SANFORD — Remaining perfect against Sandhills Athletic Conference opponents this spring, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ track and field team narrowly edged Pinecrest on Wednesday.
The Lady Raiders collected 83.5 points, defeating the Lady Patriots by half a point in a meet that also featured host Southern Lee High School.
Also competing was the Richmond boys’ track and field team, which took second place with 44 points behind winner Pinecrest (90 points).
Lady Raiders win 11 events to earn third win
Taking the top spot in 11 different events, the Lady Raiders won their third straight conference meet to start the season. The team also had nine second-place marks and two third-place finishers.
The majority of the Lady Raiders’ points came in sprints (22 points), hurdles (17 points) and relays (13 points). Richmond and Southern Lee split a point for a third-place finish in the discus, which gave the Lady Raiders the win.
Winning the 100-meter dash was Isis Covington (12.69 seconds), and Andrea Ellerbe picked up another win in the open 200 race (26.22 seconds). Richmond also took second in both of those events, starting with Talayeh Covington in the 100 (12.81 seconds) and Akeya Harrison in the 200-meter (27.46 seconds).
Maylyn Wallace, a distance runner, picked up a pair of first-place marks in the 800-meter race and the 1600-meter run for 10 points. Her time in the 800 was 2:45.99 (nearly 13 seconds faster than second place) and she ran the mile in 6:26.10.
The Lady Raiders picked up a pair of one-two finishes in both the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles. Jamya Fuller took first in the 100 hurdles (18.50 seconds), followed by Aniyah Tanksley in second (19.61 seconds).
Tanksley came in first in the 300 hurdles, clocking in at 54.98 seconds, and teammate I’liyah Hailey placed second (56.91 seconds).
Richmond impressed by sweeping the 4×100-meter (49.33 seconds) and 4×200-meter relays (1:48.38) for two more victories. Fuller and Tanksley finished in a four-way tie for first place in the high jump, clearing the bar at 4 feet, 6 inches.
Rounding out the scoring were two second-place finishes by Janiya Blue in the triple jump (29 feet, 5 inches) and the long jump (13 feet, 6 inches).
Honesty Horne placed first in the shot put (28 feet, 5 inches) and added a second-place mark in the discus (60 feet, 11 inches). Taking third in the discus was Jasmine Jennings (57 feet, 5 inches).
Raiders notch another second-place finish
ROSports File Photo: Jaylen McDonald won the 100-meter dash on Wednesday. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
Despite putting forth a strong effort in several events, the Raider track and field team couldn’t keep pace with Pinecrest on Wednesday. Lacking points in the distance, hurdling and throwing events was the difference maker.
The Raiders did collect five first-place podiums, while adding three second-place marks and four third-place finishers. In sprints, the Raiders recorded 18 points and tallied 17 points in jumping events.
In the open 100-meter dash, Richmond continued to showcase its speed with a three-runner sweep. Jaylen McDonald won the event for the second SAC meet in a row, crossing the finish line in 10.75 seconds.
Teammates Taye Spencer (11.03 seconds) and Cason Douglas (11.37 seconds) placed second and third, respectively.
McDonald also placed third in the 200-meter dash (23.16 seconds), and Travion Smith added five points with a win in the open 400-meter sprint (53.35 seconds).
Marquan Martin collected Richmond’s only points in the hurdles, finishing the 110-meter race in third in 18.03 seconds.
The Raiders’ 4×100-meter relay team put another five points on the board with a win, completing the lap around the track in 42.30 seconds.
Taking first and second in the high jump were Javares Stanback and Chris Ellerbe, respectively. Stanback cleared the bar at 6 feet, 4 inches, followed by Ellerbe at 6 feet even.
Closing out the final points for the Raiders were Trey Thomas and Stanback. Thomas won the triple jump with a distance of 42 feet, 1 inch and Stanback placed second in the long jump (20 feet, 7.75 inches).
Both of Richmond’s track and field teams will compete in a home meet next Wednesday against Southern Lee and Scotland high schools. Events will begin at 4 p.m.
