Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)
Women's Track & Field Welcoming Two High School National Champions This Fall
Jul 17 | Women's Track & Field
Reanda Richards and Zyra Thomas to join the Scarlet Knights roster
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights Women's Track and Field will be welcoming two New Balance High School National Champions "To The Banks" this fall.
On June 17th, Reanda Richards of West Essex High School claimed the girls 400m hurdles championship at the New Balance National Outdoor Championships. Richards will be joining fellow incoming freshman Zyra Thomas of Schalick High School, who claimed the girls shot put title at the New Balance National Indoor Championships earlier this year.
Richards finished her 400m hurdle race with the time of 58.91 seconds, which is her career best to end her stellar senior season.
This year was not her first appearance at the New Balance Outdoor Championship. Third time was the charm for Richards, who after coming off empty handed in 2016 and 2017, had her sights on the championship in 2018.
"I trained a lot harder this season and put all my focus on just one event, the 400-meter hurdles, and tried to do my best in that event," said Richards.
The meet capped off a great season for the North Caldwell, New Jersey native, which included placing third at the 124th Penn Relays and a state title at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions last month.
Being used to dominating her races at the New Jersey state level and cruise through her last 100 meters, Richards was in third place going into the home stretch of the race and welcomed the competition going towards the finish line.
"The competition from the racers around me helped me push harder and finish strong in the race," she noted.
Before joining the Scarlet Knights in the fall, Richards will be doing an internship at an engineering firm in New York City this summer before enrolling at Rutgers in the fall.
"For the rest of the summer, my goal is to stay in shape, get ready for Rutgers and see where things go from there" she stated.
WATCH: Reanda Richard's 400m Hurdle Post Race Interview
Thomas, meanwhile, had a unique experience while winning her national championship.
Heading into the New Balance National Championship with a personal record of 45 feet 5 inches, she posted a new career best of 47 feet, 5.75 inches in the shot put to win her first career national title.
Thomas went into her sixth and final throw of the event having already clinched the national championship.
"I was really focused on my last throw and did not hear my coaches telling me I had won or the announcement made in the stadium".
Everyone in the stadium except for Thomas knew that she was the national champion. She was even introduced as "Your 2018 National Champion, Zyra Thomas" by the PA announcer before her final throw.
The Pittsgrove, New Jersey product went into the final throw thinking that she was in second place. She had fouled in her previous two attempts and with another foul, she thought lost the top spot at the podium.
"I knew that I had thrown two feet better than my personal best, but I thought I was second and the coaches needed to tell me that I had in fact won the event," she recalled. "I did not expect to win."
Thomas does not have set expectations for the future but believes in herself.
"I know I will get far based on work ethic, so I have no set number in terms of performance goals", she acknowledged.
An example of Thomas' strong desire to leave her best on the field each and every time happened earlier in her high school career when she tried to give back a state championship medal because her performance did not live up to her expectations.
"It was not my best performance, so I did not deserve to win," she thought. "Other throwers had their best performance and gave it their all, so they deserved to win."
Before trying to leave it her all with track and field, Thomas' high school athletics career had a unique start as she was a member of the football team. She played two-way lineman her freshmen year before putting all her focus on track and field.
"Playing football was a lot of fun and being a girl on the team was something that I am happy about," she said.
Away from the track, Thomas enjoys playing instruments in her free time and wants to be an oncologist following her collegiate career at Rutgers.
"I want to study and treat people with cancer, so that is one of my main focuses off the track in college and beyond."
When deciding where to go to college, Thomas chose Rutgers because of its big campus life. She said, "They have a great track and field program and I prefer being on a big campus surrounded by a lot of people".
READ: More About Zyra Thomas' Shot Put Victory at the New Balance Indoor Nationals
Scarlet Knights Head coach, James Robinson is looking forward to adding the two ladies to the team next season.
"Reanda and Zyra both bring exceptional talent and work ethic to our program. As New Jersey's State University, it's always our goal to keep the best New Jersey student-athletes home and hopefully these two can start a pattern with future New Jersey student-athletes. They have reached the pinnacle of High School athletics by winning National Championships and these two young ladies will bring a championship pedigree to our program."
Richards finished her 400m hurdle race with the time of 58.91 seconds, which is her career best to end her stellar senior season.
This year was not her first appearance at the New Balance Outdoor Championship. Third time was the charm for Richards, who after coming off empty handed in 2016 and 2017, had her sights on the championship in 2018.
"I trained a lot harder this season and put all my focus on just one event, the 400-meter hurdles, and tried to do my best in that event," said Richards.
The meet capped off a great season for the North Caldwell, New Jersey native, which included placing third at the 124th Penn Relays and a state title at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions last month.
Being used to dominating her races at the New Jersey state level and cruise through her last 100 meters, Richards was in third place going into the home stretch of the race and welcomed the competition going towards the finish line.
"The competition from the racers around me helped me push harder and finish strong in the race," she noted.
Before joining the Scarlet Knights in the fall, Richards will be doing an internship at an engineering firm in New York City this summer before enrolling at Rutgers in the fall.
"For the rest of the summer, my goal is to stay in shape, get ready for Rutgers and see where things go from there" she stated.
WATCH: Reanda Richard's 400m Hurdle Post Race Interview
Thomas, meanwhile, had a unique experience while winning her national championship.
Heading into the New Balance National Championship with a personal record of 45 feet 5 inches, she posted a new career best of 47 feet, 5.75 inches in the shot put to win her first career national title.
Thomas went into her sixth and final throw of the event having already clinched the national championship.
"I was really focused on my last throw and did not hear my coaches telling me I had won or the announcement made in the stadium".
Everyone in the stadium except for Thomas knew that she was the national champion. She was even introduced as "Your 2018 National Champion, Zyra Thomas" by the PA announcer before her final throw.
The Pittsgrove, New Jersey product went into the final throw thinking that she was in second place. She had fouled in her previous two attempts and with another foul, she thought lost the top spot at the podium.
"I knew that I had thrown two feet better than my personal best, but I thought I was second and the coaches needed to tell me that I had in fact won the event," she recalled. "I did not expect to win."
Thomas does not have set expectations for the future but believes in herself.
"I know I will get far based on work ethic, so I have no set number in terms of performance goals", she acknowledged.
An example of Thomas' strong desire to leave her best on the field each and every time happened earlier in her high school career when she tried to give back a state championship medal because her performance did not live up to her expectations.
"It was not my best performance, so I did not deserve to win," she thought. "Other throwers had their best performance and gave it their all, so they deserved to win."
Before trying to leave it her all with track and field, Thomas' high school athletics career had a unique start as she was a member of the football team. She played two-way lineman her freshmen year before putting all her focus on track and field.
"Playing football was a lot of fun and being a girl on the team was something that I am happy about," she said.
Away from the track, Thomas enjoys playing instruments in her free time and wants to be an oncologist following her collegiate career at Rutgers.
"I want to study and treat people with cancer, so that is one of my main focuses off the track in college and beyond."
When deciding where to go to college, Thomas chose Rutgers because of its big campus life. She said, "They have a great track and field program and I prefer being on a big campus surrounded by a lot of people".
READ: More About Zyra Thomas' Shot Put Victory at the New Balance Indoor Nationals
Scarlet Knights Head coach, James Robinson is looking forward to adding the two ladies to the team next season.
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