RAEFORD — It’s been a busy start to the cross country season for Richmond County Schools’ middle school runners, seeing the four schools run in their second meet in four days on Monday.
Running away from the competition with its second sweep to start the season was Hamlet Middle School, as the Red Rams and Lady Red Rams took first place in their respective races. Coached by Michelle Denson, the Hamlet girls posted a team score of 33 points, while the boys recorded a meet and season best 29 points.
Both races were 2.1 miles in length and no times were reported. With each team running up to six runners, only the top four finishers qualified for the teams’ point totals.
The Lady Red Rams had their top four runners all finish in the first 12 spots to secure the win, while the Red Rams had three top seven finishers and cemented the win with their fourth runner clocking in 15th place.
The second best RCS teams were the Rockingham Middle School boys and Cordova Middle School girls. Each team secured a sixth-place finish in their respective race, seeing the Rockets tally a score of 98 points and the Lady Cavaliers posted the same mark.
Rounding out the girls’ standings were Rockingham (seventh, 115 points) and Ellerbe (eighth, 162 points). Sandy Grove and West Hoke middle schools saw their girls teams disqualified, cutting the field from 10 schools to eight.
All 10 boys’ teams would finish, seeing Ellerbe take eighth (130 points) and Cordova place ninth (141 points).
Hamlet’s Linder Garcia and Jason Walker each posted season-best finishes, moving up to the third and fourth place spots, respectively, for a combined seven points. Teammate Samuel Hawks also jumped a couple of spots, crossing the finish like in seventh place. Billy West improved two spots from the season opener, taking 15th place to secure the win.
On the girls’ side, Jenna Gardner was the top Lady Red Ram, placing third overall, a spot better than Thursday’s meet. Shianna Chaparro finished eighth, also a personal best, while Zoie Smith dropped from the top spot but finished in the top 10. Helping lock up the Lady Red Rams’ win was Alivia Webb, who jumped five spots to 12th overall.
Garcia and Gardner’s respective third-place finish were the best performances by any RCS runner at West Hoke. Rockingham’s Mariana Mendez was the second fastest Richmond County female runner, finishing fifth overall, while Cordova’s Kejaun Bright led the Cavaliers with a ninth-place finish.
The top four finishers from each school beside Hamlet are as follows:
Cordova Middle School
Boys: Bright (9th), Jesus Castro (32nd), Adrian Padron (48th) and Felix Guinn (52nd)
Girls: Trinity Tobin (7th), Amia Pegram (24th), Samurai Alshaif (33rd) and Amariah Gibson (34th)
Ellerbe Middle School
Boys: Bingham (12th), Taphet Phonchone (34th), Laythan Kennington (35th) and Derek Evans (49th)
Girls: Brittany Manis (28th), Taniya Chandler (43rd), Yulissa Avalos (45th) and Essence Barringer (46th)
Rockingham Middle School
Boys: Ryan Dickinson (19th), Tyson Fowler (22nd), Jeremiah Ritter (26th) and Jake Veach (31st)
Girls: Mendez (5th), Tammy White (32nd), Yarley Vargas (38th) and Katie Freeman (40th).
The next middle school cross country meet will be held on Thursday, Oct. 24, and hosted by Richmond County Schools at Hinson Lake in Rockingham.
