ROCKINGHAM — Jakerra Covington, a sophomore on the Richmond Senior High School girls basketball team, has been named the first Official Richmond County Female Athlete of the Week for the 2018 winter sports season.
Back for her second season at the varsity level, Covington helped get the Lady Raiders off to a hot start in last week’s season-opening win over Whiteville High School. Not only was she the game’s leading scorer, but she’s also going to be one of head coach Teddy Moseley’s most consistent players this winter. This is Covington’s first career Official Female Athlete of the Week selection.
Athletic Profile
Age: 15
Birthday: Feb. 13, 2003
Year: Sophomore
Winter Sport: Basketball
Position: Forward
Years on Varsity: 2 Years
Height & Weight: 5-6, 142-pounds
Experience: 4 years
“HITTING BUCKETS” WITH JAKERRA COVINGTON
RSHS Academics: Covington is an Honors student at Richmond, and is almost halfway through her sophomore year. Not only is she sharp on the court, but Covington also puts up good numbers in the classroom. During the first nine weeks, she made the distinguished A honor roll, and hasn’t earned below that grade in any class since she began middle school. Covington also has a current GPA of 4.2.
This semester, Covington is taking Honors Civics with Moseley, Math II Honors with Mrs. Mary Finnemeyer, Concert Choir Honors with Mrs. Erin McNair, and rounds out her school day with Advanced Weight Training with Coach Shellie Wimpey. When she’s not in class or at practice, Covington also participates in National Beta Club (inducted this year) and the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA).
“Concert Choir is definitely my favorite class,” Covington shared. “I’ve been in it since ninth grade and I’m an alto. When I sing, I feel better, and signing helps calm me down. Mrs. McNair is really nice and it’s a lot of fun to be in.”
RSHS Sports: Basketball is just one of several sports Covington plays as a Lady Raider athlete. She’s a four-sport athlete who plays year-round, including volleyball in the fall, and soccer and track in the spring.
A middle hitter on head coach Ashleigh Larsen’s junior varsity volleyball team the past two seasons, Covington also saw some time at the varsity level this season as Richmond made a push for the playoffs. She led the JV team with 70 kills and 44 digs in 2018, and added 25 aces and nine blocks.
She also played junior varsity soccer as a freshman, playing midfielder for head coach Chris Larsen. Following the soccer season, she joined the 4×100-meter relay team, and helped head coach Reggie Miller’s squad qualify for states. She ran with relay team members Harmony Jones, Monasia Kearns and Dymond McNeal. She plans to play both sports again this spring.
High School/College Aspirations: Not set to graduate Richmond until June 2021, Covington has some time to achieve some lofty goals, both inside the classroom and on her respective playing surfaces.
“I want to be in the National Honor Society,” Covington said when she reaches her junior year. “And I really want to be a junior marshal, so I’m going to keep working to get my GPA up. Getting all As is something I want to continue to do, too.
“With track, I really want to win states,” she added of the 4×100. “I also want colleges to look at me (in several sports), and it would be nice to make all-conference teams in any of my sports.”
Right now, Covington is thinking about pursuing a career in oncology, as she would like “to help cancer patients.”
Jakerra Covington (22) dribbles on a breakaway during the season opener against Whiteville.
Athlete of the Week Stats: The Lady Raiders opened their 2018-19 campaign last week with a 43-38 win over non-conference Whiteville. Getting a spot in the starting five, Covington didn’t disappoint, as she netted a career and game-high 14 points in the win.
In the first quarter, which Richmond only scored six points, Covington had a lay up. But then she exploded in the second frame, adding five more points. She had an offensive rebound putback under the hoop, and added another jumper and a free throw before the half.
To close out the game in the second half, Covington added seven more points. She helped break the game open in the third quarter with two buckets in the closing minutes to give Richmond a four-point advantage heading into the fourth. Covington finished the game with free throw in crunch time, icing the win for the Lady Raiders.
RAPID FIRE – FAST RESPONSES
1) How are things going so far this season with the Lady Raider basketball team?
“I feel like we’re going to go farther than we did last year,” Covington stated. “It’s a lot more positive this year and Coach Moseley is always encouraging us as a team. He tells me that if I keep working hard, my shots are going to fall. When I make a mistake, I always look at him to help me get better.
“The team is also really close and we have a lot of good relationships,” she added. “If we can have each others’ backs, I think we can win a lot of games. Coach (Andrea) McIver has helped me in the post, and the whole team is playing with a lot of confidence.”
2) Which of the four sports that you play do you enjoy the most and why?
“Volleyball,” she smiled. “Most people think soccer is my favorite, but it’s really volleyball. I just enjoy spiking the ball and love to block at the net. It’s a fun sport – Coach (Ashleigh) Larsen knows that there’s a time to coach and a time to play, and she can relate to us and it makes it fun.”
3) Who is someone who has impacted your life positively such as a mentor, teacher or coach?
“Mrs. (Teresa) Mason,” Covington said of her former Rockingham Middle School volleyball and basketball coach. “She’s impacted me a lot, and the biggest thing she helped me with was to learn that I’m going to make mistakes, but I can’t have an attitude.
“She wouldn’t play me if I had an attitude,” she laughed. “Coach Mason cared for me on and off the court, and helped show me I can accomplish anything.”
4) If you could have lunch with any professional athlete, who would it be and why?
“I’d probably pick Allyson Felix,” Covington said of the US Olympic track star. “I’d choose her because she is one of the fastest girls ever, and she’s not cocky. She works hard and isn’t satisfied, so she gets better. I would ask her what motivates her to keep going and ask about different exercises to keep me in shape and how to be a better athlete.”
5) Name an interesting fact about yourself that many people may not know about you.
“A lot of people don’t know that I used to play softball and I won the Dixie Youth World Series in 2012,” Covington said. “I was on the Rockingham All-Stars coached by Matthew Liles. There were a lot of (Richmond) girls on that team — Payton Chappell, Madison Jordan, Carley Lambeth, Paige Ransom and Ragan Liles (Marlboro Academy).
“I used to also play travel football for Coach (Errol) Hood when I was younger,” she concluded.
Coach’s Corner: Moseley, who is in his first year as the Lady Raiders’ head coach, has only been around Covington on the court the past six months. But in that time, the sophomore forward has shown her head coach she deserves a starting role on the hardwood.
“Jakerra has been our catalyst and the motor of our team,” Moseley commented. “From the first day of practice, she’s brought a lot of energy and she’s tough. I was worried at the beginning if she had too much energy and if she’d be able to channel it, but so far she has. She’s only a sophomore and has tremendous upside.
“She’s a hard worker and a vocal leader for us,” he continued. “But the most important part about Jakerra is she’s a competitor, and she’s the exact same way in the classroom. I have her for Honors Civics and she’s a real competitor in the classroom.”
