Schools

Athletes Of The Week: Madison Ricks and Everett Price

Ricks and Price, top performers on the varsity winter track team, will compete in the Meet of Champions tomorrow in Toms River.

Madison Ricks

Senior shot putter Madison Ricks has improved with every throw in her last few varsity winter track meets this season.

At the , Ricks had a personal best toss of 36’ 2”.

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“I was nervous going into it because I hadn’t really done well in the past few meets,” Ricks said. “Somebody that is an official and used to coach here gave me a few pointers so I tried them out at that meet and I threw my personal best so I was pretty excited.”

Ricks continued to throw even further at the Feb. 18 State Group I Championship meet, where she placed first with a personal best throw of 36’ 10”.

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“She entered the finals in second place and by her final throw, [she] was in fourth,” Coach Corey Arnold said in an email. “She then responded with what turned out to be the winning throw. It was very exciting, to say the least.”

Ricks’ throw beat the record she set at last year’s state meet (35’ 9.5”).

As a member of the winter track team since her sophomore year and the spring track team since her freshman year, Ricks worked hard to get to the position she is in today.

“As a freshman, I definitely had to work at it,” Ricks said. “The coaches said I had potential as a freshman.”

While Ricks hasn’t accomplished all of her goals this season, she will be throwing the shot put again on the spring track team, while also competing in discus and javelin.

“I definitely wanted to get over 35 feet. My goal was 40, but I’m still working at that for the end of the spring season. I want to throw at least 40 feet,” she said.

Ricks, who is competing in the Meet of Champions at the John Bennett Indoor Athletic Center in Toms River on Saturday, said she is expecting a lot of competition, but hopes to finish in the top 15 or 20 overall in the shot put.

Looking ahead, Ricks will be attending college in the fall and may continue to throw shot put.

“I was hoping to throw in college, but I haven’t really gotten any scholarships. I might just walk on [the track team],” she said.

Ricks has been admitted to North Carolina Central University and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

“The coaching staff is very proud of Madison for defending her title and making it back to the Meet of Champions, but even more proud of her role as a team leader this season,” Arnold said in an email. “She has really helped mentor the younger throwers and passed on her experience to them.”

Arnold sighted Myah Campbell-Reaves as an example, the only freshman to make the Group I meet. “[She] finished in seventh place (32' 8.25") largely due to Madison working with her all season.”  

Everett Price

Junior distance runner Everett Price is a force to be reckoned with on the New Providence varsity winter track team.

In the , Price broke his record in the 1,600 meter run with a time of 4:25 with little competition. The runner-up, Dan Bish of Metuchen, came in well behind at 4:41.59.

“I just went into the meet knowing that I didn’t have as much competition as I would have liked so I just wanted to get out in front and stay composed throughout the rest of the race,” Price said. “I didn’t want to give up at the end so I still ran hard and finished the race.”

Price, who beat his own record by 0.75 seconds, said he believes he has accomplished some, but not all, of his goals this season.

“Definitely in the shorter distances, like the 600 meter, I broke the school record by more than I would have expected to [with a time of 1:24.74]. I was very satisfied with that performance,” he said. “I haven’t really run the 1,600 mile times that I want, but hopefully I can improve and get personal records in the future meets.”

Fueled by tough competition from Haddonfield’s Ben Potts, Price did improve in the Feb. 18 State Group I Championship meet, finishing third in the 1,600 meter run with a time of 4:21.78. That time qualified him for tomorrow’s Meet of Champions in Toms River, where he will race in the 1,600 meter again.

“I want to place top 5 and I think that with good competition, it really influences my pace and I’m able to stay composed in the beginning of a race and finish with a big kick,” Price said. “So hopefully I’ll be able to do really well there and maybe set a personal record again.”

After the Feb. 12 meet, Coach Kevin Kelly said Price is “pretty good. You only get a kid like him once every 20 years or so.”

Price has worked hard to reach his level of ability since he joined the winter and spring track teams as a freshman.

“I started running going into freshman year. Over the summer, I was doing 3 to 4 miles every day and once I got into the season, I had a lot of veterans that were there that I became friends with,” Price said. “They really influenced me and got me to keep on running and take it seriously.”

And Price has taken running seriously, with a training schedule of 25 to 30 miles each week during the season, along with a speed workout.

“[In the off season,] I take a week off usually and then start light again and build my way back up,” Price said.

Looking ahead, Price is hoping to continue running in college.

"I have some schools I'm looking at that I'm going to visit, but I'm not really sure," he said. "I haven’t narrowed it down yet. I definitely plan on running in college."

Congratulations, Madison and Everett! Best of luck at the Meet of Champions on Saturday!


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