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Cyrus Jacobs Jr. began running at 7 years old and has been running ever since. 

While attending PNG high school, he played various other sports as well including basketball and baseball. His true calling was track and field, where he placed 6th in the 800-meter dash when he made state competition. His talents would not go unnoticed.

“I ended up getting recruited,” Jacobs said. “I had 16 Division I offers.”

Jacobs went undefeated during his sophomore year and was the 2016 AAU National Champion in the 800 meters. He also helped set the AAU Junior Olympic 17–18 Boys 4x400m relay national record and finished sixth in the 800m at the UIL Texas 5A State Championships. His high school career included personal bests of 10.77 in the 100m, 21.84 in the 200m, 48.12 in the 400m, and 1:54.75 in the 800m.

As the child of two track athletes, it came to him naturally. Jacobs’s mother ran for Northwestern, a Division I college. Scholarship offers for Cyrus came from schools in and out of state but Jacobs wanted to follow in his mother’s footsteps and accepted an offer at Northwestern State.

“ I ended up choosing Northwestern State not only because it was my mom’s alma mater but because it felt like home,” Jacobs said. 

While at Northwestern State, Jacobs gained various accolades, such as 2024 Southland Outdoor Champion – 4x100m, 2024 Southland Outdoor Championship Runner Up – 400m, 4x400m, 2024 Southland Outdoor Championship Third Place Finish – 200m and 2023 Southland Outdoor Championship Runner Up – 4x100m, 4x400m

Jacobs has his sites set on something bigger. He entered the transfer portal and continued to receive offers from colleges across the nation. He joined Mississippi State to be able to compete in the SEC conference. 

“What caught my eye for Mississippi State was that it felt like home,” Jacobs said. “They had the guides that I felt I needed to make me better. When I went on a visit, the conversation that the coach had with me and my family, it was about track and life after track.” 

Jacobs studies computer science while working on his dream to compete at a professional level and possibly be an Olympian. Jacobs looks forward to competing in the outdoor nationals later this year in hopes of earning a first team All-American title again. 

Jacobs’s journey is documented on his YouTube page @Cymerica. 

“The journey to the SEC was hard, but it was well worth it,” he said. “The hard work that I’ve put in over the years has made me the man I am today and it goes to show the resilience and hard work that I have put in to be fast.”