Triton Central Salutatorian taking love of chemistry, fitness and food to Purdue University

Nick Riggins is not one to shy away from a big moment.

In Triton Central football’s sectional opener against Union County, Riggins rumbled 18 yards for his first varsity touchdown.

Several months later in Triton Central baseball’s sectional championship game at Heritage Christian, Riggins smashed the first pitch he saw nearly 400 feet onto the school’s football field.

And a few weeks ago, he deftly worked his way through his Salutatorian speech despite an unhappy baby making its presence known in the audience.

“When I was reading (my speech), it definitely started off a little fast,” said Riggins. “There was a baby crying which kind of distracted me so I had to make sure I was getting it all down.”

Triton Central’s Class of 2025 Salutatorian has chosen Purdue over Florida to study Food Science. He is the third in his family to earn the salutatorian honor at Triton Central.

“I took Chemistry in high school and I loved it a lot. And then the next year I took the IU Chemistry class, which was a lot harder, but I still enjoyed that class a lot and did really well in it,” he said. “I wasn’t a big fan of math, so instead of going to the chemical engineering side like my brother did, I decided I really like this chemistry part and I’m into fitness a lot and food and health. So I chose food science that doesn’t have any of this math but still a lot of chemistry and my love of food and health.”

Riggins’ goal is to work in products quality management.

Purdue has one of the top Food Science programs in the country, but so does Florida.

“I was really excited to get accepted into Florida because their acceptance rate in really low,” he said. “In the end, (Purdue and Florida) had equal facilities and they are both top food science programs in the country. Purdue gave me a couple more scholarships and its in-state tuition.”

Riggins is not going to West Lafayette alone. He will room with fellow Triton Central graduate Chase Chandler and New Palestine graduate Eli Wasson, a former Triton Central student.

After three years working with the offensive line unit, Riggins switched to fullback his senior year and was rewarded with a touchdown run on Oct. 25 in the Tigers’ 62-6 sectional win at Union County.

Riggins helped Triton Central win its first baseball sectional championship in more than a decade before his career came to an end in a regional loss to Shenandoah.

“It was a really big season this year,” said Riggins. “I had a deep centerfield walkoff against Ritter, then that first pitch I saw in the game against Heritage Christian in the sectional championship. And making it to the regional was really fun and facing a top level pitcher committed to a good Division I school.”

June is typically a busy month for high school athletes preparing for their next season. Graduation brings an end to that grind.

“It’s definitely weird having my days off,” said Riggins, who noted the 90-plus degree days in the forecast for upcoming TC football workouts. “There is nothing I have to get done or go do. It’s weird.”

Riggins is filling his down time this summer working as a lifeguard at the Meridian Park Family Aquatic Center in Shelbyville.

“My brother (Ben) did it. He really enjoyed (lifeguarding). And I wanted to be outside,” said Riggins. “I had already worked a couple of retail jobs with stores. This was something new I wanted to try and I’ve enjoyed it so far.”

TC athletics was a big part of Riggins life. That all has changed now as he prepares to move in at Purdue.

“Athletics kept me motivated. It forced me to learn time management,” he said. “It was a central part of my life. Everything in my life revolved around athletics so it was a good way to keep me on track.

“(Purdue) will be starting over and finding my new thing to keep me on track. I think it will be my academics in college. That will be my main focus. Everything will revolve around that instead of sports.”

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