RAEFORD — Several of Richmond Senior High School’s indoor track and field athletes had a successful start to their season in the Lady Raiders’ first meet.
Opening the season at the Hoke County Polar Bear Meet, Richmond and head coach Reggie Miller ran against several regional schools, including Union Pines, Western Harnett, Jack Britt, St. Pauls and the host Lady Bucks.
No team scores were kept, according to Miller, but Richmond registered points in all eight events it competed in.
“The girls did a tremendous job on Wednesday competing with the other schools,” Miller said. “We are just looking to improve our performance each meet as a team to stay competitive with the other schools.”
The Lady Raiders earned two first-place finishes, starting with the 4×200-meter relay team, which made the two laps around the track in 1:48.40 (10 points). That time was 6.40 seconds faster than second-place Jack Britt.
Junior Andrea Ellerbe recorded the other victory (10 points) in the 500-meter dash. She clocked in with a time of 1:27.70, edging Union Pines’ Clara Kellner (1:31.20). Fellow junior Akeya Harrison took fifth place in the event (1:36.20).
Richmond also notched a trio of second-place marks for 8 points each — junior Isis Covington (7.60 seconds, 55-meter dash), senior Talayeh Covington (48.00 seconds, 300-meter dash) and sophomore Aniya Tanksley (4-feet, 6-inches, high jump).
Talayeh Covington (7.70 seconds) and junior Jay’da Williams (7.71 seconds) finished third and fifth, respectively, in the 55-meter run. Williams also picked up 4 points in the 300-meter dash, finishing in fifth place (49.20 seconds).
Harrison’s time of 1:36.20 was good enough for a fifth-place finish in the 500-meter.
Three Lady Raiders finished third through fifth place in the 55-meter hurdles. Williams earned third (10.50 seconds), followed by Tanksley (10.60 seconds) and junior Michala Nechvilova (10.80 seconds).
Nechvilova added 4 points by clearing the bar at 4-feet, 2-inches in the high jump (fifth place).
Senior Janiya Blue was the lone Lady Raider who competed in the long jump, earning third overall and 6 points with a distance of 15-feet, 9-inches.
Rounding out the team’s performance were three Lady Raiders in the shot put — junior Honesty Horne (third, 25-feet, 9-inches), sophomore Jasmine Dockery (fourth, 24-feet, 6-inches) and junior Rachel Martin (eighth, 20-feet, 3-inches).
Richmond will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 11, at the JDL Omega Sports Invitational in Winston-Salem.
