Antonio Riggins sets hopes on making nationals

Antonio Riggins is a Senior here at California State University San Marcos. He’s been on the men’s Track and Field team all four of his years and this year, he’s set his hopes high. Riggins attended Olympian High School in San Diego and began his athletic journey playing football. Through his desire to become a better football player, Riggins decided to join the track and field team and quickly found a niche in the triple jump. Not long after, colleges began reaching out to him for Track and Field. He always thought football would be the sport that took him to college. But, with a jump of 47’ 4” at CIF finals his senior year, he gained even more attention and made the decision to pursue Track and Field at CSUSM. 

Riggins has accomplished many feats in his journey as an elite triple jumper, including winning CIF and making it to the California State meet in high school. In college, thus far, Riggins already has the school record with a wind-dated jump of 49’1.5” and a legal jump of 48’4.5”. When asked what his greatest accomplishment was, he said, “Honestly, I never really knew if I’d make it to college, but I’m proud I made it here as an athlete, but mostly as a student… and a better student than I ever thought”. 

He went on to speak about his greatest struggles as a student-athlete and the things he loves most. Riggins said, “It’s tough juggling my life as an athlete, a student and working to afford school…The greatest thing about being an athlete here is having people that push me to be better, I never really had that back in high school.” 

As mentioned, Riggins has set some high standards for himself this season. He wants to hit a mark of 52 feet in the triple jump this season. More than this, Riggins plans to make it to Nationals this year as he barely missed the cut last spring. This will be his last season and he wants to make the most of it. As he put it, “This is it… It’s time to go big, or go home.”