WINSTON-SALEM — Three individual student-athletes and one relay team competed for Richmond Senior High School in Wednesday’s state championship.
Held at the JDL Fast Track, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 7A state championship meet for boys’ indoor track and field yielded one medal for the Raiders.
Representing the Raiders in solo events were seniors Tyrese Collins, Keonta Pegues and Domonic Tillman. Also competing was the Raiders’ 4x200-meter relay team.
In order to make the state championship meet, all of the Raiders finished the regular season as one of the top 12 performers in his respective events.
It was a successful day for all the Raiders’ individual event performers, who each finished inside the top eight. As a team, Richmond was 17th overall with 15 points.
Unfortunately for Richmond’s 4x200-meter relay team, the school’s only relay team to qualify for the state championship, its bid for the top spot was undone by a disqualification.
Passing the baton were Collins, Pegues, senior Christian Surgent and sophomore Ty Covington. The DQ came when a runner stepped out of his lane.
Tillman, who also plays basketball during the winter sports season and has had limited practice time with the indoor track team, had the best finish for the team.
Competing in the triple jump, Tillman launched out to a final distance of 45 feet, 2 inches and finished third overall.
Tillman, whose personal record distance is 45 feet, 8.5 inches, was just behind state champion Djribil Fall (Reagan High School), whose longest jump was 46 feet, 8 inches. In second place with a jump of 46 feet, 4 inches was Jaylin Spivey (Cary High School).
“I’m really proud to finish third at states in the triple jump, but I know I could have won it all,” Tillman shared. “This shows that the work my coaches and I put in paid off.
“What helped me most was staying consistent with my approach and focusing on each phase of the jump. I trusted my training and competed with confidence, which allowed me to place in the top three.
“I’m excited for the outdoor season because it’s another chance to improve and push my marks further,” Tillman added. “My goals this spring are to stay healthy, continue building my technique and compete for a state title while setting new personal records.”
Pegues, who returned to the state championship meet for the third time of his career, was Richmond’s busiest student-athlete. In addition to the relay race, Pegues ran the 55-meter dash and competed in the long jump.
Cracking the top-five in each event, Pegues was fifth in the open 55-meter (6.57 seconds) and was fifth in the long jump (21 feet, 5 inches).
Improving two places from his long jump performance at last season’s state title meet, Pegues was less than half a foot from earning a medal. The third-place jumper was Fall (22 feet, 0.25 inches).
Similarly, Pegues was just two-tenths of a second away from breaking into the top three in the 55-meter dash. Finishing third was Ace Clements (Weddington High School, 6.37 seconds).
Richmond’s other competitor was Collins, who battled alongside Tillman in the triple jump.
Also making his first state championship appearance like Tillman, Collins finished eighth overall. Collins’ longest attempt into the sand pit was 41 feet, 8 inches.
With the winter sports season now closed, the Raiders’ competitors will shift their attention to outdoor track and field. Tryouts will conclude this week for the team.
