From long, draining practices to adrenaline-pumping through his body on the track, Jerome Graessle is competitive and driven. He thrives under pressure and looks forward to making his biggest motivators proud. 

Graessle’s story goes back to when he was very young. He shared that his dad is his biggest inspiration. Graessle ran his first 5K at age six because his dad was always running marathons. 

“When I was six, I wanted to be like my dad. He said, ‘Ok, we can train together, and you can run a 5K.’ So I did that,”  Graessle said. 

Flash forward to the freshman year of high school, Graessle was the second fastest on the team. He prides himself on how well he did freshman year. His passion for running grew stronger in high school because he improved tremendously, and the sport became more competitive. 

Then the unthinkable happened. 

Graessle endured a calf injury that he suffered for a year and a half. Graessle tried to push through the injury and would end up “walking during races” because his calf hurt so bad. 

“We went to see a pediatrician, chiropractor, [and] foot doctor, and nothing helped. After a year and a half, we found out it was because of an iron deficiency,” Graessle explained. 

Due to this injury, he was set back in his sport. When he started running again in his senior year, he was running slower. He questioned if recruiters would even look his way. 

Would they have thought, “Is Jerome faking his injury?” 

But he pushed through those thoughts and his injury. 

“The reason I feel like people may quit the sport is mostly because of setbacks like that and not being able to get better,” Graessle said. 

Graessle is most proud of not quitting during this time and continuing to train.

Regardless of the injury, he kept running. Graessle made All-American last year, and his team won second place at nationals. He says his proudest accomplishment with his team was winning last year. 

His most memorable race would have to be the time they had a national competition during a blizzard. Although the conditions were rough, which caused him to perform worse, it’s still one he will always remember. 

Graessle’s greatest strength is his pacing and endurance strategy. 

“I’m able to start slow and continue that,” Graessle said. “Then all the people around me will be struggling because they burnt out too fast, but I’ll be able to keep going.” 

Graessle explained how he stays focused and balanced in life while juggling school and sports. He shared how he splits up his time throughout the day, so he doesn’t burn out. 

“You have three different energies throughout the day. You have social energy, mental energy, and physical energy.” Graessle said. Graessle was inspired by his dad to become a runner. 

When asked why Graessle decided to run track and cross country, he answered, “Mostly because my dad was a runner. Essentially, my entire career has just been mogging my dad.” 

In high school, his dad was faster “speed-wise,” but otherwise, Jerome had a better career than his father. 

Graessle wants to be like his dad, but even better. He says that his dad influenced him to become a runner, but also influenced his career path as a programmer. Graessle continues to do well with a 4.0 GPA.

“He’s been an All-American, he’s got a 4.0 GPA, he’s very smart. He’s also very coachable; he does what he’s told. He’s got a lot of talent,” Coach Jim Macnider said.

Graessle’s biggest challenge right now is plateauing, which is when you’re running at the same time despite training harder. He says that this has been frustrating for him. 

Graessle wants to work on his pre-race anxiety. He shares that there are times when he doesn’t eat as much as he should because he becomes too nervous. 

His motivation comes from beating competitors and improving past versions of himself. 

His current goals are to run sub-34-minute 10K, place top 8 in 5k, and be less stressed before races and enjoy it more.