* JaiCieonna Gero-Holt is among those entered in the women's high jump this weekend at the U.S. Indoor Championships
Photo Credit: Cory Mull/MileSplit
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The U.S. Indoor Championships arrive on the calendar this weekend in Albuquerque and serve as a qualifier to the World Indoor Championships, which will take place in Glasgow, Scotland in March.
Of the 363 entries that declared before USATF's deadline on Monday, three high schoolers declared and were accepted.
Can they make the U.S. team?
Well ... stranger things have happened. But that might be another question entirely.
In the meantime, here are the prep athletes who are set to compete this weekend at the U.S. Championships
Dominick Corley, Spokane Mead Senior (WA): The senior from Spokane will, at the very least, get to test himself against the best in the U.S. in the preliminaries. And right now, few high schoolers are better at the distance. The senior currently leads the country with a U.S. No. 1 mark of 6.64 seconds and clocked a time of 6.73 this weekend at the UW HS Invitational. His second best 60m mark is 6.70. The high school national record stands at 6.57 seconds.
Josie Donelson, Lake Oswego (OR): The high school teammate of Mia Brahe-Pedersen is entered in the 400m, where she is set to go against the likes of Talitha Diggs, Alexis Holmes, Quanera Hayes and Taylor Manson. Donelson's mark of 53.88 from The VA Showcase is a strong result and should make her competitive against the field. If nothing else, Donelson will look to make a dent in her U.S. No. 5 time.
JaiCieonna Gero-Holt, Emerald Ridge (OR): The high schooler from Oregon, the reigning U20 champion in the heptathlon, could reasonably make this team.
With only nine women accepted for the competition, she holds the third-best seed mark in the field with a clearance of 1.87 meters (6-1.5) from the USATF U20 Championships in July. That's solid odds.
The U.S.'s likeliest hopes to make the team? The strongest athletes, Vashti Cunningham and Cierra Tidwell, enter with better marks. But it will be interesting to see how it shakes out. Gero-Holt has the talent to elevate with the compeition.
The event will mark her debut for the 2024 indoor season.
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