At three years old, Jacelyn Reno, mass communication sophomore, first hopped on a bike and started peddling. A year later, she was racing. 

“My parents pushed me to be the best I possibly could,” Reno said.

At just 20 years old, Reno has traveled all over the world. She has been across seas and is even a three-time world champ.

From a young age, Reno had been surrounded by cycling. Reno’s parents homeschooled her for most of her life due to traveling for races. It wasn’t until high school that her family settled down. It was also the first time she had stayed in one school for four years at a time. Reno attended Bowie High School, where she continued her cycling career and played other sports.

“In high school, I was obviously a full-time student, and it’s beautiful to an athlete. High school was actually the first time I stayed in a school for longer than for years,” Reno said, adding, “I was homeschooled most of my life due to traveling and cycling, traveling across the world to go to races, and I had no clue what I was going to do.”

After settling in Bowie, her parents built a BMX track for her and her sister. They opened it to the public, becoming a non-profit BMX park called Bowie BMX Bike Park.

Reno never planned on attending high school, much less university. She planned to get her GED and go into cosmetology school.  She was lost regarding her future and what she wanted in a career. After cosmetology school, she became interested in agricultural business. It wasn’t until her father suggested mass communication that she finally decided to major in that field while also trying to obtain a minor in broadcasting.

“My dad was like, ‘You really like being on TV.’ I did a lot of commercials growing up, so my parents are like, ‘mass comm is the perfect fit. You can get it all done in one degree,’” Reno said.

When Reno was a sophomore in high school, she started talking with former MSU cycling coach Charlie Zamastil and verbally committed as a junior, signing her senior year.

“Once I started talking to Charlie, I knew. I had other offers from other colleges, but nothing this close to home, and nothing like in-state tuition, full ride, my family and such a good cycling team that is not in Colorado. I knew Midwestern was where I was going to come, and the first time I ever took a tour here, I was a sophomore, and I was 16, and I was like, “I love it here.” I took one step on campus, and I loved it,” Reno said.

BMX was the first discipline Reno trained for, but she has picked up three other disciplines over the years. 

“BMX was the first discipline I ever did, then I jumped into pump track racing, and then went to a world championship in Portugal two summers ago. Whenever I came to college, I got a full-ride scholarship here, and they said I should try mountain biking, so I picked up mountain biking. It has been great, and it has been a blast. This season I started road biking,” Reno said.

For most cyclists, there is an off-season where they can rest and recover. That is not the case for Reno; due to all the disciplines she trains for, she has no off-season. For her, cycling is a year-round event, on top of being a full-time student with a full-time job.

Reno will continue to train for all four of her disciplines while under the guidance of MSU head cycling director Pablo Cruz Trochez. While cycling is considered a team sport, it is also very much individual. It follows the same rules as cross-country running. 

With her degree in mass communication and a minor in broadcasting, Reno wants to be a sports broadcaster for Red Bull.

“What I plan to do with my broadcasting degree is to be an extreme sports broadcaster for Red Bull. So I am a Red Bull Athlete, and my sister is a Red Bull athlete. They kinda took me under their wing at a young age, and I know that my cycling career is not going to last forever, just like any other sports career. Luckily I got in a good word with them. Right now, I am a student marketeer for Red Bull,” Reno said.

Two summers ago, Reno traveled with Red Bull USA and met up with Red Bull Portugal for the 2022 Pumptrack World Championships. Reno said Portugal was her favorite place she has traveled so far. 

“Red Bull took care of us. They took us to go bungee jumping. They took us to go surfing, so I learned how to surf with all of these Olympic gold medalists. It was crazy. It was so cool,” Reno said.