Muskogee High junior Jarin Riggs-Brown started out in track as a youngster on the No Speed Limit summer team formed by brothers Ron and Don Mayes and in football, he watched his older brother Ronald Warren play in the youth league and decided to play too.
Fast forward to the 2022-23 school year which was one of highs and lows for Jarin. It was epitomized by his in and out of the starting lineup season as a defensive back on the Roughers state semifinal football team. In the spring he went out for track for the first time since seventh grade and again had a season of ups and downs.
“We knew he was explosive and super athletic but a very raw talent,” said track coach Craig Perry. “But from the first time he was on the long jump track I knew he was special. I’m excited to see what he’ll do his senior year.”
He competed in several events but focused most of his efforts on the long jump.
“I’m mostly self-motivated so I watched a lot of videos of JuVaughn Harrison (Olympic high and long jump star) and he really inspired me in the long jump and I learned a lot of technique watching those videos.”
He won or placed in most of his meets during the track season and shattered the school record by eight inches with a jump of 23 feet 7 inches at regionals which qualified him for the Class 6A state meet. But then disappointment again there as he fouled twice and hit just over 19 feet on his only jump to put him out of medal consideration.
“I wish we had jumped on the first day of competition because I was really feeling it,” said Jarin. “The next day I was good in warmups but when it came time to jump, I just let stuff get in my head and I had a bad day. I think the lesson I’ll take from this for next year is to come to state better prepared and focused mentally. In football I didn’t get as much playing time as I would have liked because there was a senior in front of me so this summer I’m planning on doing more conditioning, hitting the weight room and putting on some weight to become a full-time starter next season and help our team win it all.”
