Female Athlete of the Year: Julia Ratcliffe

The Princeton track and field team knew it had recruited a special talent even before sophomore Julia Ratcliffe stepped onto its campus in September 2012. The native of Hamilton, New Zealand had placed fourth just two months before at the IAAF World Junior Championships in the hammer throw. Earlier in the year, she had set the New Zealand U-19 record for the women’s hammer throw, just as she had set the U-18 record in 2011.

But the Kiwi had bigger plans on her mind as she moved her game to North America. Ratcliffe’s freshman year included jaw-dropping results during the winter and spring seasons. In her collegiate debut, she set a school record in the weight throw that had been held by Thanithia Billings ’11. She would go on to place second at winter Heps in the weight throw. The spring saw Ratcliffe transition from the weight throw to her specialty in the hammer throw, where she quickly did damage for the Tigers. Her toss of 68.80 meters at the Larris Ellis Invitational would be the first of many times that she would break her own school and Ivy League record. She would earn her first Heps gold two weeks later, as her throw of 66.51 m would outdistance Brown’s Lacey Craker’s by over five meters and would set a meet record. Her success ultimately culminated with an 11thplace finish at the NCAA Championships, good enough for second-team All-America honors.

While it is hard to imagine an athlete with so much success making such great jumps one year later, Ratcliffe made it happen, thus making her Female Athlete of the Year 2013-14.

Ratcliffe won her second Heps gold in the hammer throw at Yale on May 10, as her throw of 67.75 m gave her a new Heps record. Her performance earned her the award for the meet’s Most Outstanding Female Field Performer.

Despite her overwhelming successes this year, Ratcliffe maintains that the distances and records have not been her focus at all.

And while the overwhelming amount of success can get to an athlete’s head, Ratcliffe has her eyes completely on the future as the coming weeks hold much for her.

In addition, Ratcliffe’s humility is striking, as she attributes a great deal of her success to her supporters.