(Kelee Ringo)

Kelee (pronounced key-lee) Ringo lined up at wide receiver during a drill Monday, the opening of spring football.

The pass to Ringo was slightly overthrown and out of Ringo’s reach. He did, however, look out of his element running the route, prompting the assistant coach running the drill to jokingly say, “That’s why you are a (defensive back), Ringo.”

And a darn good one at that, supposedly the nation’s No. 1 DB in the 2020 senior class.

Spring football might be jumping out of the gate, but Ringo is also concentrating on other starting blocks. He is the heavy favorite to win two Division III state sprints Friday at Mesa Community College and help Saguaro win its first ever boys track and field title.

The first on-the-field impression of Ringo is that he’s ultra-quick and strong. Off the field, his million-watt smile and friendliness likely helped him make friends immediately at Saguaro after transferring from Tacoma, Wash.

He might not look it, because he’s powerfully built, but Ringo is only 15. His high school track coach, Christian Bailey, believes Ringo can compete in the Olympic trials by his senior season.

The last Arizona high school male athlete to likely do that was South Mountain’s Dwayne Johnson, the state’s 200-meter record holder at 20.22, in 1976.

But Bailey was thinking of another Olympic medalist while he was talking about Ringo.

“Size. Strength. The comparison to size and strength is Usain Bolt,” he said. “And you go, 'Oh my gosh. Why are you comparing those two?' And the reason why is, Kelee is (6-2, 192). The kid is huge. Every time I look at him I’m like, ‘You look like you’re 35 years old.’”

Ringo didn’t take long to set new school records in the 100 (10.66) and 200 (21.44) at Saguaro. Both of his times lead the state this season regardless of division.

And according to 247Sports, Ringo is the No. 1 cornerback and No. 6 overall recruit in his class.

Bolt? No. 1 recruit?

That’s some extraordinary stuff, but he’s not walking around with his head in the air. The cheerful sophomore sounded equally excited while talking about a couple of battles he and his mom won on the video game Fortnite and jamming receivers at the line during a recent interview.

azpreps365 caught up with Ringo just before the first spring practice for Saguaro. He practiced with the football team only once before focusing solely on the Division III track and field championships.

Q&A with Ringo

So have you been catching up on your rest during the teacher walkout?: “The bad thing is that we might have to come back at the end of the year and make up the days. We still have to be at school to lift weights in the morning. We get some down time in the middle of the day and then come back for spring practice.”

Are you a big video game fan?: “Yes, sir. I like Fortnite. I play it a lot.

“After I started playing Fortnite, my mom (Tralee) actually starting liking it. Like she knows everything about it. She just can’t control it. Some times she’ll say, ‘Let me play.’ I’ll be controlling everything and she’ll tell me what to do. We’ve actually gotten a few ‘Ws’ (wins).”

It sounds like you and your mom are close?: “I love my mom a lot. She does everything for me. Our relationship has grown a lot more. For the past years of my life I was in Washington, living with my grandma. For me to come up here (Arizona) was a really a good thing for our relationship.”

Talk about your freshman year at Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, Wash. You did so much in just one year, finishing third at state and setting a school record in the 100 (10.58): “I liked Bellarmine a lot. It was very welcoming. Everything is really good. Being the younger guy, I was actually running faster than the older guys. The competition was really good. I liked the academics also. It pushed me a lot and helped me prepare me for (Saguaro).”

Any nerves heading into the Arizona track and field championships?: “No. Not at all. I just have to stay calm and collected. Everybody expects me to run a fast time. I’m just going to come out and show them why I have the hype that I have right now.”

Take us through your 100 and what’s you’ve been working on: “I’ve been working mainly on my start, my first three steps. The shorter, quicker guys get out a few steps in front of me. But at 60 meters that’s when I’m almost reaching my top speed. For the faster, shorter guys, when they get to 30 meters, that’s when I usually catch them.”

How about the 200: “I sprint the whole thing. A lot of people ask me if I sprint the whole thing, because a lot of people aren’t able to. Right from the start I get out on the curb. Honestly, my mentality is to go catch people in front of me on the curb. For example, if I’m in Lane 4, I want to catch (the person in) Lane 6. After that, I fee like I’m in a good position, so I can just cruise through the rest. The second 100 is pretty hard. After the first 100, I’m just cruising. I just try to keep my form so I don’t die in the last 25 meters.”

Your 4 by 100 team (Ringo, Connor Soelle, William Shaffer, Seth Robinson) is currently ranked 4th in D-III. What’s it going to take to win state?: “We are still working on our hands offs. Early in the year we had a few changes with our people. But we are working on that right now. We are hopefully going to try and come out with the win.”

When you learned that you were named the No. 1 cornerback in the nation, where were you at? What did you think?: “I was actually in Washington on spring break. My reaction was I couldn’t believe it. It was really good. It was really exciting. It’s motivation to keep pushing myself, to keep myself above others and be able to separate myself. That’s the main thing.”

Did your mom and dad play sports? (Ringo’s dad is in the Navy and lives in Virginia): “My mom was a triple jump champ in high school. My dad is one of those guys who are really short but really fast.”

After interviewing you for the first time, you seem like a very open and friendly person.: “Yes, sir. I’m not hiding from nothing.”