come up to me and tell me that they’ve seen me in the record books and they’ve seen me do well without me going to tell others, it’s an amazing experience because I’ve set a high standard and I’ve stood out from the rest.”
Crusoe’s game has always spoken for itself, and she found early success in both shot put and discus, her primary events, even as she was still learning the fundamentals. After a strong performance in Tupelo at one of her first track and field meets, she knew she had talent.
“After I threw, they asked me what grade I was in, and once I told them, they were like, ‘No way is she out here throwing that,’” Crusoe said. “It was crazy because I said to myself that ‘Wow, I can do this. I’m throwing farther than the other kids with barely any practice.’”
Enter Jessica Davis, Columbus High School’s track and field coach, who took over the program in 2019, just as Crusoe embarked on her freshman year with the Falcons.
Davis, a CHS alum who specialized in runs and jumps, knew as little about shot put coming in as Crusoe did when she first started watching those online videos. Crusoe and Davis taught each other – and themselves – a unique situation that led to a record-breaking high school career.
“She was dedicated,” Davis said. “She was one of the kids that you knew you were going to get 1,000% out of her every time. She was a kid that even though she knew she was good, she tried to build her other teammates up with her.”
As Davis worked on reestablishing CHS as a premier track and field program in North Mississippi, Crusoe led the Falcons by dominating the shot put, posting four-straight top-three finishes at the state meet, including state titles as a sophomore and senior.
“She knew what she wanted and she said she was going to go get it,” Davis said.
Crusoe also excelled in discus, most recently placing second at this year’s state meet in Pearl with a throw of 96 feet, five inches, good enough for a second-place finish.
Her personal best in the discus was a throw of over 112 feet in 2021, which stands as a school record, along with her school record shot put throw of 38 feet, seven inches in 2022.
While she didn’t reach that feat at state, her throw of 37 feet, 3 inches, was more than two feet better than second place.
“When I started out, I was really just doing it for fun,” Crusoe said. “As I got older, I started motivating myself more and I started setting goals for myself. … No one has done what I’ve done in Columbus and Mississippi, so me being able to set that high bar for girls coming up, I wanted to show them that they can achieve something.”
Crusoe has also set a high bar in powerlifting, where she’s smashed two state records in deadlift and squat, respectively, over the past two seasons. She won a state title as a junior, lifting a total of 1,040 pounds, including a 490-pound deadlift. This season, she added more than 100 pounds to that total, finishing third, but pulling off a record 420-pound squat.
Crusoe’s record-breaking strength translated to her field disciplines, where she crossed the 40-foot mark in shot put in practice this season.
“It’s going to be years to come before someone comes close to what she’s accomplished at Columbus,” Davis said.
Crusoe’s career is far from over as she received a full scholarship to Division II Lemoyne-Owen College in Memphis, where she hopes to build on her high school success at the next level.
Receiving the offer was an “out-of-body experience” for her, and she’s excited to keep going, with dreams of national recognition and maybe even the Summer Olympics ahead of her.
“It’s great to know that I’m going to be able to do this in college,” Crusoe said. “It feels like I’ve accomplished a lot and now, I have more ahead of me.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion