RAEFORD — For the final time this season, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ and girls’ cross country teams took to the course.
Competing in the NCHSAA 4A Mideast Regionals on Saturday, the Raiders and Lady Raiders sent their top runners to compete for the state championship. Unfortunately, no Richmond runners would qualify, effectively bringing the 2019 season to a close.
Running at the Carolina Horse Park for the third time in the last six weeks, the cool morning temperatures provided runners with a reason to keep their pace. Like they have all season, senior Airel Brown and junior Carson Jordan finished first for Richmond.
With 16 teams competing the the regional race, Brown’s finish of 23:02.50 was good enough for a 69th place finish in a field of 116 runners. Jordan’s pace of 19:07.45 saw him finish 88th out of 131 total male runners.
“Carson again did a really good job leading us today,” boys’ coach Reggie Miller said. “The Mideast Regional is a really tough region to go through. The kids still ran their hearts out and had a good week of practice to get ready.
“I have to take my hat off to these kids because they all did a great job,” he added.
First-year girls’ head coach Jessica Covington echoed Miller’s sentiments for the Lady Raiders, adding she was hoping to see Brown qualify for states in her final year.
“The girls all did great and times improved, which is what we wanted,” Covington said. “I wanted Airel to qualify for states, but she took a couple of minutes off her time from regionals last year.
“The competition is so tough, but I was really proud of everyone,” she added. “They’re all dedicated athletes and hard runners.”
Airel Brown crosses the finish line during her final race of her career.
The Raiders had six runners compete and senior Joey Nicholson capped his four-year career with a mark of 20:28.68. Behind him were juniors Will Thompson (22:58.05) and Joshua Wallace (23:11.76), and rounding out the timesheet were freshman Kodie Simmons (24:48.87) and senior Devon Tillman (25:26.44).
Missing a couple of their top runners were the Lady Raiders, but the five competing finished strong. Freshman Sheccid Heaton was the second finisher for Covington’s team, crossing the finish line in 26:31.50.
She was the first in a line of three straight Lady Raiders to clock in, with senior Analee Wyand (26:39.30) and junior Allyson Leggett (26:52.10) following suit. Freshman Rylie Bohman closed it out with a time of 26:58.80.
Panther Creek High School won the girls’ race (45 points), while Green Hope High School took first in the boys’ race (48 points). Pinecrest High School was the only Sandhills Athletic Conference team to qualify for states, placing second and third in the girls’ and boys’ races, respectively.
Miller, who has been the head of the cross country program since 2009, coached his final long-distance race. He was honored by the team following the meet with a wooden plaque with his years of service, and he explained he will now be focusing on coaching track and field in the spring.
ROSports will publish a season recap on both Richmond teams later this week.
