CAMERON — Improving one overall placement during its second meet of the season, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ indoor track and field team took second on Saturday.
Competing against a mixture of Sandhills Athletic Conference and non-conference opponents, the Lady Raiders recorded a season-high 131.5 points in the second Polar Bear Invitational of the season.
Taking first as a team was Pinecrest High School, which led the field of seven schools with 229.5 points. The Lady Raiders and head coach Reggie Miller held a sizable advantage over third-place Scotland High School (61 points).
Using four first-place finishes, the Lady Raiders added five second-place performances, three third-place marks and two fourth-place finishes.
Senior Akeya Harrison won two sprinting events for the first 20 of her team-high 28 individual points. She edged fellow senior teammate Isis Covington (16 points) in the 55-meter and 300-meter dashes.
Harrison won the 55-meter race with a time of 7.64 seconds, followed by Covington’s second-place mark of 7.74 seconds. In the 300-meter sprint, Harrison earned the victory by crossing the finish line in 45.55 seconds, again trailed closely by Covington (45.67 seconds).
Also competing in the long jump, Harrison recorded a distance of 14 feet, 10.25 inches, placing her second for eight more points. Scotland’s Shidaya Billings won the long jump (15 feet, 5.5 inches).
Sophomore distance runner Mariana Mendez had another strong outing, taking first and second, respectively, in the 1000-meter and 1600-meter runs. She won the 1000-meter race with a time of 3:35.16, which was 11.20 seconds faster than second-place.
Mendez earned second in the 1600-meter event, clocking in at 6:08.43, just over a dozen seconds off the winning pace. She combined for 18 points for the Lady Raiders.
Richmond’s other event win came courtesy of senior Honesty Horne in the shot put. Winning the event for the second straight week, Horne recorded a distance of 27 feet, 8 inches for 10 points.
Junior Anniston Griggs followed last week’s performance with her second straight second-place finish behind Horne. Griggs added eight points with a mark of 26 feet, 5.5 inches.
One of the Lady Raiders’ third-place finishes came in the 4×400-meter relay race. Completing the four laps around the track in 5:00.64 were Taylor Newton, KaMora Watkins, Kymaria Wall and Tenaziah McNeil.
Watkins tied for third in the high jump, clearing the bar at 4 feet, 6 inches. Adding 5.5 points, Watkins jumped even with Deja Wells (Pinecrest).
The Lady Raiders took third and fourth in both the 55-meter hurdles and the triple jump, registering 22 more points to their team total.
Sophomore Ja’Mya Fuller (10.08 seconds) was third in the hurdles, followed by sophomore Anayjah Dumas (10.67 seconds).
Sophomore Tayanna Holloman landed at a distance of 27 feet, 6.5 inches in the triple jump for third overall, and Dumas recorded a mark of 25 feet, 1 inch for fourth.
Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Raiders in several events were Watkins (6 points), Newton (5 points), McNeil (4 points), Fuller (2 points) and sophomore Fallon Little (1 point).
The Lady Raiders will run in their third meet of the season this Saturday in Winston-Salem. Richmond will compete in the N.C. Runners Holiday Invitational, which will be held at the JDL Fast Track.
