ROCKINGHAM — It’s hard to argue against a state championship being the top moment of a team’s season.
That’s the case for Richmond Senior High School’s track and field program, which is the third of six spring sports teams to be featured in our review series.
Domonic Tillman ended his high school career on a high note in May when he won the 7A state championship in the triple jump.
Moving up three spots from last year to claim the title, Tillman set a new personal record with a winning distance of 48 feet, 0.5 inches.
Here is the original article from May 19, 2026:
GREENSBORO — Adding to its rich tradition of winning state championships, Richmond Senior High School crowned its most recent title winner last Friday.
At the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 7A track and field state championship meet, five individuals and three relay teams represented Richmond’s boys’ and girls’ teams at North Carolina A&T State University.
Senior Domonic Tillman put an exclamation point on his high school career when he won the 7A state championship in the boys’ triple jump.
Tillman’s first-place jump secured Richmond’s first state championship title since the cheerleading team won the NCHSAA 4A state championship during the 2024-2025 school year.
In the finals heat of the triple jump, Tillman didn’t even give his opponents a chance at the state title.
Launching out to a new personal record, Tillman landed his longest jump at 48 feet, 0.5 inches. That was more than two feet further than runner-up finisher Djibril Fall (Reagan High School), who took second with a distance of 45 feet, 11.5 inches.
“It feels great to know that in my last ever track event, I was blessed enough to win states,” Tillman said. “I just want to thank the man above for putting me in that position.
“My motivation was definitely knowing how hard I worked those past couple weeks,” he added. “I knew that my training was going to translate to the states meet and I did. And also my family showing up and my teammates believing in me and cheering me on as I’m on the runway really motivated me.”
Tillman, who competed in several events for the Raiders and played three sports his senior year, recently signed to play football at Wingate University. He said his time with the track and field team helped prepare him for the future, especially head coach John Rich.
“I was blessed to have Coach Rich as my coach all four years and he has done nothing but push us,” Tillman said. “He’s attempted to make us better young men going forward in life.
“It’s more than just track with Coach Rich, and I’m glad I was able to have him as a coach.”
The Raiders also had another podium finisher at the 7A state championship. Senior Keonta Pegues finished third in the long jump after winning the 7A Central regional title the week before.
Pegues recorded his longest distance at 21 feet, 4.5 inches. That mark was 1.25 inches behind second-place finisher Matthew Henry of Cary High School (21 feet, 5.75 inches). Winning the long jump state championship with a jump of 22 feet, 7.75 inches was Amare Alsobrooks (Weddington High School).
Similar to Tillman, Pegues finished his high school career with a big-time performance.
“It feels good to finish third, but knowing I could’ve won is going to keep me going,” Pegues said. “That’s what’s motivating me to try and win it all at nationals.
“My success and motivation Saturday was God, I wouldn’t have did it without him,” he added. “Before every jump or race I competed in, I praised and thanked him for allowing me to compete and to be successful.”
During the same signing day last week, Pegues made his future final when he signed to compete in track and field at UNC Pembroke.
“Participating in track and field at Richmond helped me prepare for college by introducing me to college style workouts,” Pegues explained. “Either doing eight 200-meter reps or broken 400s, it allowed me to push myself to keep going.
“Coach Rich has been a great coach and played a huge part in my success. Richmond track also helped me prepare for life after high school by pushing me to keep going and not quitting on things I can overcome.”
Other individual competitors for Richmond at the state championship meet were sophomore Zarriahnna Ray (shot put), sophomore Ty Covington (110-meter hurdles) and junior Elijah Ingram (shot put).
Ray, the only Lady Raider to qualify for states, placed fifth in the shot put (35 feet, 10.75 inches).
Pegues was eighth in the 100-meter dash (10.94 seconds), Ingram placed ninth in the shot put (48 feet, 8.5 inches) and Covington was 16th in the hurdles (15.82 seconds).
All three relay teams – the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400-meter teams – were represented by the Raiders.
The 4x200-meter relay team had the best finish of the three, taking fourth overall (1:27.03).
Despite winning the regional title, the 4x100-meter team placed 13th overall (43.21 seconds). Richmond’s 4x400-meter team was 15th (3:28.88).
