Hillsdale senior Rianna Vincent will continue high jump career with Siena Heights
HILLSDALE — With the spring sports season right around the corner, the Hillsdale High School track and field team prepares for another successful year. The boys and girls Hornet squads look to make this another record breaking and championship season. Head coach Clay Schiman has the teams ready to compete, and for several seniors, it'll be their final opportunity to chase their high school career goals and trophies with their teammates.
Senior Rianna Vincent looks to end her track and field career with Hillsdale by earning another all-state honor and the school record for the high jump competition. While the Hornet track star will be ending her career with Hillsdale this Spring, the senior has already set her path for her post-high school academic and athletic career.
On Feb. 8, 2023, Vincent officially signed with Siena Heights University to compete for their Women's track and field team. The senior was joined by her family, including parents James Vincent and Michelle Vanderpool, her coaches Clay Schiman and high jump coach Rob Salisbury, and her siblings.
From Self-Taught to All-State
Rianna's journey to her national signing day has taken the four-year varsity track athlete from one school and self-taught high jump roots to a team and a program that helped her reach a top-three finish at the girls track state finals.
Vincent and her parents were initially a basketball family, something that Vincent had stuck with through her senior year of high school. Vincent started playing basketball in second grade and competed in junior pro ball until seventh grade. She played and went to school at Hillsdale Will Carleton Academy. For three years, she played junior pro and school hoops. In eighth grade, Vincent was moved up to varsity high school basketball, one of three middle school athletes to make the jump before their freshman year.
Vincent continued to play basketball after transferring to Hillsdale High School. She was a four-time varsity player for the Hornets, having earned Pool B All-Tourney team, LCAA honorable mention, and All-Area Honorable mention honors. She was named MVP of the team last year. Her competitive spirit brought Vincent to track and field during the spring of her middle school career.
She started out on the Will Carleton Academy middle school team. Vincent quickly gravitated to the high jump event, which quickly became her favorite field competition. She started high jump in the final two meets of her sixth-grade season. Like her hoops career, she dedicated much of her time during the spring to improving at her track and field events. Rianna says that her roots in high jumping began with self-taught improvement. Vincent says she received instruction from Camden-Frontier coach Erica Young early in her career.
Each season saw improved numbers for Vincent in that event. She eventually became a three-time SCAA middle school high jump champion. She was undefeated during her middle school career in the high jump competition. Her final season in middle school saw Vincent hit a new PR jump of 5'0".
Despite being a basketball family, Rianna Vincent's parents quickly saw how much she began to love track and field. The family became her biggest supporters throughout her track career, and they were happy to watch Vincent continue her high school hoops career as well.
After transferring to Hillsdale, Vincent unfortunately lost her freshman track and field season due to Covid-19. Despite the lost season, head coach Clay Schiman knew Vincent had potential due to her success on the middle school level.
"She didn't have a freshman season, but we knew she had some success in middle school without the typical training background that a typical high school athlete may have," said Schiman.
Rianna Vincent had an impressive sophomore season that included 10 first place finishes, a league individual title and all-conference honors, and a first-place finish at the County Area Best Meet. She took eighth overall at the state LP D3 finals, earning all-state honors in her first high school sports season.
Vincent improved from year two to year three, with even better results and placements in her junior season. Vincent's junior high jump season saw her take first in every meet and invitational during the regular season, including another league individual title and all-conference honors. Vincent also won the regional championship for high jump. This led the senior to one of her favorite moments so far in her high school career. Vincent competed and took third place with a 5' 2" mark at the D3 LP finals last season. She went from an eighth-place all-state honor to a third-place all-state honor.
Her junior season also saw her make leaps forward in her other track and field events. She competed in the girls 4x100-meter relay event at several invitationals, helping the team take first place twice and taking first at the County Area Best Meet. She was named the Ralph Crume Athlete of the Meet in 2022. Her other main event was the 100-meter hurdles, where she ran a 17.09 to win the regional race. She took 16th overall in the state finals race. She also won the LCAA title with a PR time of 16.65. She won eight races during her junior season.
Chasing Records
Despite her dominant success at nearly every level of her career, Rianna Vincent still has several goals she would like to accomplish before the end of her senior season. Championship goals are on the horizon, but her main goal for this season is to break the school high jump record.
Vincent tied the school record last season with a jump of 5'5". Vincent is one of three athletes to be tied for the record. Vincent also set the Area Best Meet record with that result. Rianna Vincent hopes to break that record this senior season and walk away with the record all to herself.
Along with her individual goals this season, Rianna Vincent hopes to lead her teammates to a team-state finals appearance. The boys track and field team have made the team state finals in the past couple of seasons, and Rianna Vincent hopes to help the girls track and field team punch their ticket to the team finals this year. Vincent is a member of the Leadership Council for the Hornet track and field program and has continued to help set her teammates up for success.
Her determination and drive to chase down her goals is what helped inspire her to continue her athletic career at the collegiate level.
Choosing Siena Heights
While searching for the perfect athletic program that she would want to compete for, Rianna Vincent and her family were also focused on finding a university that would continue her academic pursuits. A member of the National Technical Honor Society, Vincent wants to pursue a career in nursing. Vincent's Grandmother was a nurse, and her mom is a medical assistant, and Vincent has continued that family career path having already earned her nursing assistant certification license.
When checking off all the boxes, including academic nursing programs, athletics and facilities, it became clear that Siena Heights was the choice for her and her parents.
“I wasn’t really leaning Siena Heights until November when I had a campus tour there and met with the coaches,” said Vincent. “It got my attention more and it felt like home and the right place for me to be. This is where I wanted to be. I got to see the team compete at Hillsdale College, and it felt like a team that I could be a part of.”
Her mom, Michelle Vanderpool, accompanied Vincent on her campus tours that included Laingsburg University. Vanderpool and Vincent heard nothing but good things from every athlete they were able to talk to.
“I was able to go with her on her campus tour,” said Michelle Vanderpool. “It’s a very tightly contained campus. Everybody who we talked to had nothing but good things to say about the campus. She knows people who she has competed against in track who go there. We liked how the track program worked with academics. They put academics first as a priority for student athletes.”
Rianna's dad, James Vincent, said that the athletic programs at Siena Heights University reminded them of the same standards that the Hillsdale track and field program have for their student athletes and the commitment they make to helping them become just a good of a student as they are an athlete.
“It goes back to what these coaches here at Hillsdale put in to help these kids,” said dad. “I see that in the coaches at Siena Heights as well. Coach Richards cares about the wellbeing of his athletes. They are going to take care of her and it made me comfortable in her decision to go there. She also is close enough to home for us to watch her continue to compete.”
Track and Field is one of the largest collegiate sports in the United States. With programs at every Division level of competition, there are great athletes in every track and field event. Coach Schiman believes that Siena Heights has been a great University for Hornets and other area athletes interested in continuing to grow and compete in their favorite sport. Coach Schiman believes that Rianna Vincent's determination and competitiveness will help her continue her accomplished career in both the classroom and out on the track.
“One of the great things about track is that there are terrific athletes on every level,” said Schiman. “It’s a great opportunity to continue competing and growing in this sport. Rianna has been outstanding during her career. She is a super talented kid and very determined. She attacks everything with determination and gets after it when she competes. That is a part of what makes her a great student-athlete. She’s a great leader for us and she’s a member of our leadership council for the team. We are proud of her and excited to see that she chose to compete at the college level.”
For Michelle Vanderpool and James Vincent, they are excited to see Rianna continue to compete in the sport she fell in love with, and they look forward to continuing experiencing that journey with her after her high school career concludes.
“We are excited to experience this with her,” said Rianna Vincent’s parents. “We love her and are proud of her.”
Under the tutelage of several coaches, including high jump coach Rob Salisbury, Rianna Vincent looks forward to concluding her career creating more memories with her teammates. Rianna thanked everyone who has supported her throughout her career for helping her create those memories and push her to accomplish her goals.
"I want to thank everyone who gave me an opportunity,” said Vincent. “From coach Schiman, my high jump coach Rob Salisbury and all of my teammates, I wouldn’t be where I am without them pushing me. To my parents, thank you for pushing me through all my hard work. I wouldn’t be here without you guys.”
Vincent says her favorite memories so far in her career include, specifically, the invitational events the team competes and travels to each year. Vincent and the Hornets will begin their track season shortly, and they will have plenty of exciting events on their schedule this spring including trips to Gull Lake, Whitmore Lake and Clare High School.
Siena Heights University Women's Track and Field is led by head coach Kirk Richards. The Saints compete in the WHAC conference and are members of the NAIA Division of Collegiate Athletics. The University has 24 intercollegiate varsity sports.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Hillsdale senior Rianna Vincent signs with Siena Heights track and field team
