Gero-Holt Named Big Ten Freshman of the Year
June 17, 2026 | Women's Track & Field, Men's Track & Field
NEWS
ROSEMONT, Ill. – All-American and Big Ten Champion heptathlete JaiCieonna Gero-Holt was named the women's Big Ten Freshman of the Year the conference announced on Wednesday (June 17). Gero-Holt is the women's program's ninth Big Ten Freshman of the Year and the second-consecutive Illini to win it after Melissa Wullschleger did last season.
It's only the second time in school history that an Illini won the award in consecutive seasons after a run from 1995-97 saw it happen three-straight years (Aspen Burkett '95, Kerry Ann Richards '96, Tisha Ponder '97).
Gero-Holt recently finished third in the heptathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a program record 6,010 points. She's the first Illini woman in school history to surpass 6,000 points in the event and third is the highest event finish ever in the program's history. Additionally, Gero-Holt is the program's fourth-ever All-American heptathlete.
Prior to her All-America honors she was the Big Ten Champion in the heptathlon scoring 5,994 points ending the 32-year-drought of an Illini champion in that event (Carmel Corbett, 1994). Gero-Holt is only the second Big Ten Heptathlon Champion in school history after Corbett won it first in 1992 as a freshman and again in 1994.
The South Hill, Wash. native caps one of the most productive freshman seasons in the program's history. She also threw the program's seventh-best shot put, 14.98m (49-1 3/4), during the heptathlon at NCAA Outdoor Championships to help springboard her to the bronze medal.
