NLI SIGNING WEEK IS HERE -- Competing collegiately as a thrower definitely wasn't always the vision for Tennessee high school shot put and discus record holder Mensi Stiff.
In fact, even picking up an implement for the first time as a middle schooler came with doubts and uncertainties.
The only picture a 13-year-old Stiff had associated with throwing was that of Miss Trunchball -- the villain in the "Matilda" children's movie who happened to be a hammer thrower.
"That was the only idea of throwing I had at all," Stiff said. "I was super nervous about it."
But after years of growth and progression -- and quickly realizing throwing didn't translate to the narrative she saw in movies -- Stiff has become a national star.
Today, Stiff, a senior out of Brentwood Academy (TN), signs her National Letter of Intent with the University of Mississippi, where she'll join a throws program steeped in history and coached by the esteemed wife-husband duo of Connie Price-Smith and John Smith.
Stiff had a 2022 track campaign for the record books as she threw personal best marks of 162-10 in the discus and 51-8.25 in the shot put -- both of which earned her NSAF outdoor national titles and snagged spots among the top 10 on the U.S. leaderboards.
During the indoor season, her 52-8.75 shot put mark led the country and won her a Nike indoor national title.
But before that junior year breakthrough, Stiff already had one of the more difficult parts of being a top high school talent out of the way -- making her college commitment.
She took a more unconventional route than most recruits, making her verbal commitment to Ole Miss in December of 2021, weeks prior to the beginning of her sensational junior track season.
Even before setting those championship-winning marks in 2022, Stiff had the resume of a top throws recruit, having broken the 37-year-old Tennessee outdoor shot put record as a sophomore in 2021. That had college coaches and programs reaching out to her left and right.
Many top recruits may wait until after their junior years to pledge to college programs. But for Stiff, she had a gut feeling almost immediately after a few unofficial visits that Oxford, Miss. had something special to offer.
"Coach Smith's resume is amazing. He's coached a lot of All-Americans and his girls are absolutely amazing," she said. "I loved the team and the atmosphere of everything. I really liked it."
Photo Credit: Reily Anderson/MileSplit Tennessee
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Stiff arrived back home on a fall Saturday after what would be the last of multiple unofficial trips to Ole Miss feeling pretty confident in all the All-American throws program Price-Smith and Smith had to offer. A routine trip to church the next morning solidified those thoughts for Stiff.
"I actually went to church and was praying about it," she said. "I just felt super, super passionate about needing to go there. I called Coach Smith right after and committed that night."
With that phone call, Stiff joins a program headed by Smith that has produced champions and Olympians, including 2020 Tokyo Olympic shot put silver medalist Raven Saunders.
Now nearly a year since that choice, she'll put the pen to paper to make the decision official.
But before she moves south, Stiff still has some feats she hopes to achieve in the ring in her final high school competition season.
She said she likes to shoot for the stars, because even if she doesn't hit those high goals, she still may reach the moon. Those stars this track season for Stiff are setting new national records in the shot put both outdoors and indoors -- 58-1 and 57-5.5 are the measurements to surpass.
The goals don't change much for Stiff as she begins to shape goals for collegiate competition. Per usual, she said she looks forward to the elite training under renowned coaches that lies ahead of her.
"I just want to be a meaningful contribution at conference and the national level as a freshman," she said, "And then obviously just develop as an athlete."
But as Stiff makes her future home official today, it's not about the records she's aiming for or the success she's hoping to achieve as a collegian.
Instead, she is appreciating the journey, a path which she never thought would lead to national success in a sport she once doubted.
"As I've progressed and gotten better, hunger for always wanting to be good and everything like that has grown," she said. "But it definitely did not start out with like, 'That's what I wanted to do.'"
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