SOUTHERN PINES — The Richmond Raider track and field team used its strength in relays and hurdles to capture two first-place results at the Sandhills Athletic Conference championship meet.
One of seven teams in contention, Richmond took third overall with 100 points.
Host Pinecrest High School earned the team conference championship (189 points), followed by Union Pines High School (168 points) in second place.
The Raiders had one individual conference champion in the 300-meter hurdles and the 4×100-meter relay team combined to take the other top spot.
Aaron Coleman was a part of both victories, winning the 300 hurdles with a final time of 41.46 seconds, nearly a half a second faster than Union Pines’ Caleb Milton (41.95 seconds).
Coleman served as the second leg in the 4×100 relay, joining teammates Keonta Pegues, Jamarion Bryant and Taye Spencer in the win. The four Raiders passed the baton in 42.71 seconds, well ahead of second-place Pinecrest (43.53 seconds).
Richmond had three second-place marks, four third-place results and another 14 performances ranked in the top 10.
Spencer had an impressive showing in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, earning runner-up in each race. He finished with times of 11.21 seconds and 23.19 seconds, respectively. Union Pines’ Ethan Biggs won both events (11.06 seconds and 22.78 seconds).
Also taking second place one time was Emerson Wall in the triple jump. His final distance of 42 feet, 1 inch was second only to William Leak of Hoke County (42 feet, 9 inches).
Coleman recorded two of Richmond’s third-place podium spots, while the other two came courtesy of relay teams.
In the open 100, Coleman ran a time of 11.30 seconds and followed with a time of 16.82 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles.
Jyneil Scott, Emoni McBride, Jaliel Green and Linden Garcia ran a final result of 1:34.88 in the 4×200-meter relay. Also third was the 4×400-meter relay team (3:55.30), made up of Travion Smith, Dillon Veach, Christian Surgent and Jayden Hamilton.
Wall (43.05 seconds), Spencer (41 feet, 5 inches) and Chamaure Shaw (40 feet, 3 inches) each placed fourth in the 300 hurdles, shot put and triple jump, respectively.
Domonic Tillman and Urijah McDonald placed fifth in the triple jump and shot put. Tillman landed at 40 feet, 2 inches, while McDonald threw his longest shot to a mark of 39 feet, 5 inches.
Tillman (18.24 seconds) and Hamilton (19 feet, 3 inches) earned sixth in the 110-meter hurdles and long jump.
Rounding out the Raiders’ efforts were: Pegues (7th, 100-meter), McBride (7th, 200-meter), Shaw (8th, high jump), Cameron Gladden (9th, 800-meter), Marquan Martin (T-9th, high jump), Smith (10th, 400-meter) and Jordan Bostick (10th, 800-meter).
The Raiders are set for the NCHSAA 4A Mideast regional championship, which will be held on Saturday at Green Level High School.
