Piat native Jenneil Jacobie is feeling good and flying high – literally. Just 21 years old, the Corinth Secondary alumna cleared a career-best 1.87m in women’s high jump last week. She set an East Texas A&M University school record and Southland Conference record, and made the Saint Lucia Athletics Association standard for this summer’s Commonwealth Games. It is also the fourth-best ever by a Saint Lucian woman, behind three icons – Levern Spencer, Jeannelle Scheper and Makeba Alcide.
But Jacobie is confident that she can go higher still, after missing two years of competition since taking up studies in the US. She cleared 1.70m twice at home and attracted the attention of several schools before opting for ETAMU (then known as Texas A&M Commerce). Aged just 16, she chose the then Division II institution in no small part because of the presence of Rock Light, an esteemed high jump coach.
She started training and her nursing studies with the goal of becoming a midwife. But then she missed her freshman year due to medical complications that had plagued her during her time competing at home. It was a sobering time for the teenager.
“I feel like I’ve always been a type of person where, like, you know, if you give me, then I would want to give back to you. I would want to show my gratitude,” she said. “And I think my first year, it really tested me because I had to be very patient and realise that sometimes things just don’t work in your favour. But I realised that my coaches never doubted me. They knew I was capable and just wanted me to get better.
“But I was nervous, because I just came here, and I’m already hurt and stuff. Maybe they won’t want me anymore. It was a very scary moment because I was very nervous. I did not know what was going to happen. But coming back and setting these records, getting injured, coming back, this comeback feels very, very, very good. It feels like a dream, honestly. And I’m just very thankful. It was very, very, very hard. It was horrible.”
In her second year of competition, Jacobie set school records indoors and outdoors and won her event at the Southland Conference championships, setting a meet record in the process. Then she underwent surgery which took away her 2025 season.
“I found myself in a very tough spot, because track has been something that I’ve done almost my entire life now. And one of the things that I realised was that I didn’t really know who I was without track and field,” she mused. “When I got injured, it was very difficult for me to realise that I don’t have practice in the morning, or I don’t have practice this Saturday. I don’t have to do anything more than just do school work.
“It was a little painful to watch everybody compete, and me just sitting on the sidelines. So I guess I decided to just start helping my teammates and giving them the knowledge, just so that I could kind of feel a part of the team. But apart from that, it was very hard, and I had to remind myself and reassure myself that it’s not the end of the world, you will be back at some point.”
She roared back into competition with a vengeance after 18 months out. She has competed twice this year, set meet records both times, and won Southland Conference Field Athlete of the Week both times. She is targeting qualification for the Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2026, but she is also preparing for conference championships and NCAA Division I championships. She is currently in the top 10, and is champing at the bit to become just the third Saint Lucian to get into the 1.90s.
“I feel like there’s more in the tank. I’m trying my best to be very patient about it,” said Jacobie. “And not to over-exhaust myself, because I really want to go to the Commonwealths, not just to compete, but to actually perform.”
Coach Light has kept the schedule light for his protégée because he is expecting a long season, between school commitments and international engagements. Getting here required a great deal of diligence and restraint, but there is more to come.
“It hasn’t been very easy to get to 1.87. I wouldn’t say that it was easy at all, but it shows that my hard work has been paying off. And I feel like if I continue to work hard, keeping on top of my work, keeping on top of my treatments, I’ll be ready to get to those marks. I don’t really have a set goal. I just want to do the best I can.”
Pushing past her limits is a familiar concept for Jacobie. She explained that maintaining a positive attitude helps her get past mental blocks. The same outlook applied to her change of major, and now the former aspiring midwife is studying to be a doctor.
“At first, I was thinking about being a nurse, but then my freshman year, I got a 4.0, and my aunt was, like, ‘How has this been?’ And I was telling her it was very easy for me,” recalled Jacobie. “And she was asking me if I sold myself short with just being a nurse. I realised maybe I was thinking about it like that because that was my only option at the time. But I realised now that I’m in the States, it’s a little bit easier to think about a better future.”
Pre-med has proven a good challenge, especially given that she also has to stay on top of her rehab, training and competition schedule. Again, patience, planning, and her refusal to put limits on herself have helped her maintain her equilibrium.
“The balance is… sometimes it’s difficult,” she conceded. “Going in the fall season is always easier than the spring season, because you have more time to do your homework, you have more time to sit down, maybe some lessons here and there. But sometimes I find it very hard to handle a spring semester, just because I have to re-evaluate my entire schedule and find something that works for me.”
