Wilson Hall's Wilder sets new PRs on way to Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week

Wilson Hall's Boykin Wilder is new to track this season, but he's already showing an ability to shine.

On Saturday, Wilder was the co-high-point champion at the Melicue Metts Invitational at Orangeburg Prep, particularly thriving in the jumps. That performance also earned him recognition as the Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week.

"It felt great," Wilder said. "It was really surprising."

Wilder found the most success in the jumps on Saturday, winning both the long and triple jumps. He set new personal records on his first jump in each event.

"As soon as I left the ground, I knew," Wilder said. "It just felt really good. Before they even measured it, I knew I probably beat my PR.

"I wasn't really expecting it. It was just a good day, I guess."

Wilder won the triple jump easily, clearing 39'5.75". The second-place finisher was nearly a foot behind, as Christopher Jernigan from Carolina High School and Academy jumped 38'8". The long jump was much closer, as Wilder edged Jernigan by two inches with a leap of 19'8".

Wilson Hall head coach Rip Ripley has seen Wilder grow more self-assured in his new sport through the first few weeks of the season, and that's leading to setting personal records.

"The big thing for Boykin is confidence," Ripley said. "I think at first he was a little bit hesitant, didn't know some of these events and what he could be good at. As he's seen in the last few weeks and the success he's been having, we've seen his confidence grow tremendously.

"I think he's just starting to scratch the surface of what he can do out there."

His success carried over to the track. He finished third in the 100m dash as Wilson Hall swept the top three spots. He was just behind Miles Van Patten and Caleb Howle, who tied for first at 11.82, with a time of 12.02. He also ran on the 4x100 team, which came away with a first-place finish by nearly two seconds with a time of 46.56 despite losing Van Patten to injury and needing to make some changes to the lineup last minute.

"We were missing Miles and Zuri (Anderson), so we had to replace them, but we got smooth handoffs," Wilder said. "We just came out on top."

Wilson Hall easily won the meet for both boys and girls with Wilder and teammate Sumter Cooper sharing the honors as the highest male point earners. Wilder hopes his early success this season will lead to even more personal records as the spring continues.

"I came into the day with confidence, but I wasn't expecting to come out on top. It feels good," Wilder said. "It's a good confidence booster, and hopefully I can carry that on through the rest of the season."