From Nanaimo to the Big Sky: How heptathlete Tessa Bell chose Idaho

Brett Montrose -

Tessa Bell is a heptathlete from Nanaimo, British Columbia, who has grown up representing Nanaimo Track & Field Club and Nanaimo District Secondary School. Beginning next year, she'll trade her blue and green singlets for the black and gold of the University of Idaho Vandals.

Ahead of signing period, Tessa has committed to Idaho, an NCAA Division I program competing in the Big Sky Conference. She'll study in the university's Department of Movement Sciences.

Tessa is from my hometown, so writing this hits home (literally) for me. It's also the second year in a row I've worked one-on-one with the best heptathlon recruit in the country. Last year it was Lily Stroda in the class of 2026. Navigating NCAA recruiting with Tessa's 2027 class was even more challenging, and how she handled it offers valuable insight for every athlete and family starting out.

Tessa on the track and in the field

  • Heptathlon (U18): Tessa scored 4,807 points at the BC Athletics Outdoor Championships, July 2026—the 16th-best U18 heptathlon score in Canadian history, on a list that includes Olympic bronze medallist Brianne Theisen-Eaton (10th, 4928), NCAA D1 silver medallist and Olympian Zheng Ninali (AKA Nina Schultz; 2nd, 5406), and the aforementioned Lily Stroda (1st, 5573). [Source: Athletics Canada all-time U18 heptathlon rankings]
  • Heptathlon (U20): She tallied 4,685 points at the Canadian Championships in Ottawa as a grade 11 student, using the higher hurdles and heavier implements of the U20 category.
  • BC Secondary Schools champion: As a grade 11 student in 2026, Tessa won three senior titles, in the heptathlon, 100m hurdles and long jump. She also won the junior heptathlon title in 2025, and she'll go for more in her true senior year of high school in 2027.

Narrowing a couple hundred schools to a short list

When Tessa and I started working together through Ongoing Advising in August, the initial objective was simple: start conversations with Division I coaches and get a clear picture of what those opportunities could look like for her.

Over the past five years, recruiting has changed drastically. Impacting Tessa's class, uniquely and heavily, were both recently imposed NCAA roster limits and the five-in-five eligibility model. A strong international multi-eventer has to find the programs that are building a combined-events group and have roster space. We started with a couple hundred Division I schools and narrowed them to the ones that fit Tessa's recruiting goal, academically, athletically and geographically.

Idaho was on that list from the start. The program told us it was looking to build a strong multis group, and her event coach, Brad Gamble, Idaho's assistant coach for jumps and multis, had been the head coach at Colorado Mesa for eight years. Idaho also has a long history with Canadian athletes.

We planned Tessa's visits so Idaho came early. When a program you already like sets the benchmark, every visit after it has something to measure against.

The visit that decided it

Tessa took an official visit to Idaho.

"The coach really stood out to me because he was very welcoming and showed me how his team worked together."

What stood out to me from the outside was how Idaho handled her. They treated her like a person and a student-athlete, not a recruit on a deadline. Their message was to go on her other visits, and when she decided, to decide with confidence. Coach Gamble demonstrated that he is a coach who expects to win the comparison, and he did.

"I knew this was the school for me because I felt very connected with the coach and the team on my visit. I could really picture myself improving there."

Why Idaho

Idaho checked the academic, athletic, and geographic boxes we set during Tessa's first couple advising sessions. For her, it came down to the people and the training.

"Idaho felt like somewhere that I would be valued as an athlete and a student. It felt like somewhere where I would be pushed to be the best version of me that I can be."

Programs that focus on the multis like to carry several women who can score in the pentathlon (indoor) and heptathlon, because the group pushes itself across seven events. That is exactly what Tessa was looking for.

"I am most looking forward to training with a group of people who will push me and help me grow as an athlete."

The decision had to be hers

After her last visit, Tessa was smart enough to know a commitment is a big deal, and she wanted a little space before making it. On our call on October 29, she told me her mind was made up. It was what I expected her to say, but I couldn't push her to make a commitment before she was ready. A decision like this has to come from the athlete. Tessa applied to the University of Idaho during that same call.

Handling the challenges of recruitment

"The hardest part was knowing what next steps to take with each school I was talking to. But Brett really helped guide me through my whole recruitment process."

Along the way, Tessa had a series of decisions to make, communication with coaches to maintain or end, and opportunities she hoped would be available that didn't come to fruition.

She also dealt with injury at the end of her 2026 outdoor season, which caused her to end her season early—partway through the national U18 heptathlon—and miss out on her last chance to hit one more PR she could leverage in her recruiting.

Through it all, Tessa leaned on the following keys to her recruitment success:

  • Her 90% academic average meant almost every door was open from an academic perspective.
  • Tessa's heptathlon scores and individual event results made her an attractive recruit for many Division I programs.
  • She knew what she was looking for, but more importantly, didn't try to force conversations with coaches in conferences where roster and scholarship opportunities were not presenting themselves.
  • She executed on the homework I gave her, texted me back, booked meetings with me, and trusted my advising.
  • Her parents joined at the right moments, but let Tessa and me drive her recruiting process.
"Streamline was the best choice I made in my recruitment process. It's a very stressful time and having someone like Brett work with me personally helped take some things off my plate."

That is the work I do with families in recruitment advising: build the list around what the athlete wants, introduce her to the coaches who fit, prepare her for each call and visit, and help her decide on her own terms.

What I tell every athlete, and what Tessa did

  • You're recruiting them too. Coaches are evaluating you, and you are evaluating them. Make the coaches you like feel it.
  • Don't commit on the spot. Even if a program rolls out the red carpet, give yourself time to digest the visit before you decide.
  • Show you're coachable. Even in limited interactions with college coaches during recruitment, demonstrate that you're coachable and a good teammate. If you show that on your visit, you can elevate your offers.
  • Close the loop. When you commit, take two minutes to text the coaches who recruited you before you publicize your decision.

Our guide on how to contact college coaches covers the conversations in between.

And Tessa's own advice:

"Recruits should enjoy the process and the visits even though it can be stressful because you will never get to go through this part of your life again."

From Nanaimo to the Big Sky

I grew up in Nanaimo, competed for Dover Bay, and started in the sport with the Nanaimo Track & Field Club, so this one means a lot to me. Congratulations, Tessa, and thank you to her family and to her coaches at NDSS and the Nanaimo Track & Field Club. Idaho is getting an elite athlete, intelligent student, and a great teammate.

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