Elizabeth Riggs will represent Wright City at this weekend’s state tournament.
Riggs will return to the state tournament for the second consecutive year.
Riggs qualified for this year’s state meet by placing fourth in the 300-meter hurdle race at the Class 3, Sectional 2 meet at Montgomery County High School. Riggs won the competition in the Class 3, District 3 competition to advance to the sectional meet. This is the second consecutive year Riggs has qualified for the state meet. Despite falling at the last hurdle, Riggs finished with a good enough time to qualify for the state meet.
“She’s been there before and has a little more experience,” Wright City track and field coach Fred Ross said. “We expect her to hopefully run a good time and if she does, I think she’ll medal.”
Ross believes Riggs’ experience at the state track and field meet last year will help her this season.
“It’s like that in any sport. It’s just a little easier,” Ross said. “You understand the atmosphere. You understand what it takes. You’re not overwhelmed by the big crowd and everybody staring down at the track or the wrestling match or the softball field. It’s just different once you’ve been there. That first time you’re a little tight and a little apprehensive and a little overwhelmed sometimes. After that, it becomes just a little bit easier for them.”
Several other Wright City athletes competed in the sectional competition after placing in the top-four at the district competition.
Zoe Riggs competed in both the 800-meter run and 1,600-meter run at the sectional meet. She finished fifth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:27.98. She finished sixth in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 5:29.49.
The Lady Wildcats placed seventh in a pair of relay races at the sectional meet. Teagen Riley, Elizabeth Riggs, Lindsay Pettus and Lydia Clubb ran the 4x200-meter race in 1:50.89. Pettus, Clubb, Elizabeth Riggs and Zoe Riggs ran the 4x400-meter relay race in 4:21.96.
Kaedyn Johnson finished seventh in the pole vault competition at the sectional meet with a final score of 2.30 meters.
A Wright City relay team came one spot short of qualifying for the state meet. The Wildcats placed fifth in the 4x200-meter relay. Devin Myers, Demetrice Lenoir, Jacob Smith and Jeremiah Davis were the listed runners in the event. The Wildcats finished the race with a time of 1:33.99. The finished 0.19 seconds behind the fourth place Bowling Green relay team.
The Wildcats also competed in the 4x100-meter relay race. They finished the race with a time of 46:29.
David Riggs placed seventh in the 800-meter run. He finished with a time of 2:04.91.
The athletes needed to overcome challenges throughout the day with a delay for multiple hours and rainy conditions through part of the competition. They had to use a rolling schedule due to the delay.
“We got delayed for several hours and it was cold and some of our races ran in the rain and drizzle,” Ross said. “It just wasn’t a very good day conducive of good times. But everybody had to run through those and we just didn’t come out on top and didn’t run our best on the day we needed to.”
The Class 3 state meet is scheduled to begin Friday and conclude Saturday at Adkins Stadium on the Jefferson City High School campus.
Riggs is scheduled to compete in the 300-meter hurdle prelminary race at 3:35 p.m. Friday. The 300-meter hurdle final is scheduled for 2:25 p.m. Saturday.