Grayson Riggins rebounded from the hamstring injury that cost him the entirety of his junior track season to deliver a record-setting performance during the indoor state championship meet the following winter. The performance allowed the Upper

Grayson Riggins, with Upper Perkiomen track and field coach David Dsuza, is recognized by the Upper Perkiomen School Board on June 18.

Perkiomen senior to maintain his status as one of Pennsylvania's top high school hurdlers.
            Two months ago, after suffering another injury, his mother worried that a sprained ankle would end his recruitment by the nation's top college programs. However, the Pennsburg resident accepted an athletic scholarship from the University of Nebraska a few weeks later.
            "It felt like the right fit," said the 6-foot-3 Riggins, who will major in business.
            According to Kimberly Riggins, her son never wavered in his goal of signing with a program in one of the four elite Division I athletic conferences. He turned down a handful of offers from mid-major programs before committing to the Huskers, over the University of South Florida, in late May.
            "Grayson never stopped believing in himself," Kimberly Riggins said.
            After a visit to the Lincoln, Neb. campus two months ago, Kimberly Riggins changed her mind about allowing her only child to attend the school 1,200 miles away after watching him comfortably interact with his future teammates. She also met privately with an assistant coach, who presented her with a plan to help Grayson maintain body stability.
            "I felt like it was the first school that truly appreciated my child," Kimberly said.
            The recent high school graduate, who continues to recover from the ankle injury, expects to compete in indoor and spring track for Nebraska in sprints and both hurdle events while training during the fall. His personal goals include winning Big Ten and NCAA championships and qualifying for the 2032 Summer Olympics in Brisbane, Australia.
            "If Grayson stays injury-free, I absolutely believe he can do it," Kimberly Riggins said. "He's very dedicated. He's got serious dreams."
            Growing up idolizing Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter who holds the world record in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and has won eight Olympic gold medals, Riggins wanted to be a sprinter. He first attempted the hurdle events in seventh grade at the behest of Clayton Mowrer, Upper Perkiomen's head track coach.
            "I hated it," Grayson Riggins said. "I considered quitting track altogether."
            His frustration extended into high school, according to Kimberly Riggins. She said he verbalized his displeasure a few days into practice as a ninth grader.
            "Grayson was ready to let it all go," said Kimberly, a 1994 Upper Perkiomen graduate who ran the hurdles for the school and also competed at Millersville University.

            "He has always been fast, but someone saw potential in him, so we convinced him to stick it out."
            Grayson Riggins – who grew four inches, to 6-foot-1, in two years before getting to high school – said his frustration faded as his success increased. He ended the 2023 spring season as the top-ranked freshman hurdler in Pennsylvania.
            That summer Tony, who ran track at Kutztown University, and Kimberly Riggins had three private coaches evaluate their son's ability.

            Grayson continued to work with Milton Williams, the head track and field coach at Norristown High School, since the end of his freshman season.

           According to Kimberly Riggins, Williams has changed her son's form, helped him find his rhythm, and improved his speed significantly.
            As a sophomore, Riggins earned a silver medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the District One Class 3A Championships but was forced to withdraw from the 300-meter race due to a nagging groin injury. The same condition prevented him from competing in the PIAA Championships.
            A hamstring injury early in the spring of his junior season kept him off the track for most of 2025. Riggins competed in only one event over the summer.

            According to Kimberly Riggins, college coaches stopped making contact.
            "I thought the recruiting door had been shut," she said. "College coaches ignored him."
            Midway through his senior season, Grayson forced the door back open by winning the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association Indoor State Championship. His time of 7.68 seconds in the 60-meter hurdle broke the meet and state records on March 1 at Penn State University.
            Kimberly Riggins said interest from Division I college coaches spiked after the gold-medal performance. They visited eight colleges and received multiple offers, including from the University of Connecticut, the University of Pittsburgh and Northeastern.

            She said Grayson rejected all of them, even after the ankle injury, as he waited for one from a Power 4 Conference: the Southeastern Conference, Big Ten, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12.
            "They never felt like the right fit," he said.
            After winning the 300-meter hurdles at the Pioneer Athletic Conference championship meet on May 8 at Spring-Ford High School, Grayson sprained his left ankle during the 110-meter final when he hit the first hurdle. The injury renewed familiar concerns that college interest would evaporate like it did the year before.

            However, the Cornhuskers continued their pursuit of Riggins. 

            "Nebraska rolled out the red carpet," Kimberly Riggins said. "They did their homework. They knew Grayson's idiosyncrasies and his injuries. At that point, I knew he would be taken care of."