LAURINBURG — Like it has all season, the Lady Raider 200-yard freestyle relay team impressed during Saturday’s Sandhills Athletic Conference championship at St. Andrews University.
The Richmond Senior High School boys’ and girls’ swimming teams competed against the seven other SAC schools to determine the conference’s 2018-19 winner, as the SAC wrapped up its second swimming season.
While the Raiders and Lady Raiders finished fifth and sixth place, respectively, it was a career day for several individual Richmond swimmers. Pinecrest High School’s boys’ team took first overall with 392 points, and the Jack Britt High School girls’ team won the female championship with 397 points.
The Raiders tallied 120 points on the day, while the Lady Raiders’ 101 points were just 15 away from surpassing Hoke County High School for fifth place. It was the second straight meet the 200-yard relay team won the event.
Richmond fans got to see the most exciting moment of the evening during the 17th of the 24 scheduled events. The girls’ 200-yard freestyle team, comprised of seniors Natalie Davis, Kelsey Murray, Greyson Way and junior Haleigh Poston, clocked in a time of 2:13.29 to finish second behind Jack Britt’s relay team (2:07.14).
That victory earned the Lady Raiders 34 total points. In the exhibition heat prior to the championship, Richmond’s Ellie Buck, Lauren Humann, Kassie Smith and Hailey Wheeler also took second place. They recorded a time of 2:35.60, just 4.98 seconds behind Purnell Swett High School.
Richmond head coach Mike Way (green) cheers on the Lady Raider 200-yard freestyle team.
The 200-yard freestyle relay team’s performance would be the only podium spot either program would earn, but senior Jenna Kubiak set a career-best in the day’s second event.
In the 200-yard individual freestyle, Kubiak shaved over five seconds off her previous personal best. Her time of 3:25.22 Saturday was significantly better than her 3:30.60 set earlier in the season.
During the regular season, Davis and Way usually found themselves in the top three of their heat in the 50-yard individual freestyle. But they slipped to fifth and eighth place, respectively. Davis, nearly set a new PR with a time of 31.19, just six-hundredths of a second slower than her career-best (31.13) set on Dec. 5.
In that race, Davis and Way combined for 26 more points.
On the boys’ side, junior Dakota Locklear had the best finish for the Raiders in any event, posting a time of 26.90 for fifth place in the 50-yard individual freestyle. That was a new PR, just one-hundredth of a second faster than his qualifying time the week before. That placement notched 14 points for the Raiders.
That would be the only of three scheduled events Locklear would compete in, as he was overcome will illness following his 50-yard race.
Other top finishes for the Raiders were the 200-yard medley relay team’s sixth-place finish (2:24.84), junior Jerry Austin’s seventh-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:33.09) and Eric Singleton’s 11th place tally in the 100-yard backstroke (1:45.02).
Austin’s time in the breaststroke was also a PR, nearly three seconds faster than his previous best set on Dec. 5. (1:37.06).
With the regular season and conference championship in the books, head coach Mike Way and the Richmond swim teams will now prepare for North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s regional meet on Friday, Feb. 1.
