Mustangs' track star approaches final hurdles

James Rivera vaulted over just one hurdle, and Lakewood Ranch High hurdles coach Larry Ryans knew he had a special talent.

“Coach Ryans told me, ‘You are a hurdler. You are going to win states,’” Rivera said.

It was the summer of 2017, when the Mustangs began their preparations for the spring 2018 season. Rivera, now a senior, was determining the path of his junior season.

Before then, Rivera was purely a runner like his older brother, John Rivera Jr., now a sophomore runner at Mississippi. After the leap, Rivera and Ryans decided he should focus on hurdling. Ryans, who was an All-American hurdler and played football at Clemson from 1990-1994, could see Rivera’s natural instinct for the sport.

“You have hurdlers who are taught and you have hurdlers who are born,” Ryans said. “He’s born. I was born. My daughter (Reide Ryans, a 2016 Lakewood Ranch grad and state champion) was born. You have something that is just naturally there. When you have that, my job becomes, ‘Do not mess it up.’ It is easy to coach that.”

Ryans’ prediction was proven right. Rivera won the 300-meter hurdles (37.14 seconds) at the 2018 Florida High School Athletic Association Track and Field Championships in Jacksonville, and finished seventh in the 110-meter hurdles (14.69). He also became the school record-holder in both events, with his state 300 time and his 110 time from the FSU Relays (14:12) March 23 in Tallahassee.

Last June, when Rivera started preparing for his senior season, he focusing on getting his time as low as possible. It is hitting his goals that drives Rivera, he said, not a piece of metal.

Rivera will soon have a chance to match or beat his state performance. The 2019 championships will be held May 3-4 in Jacksonville at North Florida’s Hodges Stadium. Rivera tested himself by going to the Arcadia Invitational, one of the top high school track meets in the country, on April 5-6 in Arcadia, Calif. Nicknamed the “Home of National Records” for the meet’s propensity to have athletes set record times during it, the Arcadia is a stiff test for all participants.

Rivera said it was his first time competing in California. He finished second in the 300-meter hurdles (37.45) but was disqualified for false starts in the 110-meter hurdles. Rivera said the Arcadia provided a great experience — including the chance to chat with USA Track and Field star Anna Hall — even though he would have liked to finish both races. He knows what he has to do to get his times even lower.

“I have to eliminate all my stuttering before the first hurdle,” Rivera said. “I get locked in, and when I hesitate it takes away my momentum. I am in my head too much. I need to get out of it.”

Rivera said there is no doubt in his mind that he will run faster at the state meet than in Arcadia. His confidence is one of his best traits.

“He shows up every day,” Ryans said. “He does what I ask him to do. He never complains no matter what we are doing as a workout. You cannot ask for anything better.”