Centennial senior Rylee Perkins’ athletic career was fast-tracked to success, but hit a major speed bump due to the AIA’s shutdown of spring sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2019 state champion in both long jump and triple jump was robbed of a chance to defend both titles in her last moments in high school.
In preseason practices, Perkins was improving vastly on jump distances that had already won her gold medals and was hoping to break records in the upcoming meets before the season was cancelled.
“I was really upset. I just had a feeling this was going to be my best year yet,” Rylee Perkins said.
A lifelong gymnast up until eighth grade, Perkins wanted to compete in a sport at Centennial, where she would attend the following year. Her mother signed her up for a local track club, and she felt long jump might be an event for her.
“I saw that there were jumpers, and I said, ‘That looks fun,’ so I just tried it,” she said.
A mere few years later, she was competing with the very best on the high school level. As a sophomore in 2018, she placed third at the division 2 state meet. The next year, a 18-07.50 jump landed her the championship.
Then, in the club season of her junior year, a coach suggested she try the triple jump. While hesitant for much of her career, she immediately put up solid numbers, and won the 2019 championship with a dominating 38-03.00 in her first season competing.
She credits some of her success to the skills gymnastics gave her before even putting on the track spikes.
“For one it’s helped my flexibility, and two, which I think is the biggest thing is that from gymnastics I’m aware of my body. When a coach tells me what I need to fix, I’m in tune with my body so it comes easy to me to make those fixes,” Perkins said.
Centennial track and field coach Steve Ybarra, who had taken several years off before returning to the head role for the 2020 season, met Perkins in an offseason workout. He was impressed by her work ethic and her quiet leadership. He called Perkins directly after the shutdown of the season
He also lauded her flexibility as a teammate and her ability to try new events at big meets to help the team score extra points.
“I would tell her that I knew long and triple jumps were her thing, but maybe in some meets she would have to do three or four events to get us some points. We were obviously going to do everything to make sure her main events weren’t compromised, but she was willing to do whatever else to help the team,” Ybarra said.
Beside just her addition of points to help win meets, Perkins set a precedent for the other Centennial athletes to strive toward themselves in practice.
“They wanted to compete with her because she was the standard. They wanted to do what she’s doing,” Ybarra said.
Those practices came to naught when the season ended abruptly.
Mid-May would be exactly when Perkins had a chance to try and win second consecutive titles in her two main events. But, having already won state the year before provides some ease to a tough situation; not leaving her with ‘What if’ questions as are running through the minds of numerous athletes at this time.
“It’s such a relief knowing that I left on top. That helps me get through this time, that I had a good season leaving off from Centennial,” she said.
Perkins will attend the University of Arizona in the fall and compete with the Wildcat track and field team. She is staying in shape and using the time off to fine-tune her skills and get ready for the academic and athletic rigor of college.
But, before heading down south to Tucson, she took a moment to reflect on what she hoped her legacy was as a Coyote.
“I have always said that I want to leave as a person who teachers and coaches and students at Centennial remember as someone who was humble about my track career, and who made an impact in track but also in school,” she said.
