Eastern’s Rigsby signs with RedStorm

REEDSVILLE, Ohio – University of Rio Grande director of track & field/cross country Steve Gruenberg has announced the signing of Eastern High School’s Maddie Rigsby for the 2014-15 school year.

Rigsby, a 5-foot-9 middle-distance runner and jumper, is closing out what has been a storied prep career for head coach Josh Fogle’s Eagles.

She is a two-time state meet qualifier, an all-Tri-Valley Conference selection, an All-Southeast District honoree and the Southeast District Athlete of the Year.

“I’m very excited and happy about getting the chance to continue improving individually and achieving things as a team that we thought we couldn’t,” Rigsby said. “Running at the college level is something I’ve thought about for a long time. I could never picture myself just stopping after high school.”

Rigsby has participated in a variety of events during her high school career, including the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dash, the 800-meter run, the 300-meter hurdles, the high jump and the long jump. Her top showings of 13.72 in the 100 and 2:26.35 in the 800 have come this spring.

“Maddie will be able to come in and hopefully set the indoor and outdoor school record in the high jump,” said Gruenberg. “She’ll also be able to come in right away and help out our middle distance group in the 400m and 800m and she should be able to also be on some very strong 4x400m and 4x800m relays. I also believe that she could be a very talented triple jumper with a little work. Maddie will be someone that we build the team around and will also bring a positive attitude to practices and competitions.”

Rigsby, who plans to major in Nursing, chose to sign with the RedStorm after also garnering interest from Marietta College.

“Rio is close to home and both of my parents went there,” she said. “That made the decision a little easier.”

Rigsby added that her ultimate goal while at Rio is to work hard toward making a positive impact on the program.

“I’d like to improve on my high jump, but I feel like I can bring a lot of things to the program,” she said. “I can run 200s to 800s, hurdles and jumps. I’m willing to try anything they throw at me.”

Rigsby is the daughter of Troy and Angie Rigsby of Reedsville.