RILEY RICHARDS
China Spring's Riley Richards is the "King of the Hill" heading into the 2017 season. Richards was one of the guys who took the reigns from Benavides and Wooten. However, Richards wasn't new to the scene. He has been a State meet qualifier ever since he was a freshman, and medaled both his sophomore (2nd) and junior (1st) seasons. Richards won the 4A State championship with a 16-0 vault, but he had a very successful post season where he had a 16-4.75 and a 16-8, but his big time performance was a 17-0.75.
That was just the start for Richards. Richards is having a great indoor season to start his senior year. In December, Richards set a PR at the Lovejoy Texas Express Holiday Invitational Pole Vault meet with a 17-3. He wasn't done yet, in January, at the Texas A&M High School Indoor Classic, he topped off at a whopping 17-7!
How high can Riley Richards go, in 2017? Going 17-7 indoors is no joke. The state record is 18-2, set back in 1999, by Orangefield's Eric Eshbach. Eshback held the national record until last year when Chris Nilsen from Park Hill HS in Kansas City, Mo broke it in May. Can Richards go 18-2 or 18-4? With his 17-7, I'd say he definitely is a potential threat.
