SOUTHERN PINES — Returning to action on Friday for the first time since Dec. 9, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ indoor track and field team placed third overall.
Competing in the second Polar Bear meet of the season hosted by Pinecrest High School, the Lady Raiders recorded 90.5 points.
The host Lady Patriots won the meet with 226 points and fellow Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent Union Pines High School placed second (132.5 points).
A trio of non-conference teams also participated — Western Harnett (29 points), Cape Fear (9 points) and Douglas Byrd (3 points) high schools.
The Lady Raiders recorded points in all six categories, led by the jumpers with 38.5 points. The team also had a chunk of 20 points added in sprints.
Other point totals were hurdles (12 points), throws (10 points), relays (6 points) and distance (4 points).
Richmond’s jumpers dotted the final score sheets in the high jump, long jump and triple jump.
Ka’mora Watkins placed first, second and third in her three respective jumping events, starting with a win in the high jump. Already qualified for the state championship meet, she won the event (10 points) by clearing the bar at 4 feet, 10 inches.
Watkins’ mark of 15 feet, 0 inches in the long jump placed her second (eight points) and she added six points with a third-place distance of 31 feet, 7 inches in the triple jump.
Other jumpers to secure points were Anayjah Dumas, Sharonda Henderson, Fallon Little and Riley McDonald.
Henderson, who tied for sixth in the high jump at 4 feet, 2 inches, and McDonald, who was eighth in the event at 4 feet, both set new personal records and combined for 3.5 points.
Dumas added five points with a fourth-place distance of 12 feet, 9 inches in the long jump. Little (11 feet, 3 inches) and Henderson (11 feet, 2 inches) took seventh and eighth, respectively, for three more points. Henderson’s jump was a new PR.
In the triple jump, Dumas (26 feet, 4.5 inches) and Little (26 feet, 2 inches) paired up for three more points by finishing in seventh and eighth place.
Three Lady Raiders earned points in the 55-meter dash, starting with Amariah Gibson’s first-place time of 7.93 seconds. That new PR for Gibson gave the Lady Raiders 10 points.
Watkins contributed four points with a fifth-place time of 8.18 seconds and Taylor Newton placed eighth (one point) with a time of 8.39 seconds.
Gibson followed her win with a fourth-place sprint and five more points in the 300-meter race. Her time of 48.03 seconds was a personal best.
In the 55-meter hurdles, Dumas led the way for Richmond’s three point earners, finishing the race in third place (six points) with a time of 11.17 seconds.
Heaven Terry (11.45 seconds) set a PR to take fifth place and add four points, and Samya Patterson chipped in two points in seventh place (12.59 seconds).
Ella Parker (26 feet, 7 inches) and Malani Wilson (23 feet, 1 inch) placed third and fifth, respectively, in the shot put. Parker added six points and Wilson’s PR put four more points on the board.
A third-place finish by the Lady Raiders’ 4×400-meter relay team (5:36.74) recorded six points for the team.
Richmond’s final points came from Dayana Franco (4:22.90) and Anahi Gomez (5:31.78) in the 1,000-meter run. Franco was sixth (three points) and Gomez was eighth (one point).
The Lady Raiders’ next meet will be Saturday, Jan. 6, at Union Pines High School. Events will begin at 10 a.m.
