JaiCieonna Gero-Holt

Emerald Ridge HS, Puyallup, WA, c/o 2025
AthleticNET Bio

Each year JaiCiennoa Gero-Holts expectations change. And as the expectations change, the records and accomplishments come.

“I feel like expectations always go up every year that a new season starts, because there's always new accomplishments to be achieved, “ says the US High School Freshman(5,401) and Sophomore record holder(5,552) when asked if she has different expectations from year to year. “ And so yes, you can say that because it's a new year, I have new goals and new challenges.”

For the 6-0 tall junior, she’s been genetically endowed by a father who was an athletic star who had the talent to be in the NBA(she says he is no longer in her life) and a mother who is 5-09 and was a basketball player. She always has done sports with her athletic gifts. She played soccer, though, it was so long ago she doesn’t remember when she started, swam and did gymnastics. She also did track.

Naturally strong and faster than most growing up, she was good at the jumps, sprints and shot put when she started out in track as a seven year old. That naturally led to the triathlon, her first multi event opportunity.

“I started out as a long jumper and a sprinter when I was just seven years old, “ she says. “ I did the long jump, the 100 and the 200. The triathlon is the high jump, the 200, and the shot put. And I've been naturally strong all my life. It's just the way I'm built with genetics and everything. I think just somebody said  why not try it? because I was already a good 200 runner and long jump and then came the high jump and then the shot put so it was just something that I thought I’d try. And I was pretty good at it and I liked it so I just kept going with it.”

Swimming and gymnastics  took a back seat to track for several reasons; (1) both swimming and gymnastics became too expensive; and (2) she didn’t see herself advancing in gymnastics because of her height. She still would love to be a swimmer.  She learned how to swim before learning how to walk and loves swimming and her body type is long like most swimmers. She’s just always been good at track so that is her priority.

By the time she was in sixth grade, she had graduated to the pentathlon and placed fourth with a score of 2,838. Her best event was the high jump and still continues to be[ Personal best of 6-01.5].  At  age 11 she cleared 5-05. Mind you, the age 11 world record is 5-06.5 set by Stacey Destin on July 24, 2008 according to this website.

Her excelling in the high jump has come with work, but not as much work as one would imagine. She only jumps once a week as she trains for her other events too. The success in the high jump comes from the abilities she says she has been blessed with.

“Honestly, I'm just blessed because God has just blessed me with a talent that's unexplainable, “ she says when asked if high jumping has come easy to her. “ It’s like that for Jackie Joyner Kersee or Anna Hall and all the other greats. ‘How are you so amazing? How can you jump this far?’ Obviously, we all put in our time, we all go out there every single day and work harder than we've ever worked before and we go out there and you train and you train. But really honestly, at the end of the day, the answer is just that we're blessed because of who God has made us out to be. Honestly, I only jump once a week. I only throw the shot put once a week and I sprint like two to three times a week. I do 100m type workouts one to two times a week. It’s not like we're honing in on this just one event. It's just that I'm blessed to be able to say that God has given me a talent that is unexplainable.”

In charge of her coaching is Mike Strong, the former Yelm High School coach who was inducted into Washington’s Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in February 2019. He has 40 years of experience in track and field coaching at the collegiate and high school levels[ Check the link above. His story is inspiring]. He travels an hour from his home in Olympia to Puyallup everyday to meet with her. Gero-Holt credits him for much if not all of her success.

“I would definitely not be where I am if I was able to figure it out all by myself; that is a definite no,” she says when asked if she has a coach or coaches. “ I have been blessed enough to have a coach that is really good at all of the events and sprinting and throwing and jumping, and conditioning, endurance, strength training and all that.  I'm very thankful for him because he literally drives out from Olympia, which is like an hour away from Puyallup every day. Honestly, I don't always give him the thanks that he deserves all the time. I am not an easy person to deal with, just in general. My grandma's the number one person that will tell you that from the jump. Of course, it’s something that I'm working on. But I'm blessed and grateful that I have had a coach to be able to deal with me and see me in all aspects and still love me and coach me and really just sacrifice for me to be successful.”

Her grandmother, Elaine, has played a big role in JaiCieonna’s life since she was seven years old. At that time, it was decided that she would live with her.

“My grandma just stepped in not only for me, but to help my mom get it together and everything and honestly, even though I'm not with my mom now, God was just like this is just a place where I need both of you to be for the journey and for our stories and everything,” she says of her grandma.

Though the two have been together for 10 years now, JaiCieonna admits to butting heads with her. However, through it all, her grandmother and her have a relationship that is strong and one borne out of love for each other.

“I was having a conversation with my grandma about how sometimes I think we get frustrated with each other because when we don't know how to express our love to each other in loving words, so we say it in angry words. And so we just butt heads and we just argue, but I know my grandma is my number one fan; she's my ride or die. Whenever I have just little successes that I have, she's always right there with her pom pom shaking it and saying how proud of me she is. And I hope she knows that I love her so much and I would not even be thinking about having the professional career in track if it wasn't for her driving me to practice, for putting the money that she puts into all that she does, and then still working on top of that. She's just an amazing woman to be able to have in my corner. I don't think I could find any other reason why I wouldn't be thankful and be grateful to her.”

She was baptized and raised in the church of which is a source of strength in and guidance for her life. It’s something that has shaped her as the person she is today and that she cherishes and gives thanks for everyday. Her faith was built on day 1 when she arrived in the care of her grandmother.

“My grandma has made me into the woman that I am today. When I was about seven years old, I was baptized, and it  just opened up my whole world. I basically grew up in the church and I have grown up with my family teaching me the ways of how to be a good disciple and loving and creating a relationship with God.” 

The ‘23 USATF U20 gold and Pan Am U20 gold medalist future could possibly feature gold medals and world records, but that is something she doesn’t strive for. She has come to realize over the years that her faith and her experience are truly what defines her expectations.

“It's not just about the records, it's about me out there being myself and trying to be the best athlete that I can be.”