The Wright City sophomore cross country runner competed at the prestigious Forest Park Cross Country Festival on Saturday; Riggs finished with the third-fastest time in the white division.
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Victoria Riggs is running as hot as the recent weather.
The Wright City sophomore cross country runner competed at the prestigious Forest Park Cross Country Festival on Saturday; Riggs finished with the third-fastest time in the white division.
Her time of 21 minutes, 7.40 seconds put her third among the field of 88 runners. She finished behind just Helias sophomore Magdalena Barnes (20:57.60) and her teammate, Helias senior Paige Loethen (21:07).
This comes on the heels of Riggs’ victory at the season-opening Van-Far meet earlier in the week as she improved her time from that run. Her time of 21:45 was nearly two minutes ahead of her next competitor in the season-opening run.
“I’m very happy about beating my season PR (personal record),” said Riggs of her Forest Park run. “My goal was to beat my time from Van Farr, and I accomplished that. It gives me confidence that I can do even better at my next meet and hopefully beat my all-time PR.”
Wright City Coach David Schnell lauded Riggs for her effort on one of the region’s top early-season races.
Especially since the thermometer hit 91 degrees on Saturday.
“Tori is a phenomenal runner,” Schnell said. “She ran an extremely smart race in the heat.”
The coach said his runner turned a late kick into an impressive finish.
That’s not an easy feat, considering the level of competition at the event.
“She wasn't in the top 10 after the first mile but worked her way up and passed some really strong runners to battle with the leaders,” Schnell said. “Trying to close gaps on a hot day like this is so challenging, but she stayed patient and made some really smart moves throughout the race.”
The coach added that Riggs’ success on Saturday is about more than one day.
He said she’s prepped for this season for a long time. As the season progresses, Schnell said, he thinks things will only get better for Riggs.
“Going into this year, she has put in an incredible amount of work, and it's paying off,” Schnell said. “As the weather starts to cool off and we start getting some more speed going, I'm excited to see what she can do this season.”
Riggs’ next chance to tackle is scheduled to come at Fulton on Saturday.
On the boys’ side, the Wildcats, as a team, finished ninth out of 16 squads.
The Wright City results were freshman Nolan Loughary (19:38.70) in 26th; sophomores Frankie Zykan (21:03.40) and Clayton Kennon (21:03.90) in 55th and 56th; freshman Wilder Hall (21:33.90) in 63rd and sophomore Zane Webster (22:07.50) in 76th.
