Wright City earned medals in all five of their events at last week’s state track meet, highlighted by senior Jeremiah Davis medaling in all four of his events. 

Davis placed third in the 100-and 200-meter dash races at last weekend’s Class 3 Missouri state track and field meet. Davis placed sixth in the 400-meter run and in the 4x200-meter relay. Blake Hogan, Devin Meyers and David Riggs teamed up with Davis to medal in the relay. Junior Elizabeth Riggs also earned her second track medal with a sixth place finish in the 300-meter hurdles. 

“I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Wright City track and field coach Fred Ross said. “That was probably the best outcome we could get and we got it. You could always get higher places but out of 200 kids and you finish in the top six in every event, that’s a heck of a weekend.”

Davis sets school record with four medals 

With two third place finishes and two sixth place finishes, Davis became the first Wright City athlete to earn four medals at the Missouri state track and field meet. Davis ran eight total races over the two day tournament. 

“He handled it really well,” Ross said. “He’s the first four medalist at state in Wright City history. He’s the GOAT. Nobody’s ever done that before him. So we’re excited about that and that’s what he set his goal at and wanted to do. 

Davis ran his four preliminary races May 26. With finishes of sixth or better in all four events, Davis advanced to the finals in all four events. Davis ran all four events again on May 27. Davis earned third place medals in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.81 seconds and in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.85 seconds. Davis ran the 400-meter dash in 51.31 seconds. The 4x200-meter relay team ran the relay final in 1:32. 

“It’s a lot,” Davis said. “Racing these very fast people, trying to do that full speed eight times, it’s pretty difficult. But it was fun. I love the competition. I love racing. Meeting all the people. It’s certainly a fun experience. Personally, I handled it pretty decently for my first time doing it.” 

With the heavy workload of competing in four events back to back days, Ross said they tried to hold Davis back in the 400-meter dash final because they thought he had a better chance in the 200-meter dash, which was Davis’ last event of the day. However, Ross noted Davis’ competitiveness was evident in the 400-meter run. 

“He didn’t want to finish eighth,” Ross said. “I think that stretched him out a little bit and he ran really well in the 200.” 

Heading into the postseason competitions, Davis debated if he wanted to compete in the 400-meter run. He noted his desire to be the first Wright City athlete to earn four state track and field medals. 

“I’m glad I got to come out and place in all my events,” Davis said. “Certainly glad I got to do that for my school just to try to put us on the map. Not a lot of people know about Wright City. For me to get third in two of my events, people are going to start looking at us now. Expect us to have some good athletes. So I’m really glad I got to do that.” 

Relay medals for first time in school history 

The Wright City 4x200-meter relay team earned the first relay medal in school history with a sixth place finish at the Class 3 state track and field meet. 

The relay team, comprised of Davis, Hogan, Myers and David Riggs placed sixth in both the May 26 preliminary race and the May 27 final race.

“Coming into it, we were pretty excited because we were running some good times at districts and sectionals,” Riggs said. “But coming into it, we had some injuries. My hip was bothering me. We had some blisters. Jeremiah was running so many events, he was kind of tired … We got sixth, which we wanted to place. We could have run a little faster but we didn’t. But we’re still happy with it.” 

The Wildcats returned three components of their relay from last year, with Davis, Myers and Riggs all running the relay last season. A senior, Hogan was added to the relay team in his first season as a member of the Wildcat track team. 

“It’s great. We’re making history at Wright City,” Hogan said. “No one else has placed in a relay. So it’s just a phenomenal feeling.” 

Riggs said the Wildcat relay felt more pressure on the first day of the state meet to place eighth or better in the preliminary race to guarantee a spot in the finals and a state medal. 

“Today (Saturday), our mindset was let’s just have some fun,” Riggs said. “This is going to be my last race for sure. So I’m just going to have as much fun with it as I can, have as much fun as I can and do what we do.” 

While the relay did not run their fastest time at the state meet, Ross thought they ran well at state. Ross noted the wind during the finals, as well as the pressure of competing at the finals. 

The relay team placed sixth at state after winning both district and sectional titles in the event. They also broke the school record this season in both the 4x100-meter relay and the 4x200-meter relay. 

Riggs earns second medal in hurdles 

Despite a more competitive Class 3 girls 300-meter hurdle field this season, junior Elizabeth Riggs earned another medal in the competition. 

Riggs ran the sixth fastest time in the Class 3 300-meter hurdle final to earn another medal in the event. Riggs ran the final in 47.41 seconds. She ran the preliminary race in 47.57 seconds and placed eighth. Riggs said she was happy to place for the second consecutive year and outperform her seeding. 

“I got to work my way up to sixth,” Riggs said. “I was going for top five this year. I was going for a PR (personal record). Didn’t quite get there…But I’m happy. I broke the school record this year. So I hit a lot of goals that I wanted. Just didn’t hit the times I wanted here at state.” 

Riggs was seeded seventh in the Class 3 300-meter hurdle field heading into the state tournament. Riggs and Ross both referenced the strength of the Class 3 300-meter hurdle field. Ross noted the Class 3 girls 300-meter hurdle field was tougher than the Class 4 field. 

“She didn’t run her best time but she competed,” Ross said. “She was seeded eighth and ran sixth. We’re really happy about that. She stutter-stepped a little bit. She’ll be disappointed but back to back state medalist in a tough event, that’s just outstanding.” 

Despite the lower placement this season, Riggs thought her season as a whole went better this season. She noted the strides she took this season, including establishing a personal record sooner, breaking the school record and breaking the 47 second mark. 

“I’m just disappointed with my times here at state,” Riggs said. “I think going into state, mentally, I was more prepared. But I don’t know, just the times didn’t exactly hit what I wanted. But sometimes that happened.” 

Ross stressed the strides the Wright City track and field teams made as a whole this season. He noted the boys track and field team brought home a district placque for the first time since 2005. 

“Just an outstanding year for them,” Ross said. “The girls are really young. No seniors. So we expect them to step back up. Lizzie’s going to be the lead with the state qualifier and hopefully they’ll step up next year.”