Curtis’ standout triple jumper Rieko Wilford looks for career-clinching performance

Practically from the moment of her birth, Rieko Wilford began chasing her dream.

As she’s grown, she had the opportunity see, follow and learn from some of the best female jumpers in the state. Not to mention the man who has coached those athletes on the Flying AJs club team — her dad.

And Wilford has embraced every step along the way.

“I started coaching the triple jump before she was born,” her dad, Nate Wilford, said. “Since she could walk, Ri has been following me to the track.”

Tagging along with dad eventually opened opportunities for Rieko.

First, she got to watch as dad trained the likes of Sarah Burns, now Sarah Hannula, who is her coach at Curtis High School, Kennedy Boyer and state record holder Lexi Ellis.

It didn’t take long before she started jumping herself.

“I’ve been at least long jumping since I was about 8 or 9,” Rieko said. “I was 9 years old when I went to my first Junior National Olympics.”

It took her a couple of years more before she became an age-group all-American. She was 12, competing in the 13-14 division.

“This was always me and my dad’s thing,” Rieko said. “I was lucky. I was blessed to have a lot of natural talent, then also to have an Olympic track coach in the house. I just loved it, and just blossomed.”

Now a Vikings senior, Rieko currently owns the top high school marks in Washington in both the triple jump (40 feet, 5 1/2 inches) and long jump (18-11) by more than a foot. Her mark in the triple jump also currently ranks fourth in the nation.

It is her prowess with the triple jump that really caught recruiters’ eyes. She has committed to Purdue University, where she will go and jump for jumps coach Jim Van Hootegem.

That’s still the future, however.

There remains some business to take care of in high school first. Wilford will not have the chance to win any state titles, but she can still win a Class 4A South Puget Sound League title the first weekend in May, when the league meet is run at Sumner’s Sunset Chev Stadium.

“This is just the strangest year I’ve ever coached,” Hannula said. “But Riri is making the most of it.”

As mentioned, Hannula has been there from the beginning.

“The year I started working with Nate was the year Rieko was born,” Hannula said. “She grew up watching me train. I used to babysit her. She always called me ‘buddy,’ which is now kind of funny because she was just a little girl at the time.”

Hannula won a state title at Curtis, then went off to Washington State and jumped for the Cougars. She came back to the area in 2008, and started coaching at her alma mater in 2012.

And Rieko was there.

“After I graduated from college, I moved back and she was in like the fifth grade,” Hannula said. “She was little. She was jumping ridiculous distances for a fifth-grader. And it wasn’t like someone was making her do it. She really wanted to do it all.”

When she finally got to Curtis four years ago, Ellis was a senior. That spring of 2018, Ellis, who now jumps at Oregon, set the state record of 43-6, a mark everyone around the Curtis program expected Wilford would eventually assail.

“Lexi kept me super interested in the triple jump,” Rieko said. “She’s such a motivated and talented girl, and she showed me just how great someone can be.”

Injuries and circumstances have conspired to take away Wilford’s chances at the Ellis mark.

That same year that Ellis was winning, Wilford injured a quad before state and didn’t get to compete. As a sophomore, she tore her meniscus.

A year ago, she was fully healthy when the season shut down after just a week. The COVID-19 pandemic robbed everyone of spring state events.

And the same happened again this year, with the WIAA choosing to hold no postseason competitions. That leaves Wilford with only the 4A SPSL title to go after. She will compete in both the triple jump and long jump, but it is the triple jump where her heart lies, and where she looks forward.

“It’s my chance,” Rieko said. “Let’s show them what they’ve been waiting for and see where I’m at.”

Does that mean a big number?

“I have a number in my head,” Rieko said. “But I have a rule that I don’t say it out loud.”

Whatever the result at the league meet, Wilford’s love of jumping already has given her great joys, and it will continue to present her with opportunities in the future.

“It’s amazing seeing how the triple jump can change your life,” Rieko said. “Without the triple jump, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Being able to travel, and all of the amazing opportunities I’ve had. I am just really lucky.”

This story was originally published April 23, 2021 at 5:00 AM.