Whether it’s on the football field or on the track, Rickey Grivetti has proven to be one of the fastest athletes in the area.
Grivetti capped his junior year at St. Clair High School with a state medal at the MSHSAA track and field championships at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, finishing eighth in the Class 3 boys 200-meter dash in a time of 22.79.
The top eight finishers in each event earned state medals.
“I knew it was going to be a fast race. The heat got to me a little,” Grivetti said. “I thought I’d do a little better, but I guess I’ll take it for being a junior. I’m excited to be all-state.”
Grivetti qualified for the 200-meter dash finals by running a time of 22.37 in the preliminaries, which was the sixth-best time.
“The first day, I was impressed with what I did because I ran 22.37,” Grivetti said. “I just got off to a bad start (in the finals) and couldn’t keep up with them. I’ll have to work on that next year.”
A wide receiver and a kick/punt returner for the St. Clair football team, Grivetti competed in three events at the state track and field meet.
In addition to the 200-meter dash, Grivetti also ran in the 100-meter dash, placing 15th in a time of 11.32.
Grivetti also was a member of the Bulldogs’ 1,600-meter relay team that finished 15th in 3:31.02.
Joining Grivetti on the relay team were Terrance Stahlman, Spencer Crumbaugh and Jonathon Benkert.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it to the second day. I guess I wasn’t pumped up,” Grivetti said. “After the 100, I was down. After the 200, I got back up when I got the finals. The 4x4 wasn’t very good. It was an all right first day for me.”
After missing most of his sophomore season with an injury, Grivetti came back strong in his junior campaign.
“I’m glad to see Rickey come home with a state medal. He worked so hard and became a strong team leader. He really stepped up,” said St. Clair Coach Dave Purviance. “He ran two races last year in our first meet and popped his hip flexor. Experience wise, he was like a sophomore this season. We really missed him last year.”
Grivetti was a big reason why the Bulldogs had a successful season, winning Four Rivers Conference and district titles.
“Rickey was a workhorse for us. We had him in four events in every meet. He ran the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, the 4x2 and the 4x4,” Purviance said. “Winning a state medal in a sprint event was very impressive. We weren’t in many big meets this season. He still knew what to expect. He wanted to step up and show that he belonged at the state meet.”
Grivetti was making his second appearance at the state track and field meet.
“I was here my freshman year in the 4x1. It’s a lot more competition than we’re used to in Franklin County,” Grivetti said. “I’m very happy with the season I had. I just want to do a lot better next year.”
Grivetti is looking forward to his senior year with the Bulldogs.
“I’m excited about next year. I think we’re going to be very good in football and with everyone back in track, we should make a good run at state,” Grivetti said. “Our team had a very good year winning conference and districts. The whole team did very well.
“We’re all going to be coming back next year. Coach P (Purviance) doesn’t want us to get senioritis. We’ll have to guard against letting that happen.”
