ROCKINGHAM — Sophomore indoor track and field competitor Keonta Pegues has been named the Official Richmond County Male Student-Athlete of the Week presented by Rockingham NC Self Storage.
Adding up the points for the Raiders during their meet at Pinecrest High School last Friday, Pegues continued to showcase his talents in several different events.
Two solo event victories, coupled with a relay race win, helped Pegues earn his first career recognition.
Athletic Profile
Year: Sophomore
Winter sport: Indoor track and field
Events: Jumps, relays, sprints
Varsity experience: 2 seasons
Other sports: Football, track and field
CLASSROOM CREDITS WITH KEONTA PEGUES
Nearing the end of the fall semester, Pegues is also having success in the classroom during his first school year on Richmond’s campus. He’s currently taking four classes and holds a 4.25 GPA.
During the first nine weeks of the semester, Pegues was on the A honor roll. He’s also an honors student who plans to begin taking dual-enrollment classes at Richmond Community College starting his junior year.
With finals week quickly approaching, Pegues is taking English II Honors, American History Honors, Weight Training Honors and Drafting I Honors this semester.
In the spring, Pegues will remain in Weight Training Honors and pick up Biology Honors, Math II Honors and Digital Design and Animation.
“My favorite class is weight training because lifting weights helps get my legs stronger, which makes me more explosive out the blocks,” Pegues said. “It helps me get faster and jump farther. We also do a lot of core work, which translates to track and field.
“I’m able to balance my schoolwork while playing three sports because I keep the mindset of needing to do my work to remain eligible,” he added. “I know my work needs to be done first. I hope to get a collegiate offer in football or track and study business.
“ON TRACK” WITH KEONTA PEGUES
The Raider indoor track and field team finished third in last week’s Polar Bear meet at Pinecrest High School. As a team, Richmond collected 73 points.
Pegues, who competes in both track and field events, was responsible for a large chunk of the team’s points. He registered 20 points in individual events and contributed to 10 more points in the 4×200-meter relay.
Adding a pair of wins to his season tally, Pegues won the long jump and the 55-meter dash. It was the second time in three meets this winter he’s won the long jump and he picked up his first victory in the sprinting event.
Pegues won the long jump with a distance of 19 feet, 0.5 inches, narrowly edging Pinecrest’s Donaven Brown by half an inch. That gave the Raiders 10 points.
In the 55-meter dash, Pegues has been top-three all season and finally won the event. Adding 10 more points, he completed the dash in 6.72 seconds, placing just ahead of Union Pines’ Roger Patterson (6.76 seconds).
Joining Pegues in the 4×200-meter relay race were teammates Demetrius Everette, Dashaun Ingram and Travion Smith. The four Raiders cruised to victory in 1:32.63 for 10 points, well ahead of second-place Pinecrest (1:35.10).
This season, Pegues has come close to qualifying for the NCHSAA 4A indoor track and field state championship in all three events.
His best long jump distance of 20 feet, 7 inches is just five inches from qualifying, while his 55-meter time needs to drop to 6.54 seconds. Pegues’ PR in the open 55 is 6.69 seconds.
The 4×200-meter relay team nearly qualified this past weekend. The NCHSAA requires a combined time of 1:32.24 to qualify for states.
RAPID RESPONSE VIDEO WITH KEONTA PEGUES
In his interview, Pegues describes his approach to each event, explains what it will take to qualify for states and defines the term “student-athlete.”
The Richmond Observer will publish two more Official Richmond County Student-Athletes of the Week next week.
