Rikiri Davis at Castro Valley dual meet.
March 29, 2013 . Rikari Davis is only a freshman, but already he’s showing signs of greatness in the most difficult event in a sport he’s never played before.
Rikari came out for Track & Field late. His tall, gangly features caught the attention of the coaches who immediately identified him as having the physical traits to run the hurdle races. The gregarious youngster accepted the challenge with gusto.
The hurdle races, with the possible except of the pole vault, are the most demanding of track & field events in terms of athleticism, strength, speed and technique. Generally, it takes several years of constant practice to master the technique, but Rikari’s proved a “natural” and quickly became semi-proficient. In his first meet ever, the St. Francis Invitational, he ran 5th in the 60m High Hurdles and 7th in the 300 Intermediate Hurdles and in the process set a Frosh/Soph school record of 45.44, set in 2010 by the legendary Johnny Lew.
We expect Rikari to break the frosh/soph High Hurdle mark in the next couple of meets and before his career is over at San Leandro High School he will own all the hurdle records – and that’s a big challenge for the happy, go lucky kid.
