ROCKINGHAM — Tuesday’s Sandhills Athletic Conference cross country meet was special for five Richmond Senior High School seniors, all of whom were recognized ahead of their lone home race this season.
Four Lady Raiders and one Raider runner were escorted by their parents and family members after being introduced by head boys’ coach Reggie Miller. This year’s seniors were: Airel Brown, Abby Calhoun, Hannah Stewart, Devon Tillman and Analee Wyand.
Left to right: Miller, Tillman, Stewart, Wyand, Calhoun, Brown and Covington.
The Lady Raiders rewarded themselves and their seniors with their second first-place tally in three meets this fall, recording an afternoon-best 29 points. Running against SAC opponents Purnell Swett and Jack Britt high schools, the Lady Buccaneers finished second (45 points) and the Lady Rams finished third (56 points).
In the boys’ race, Richmond finished third with a score of 67 points. Without senior Joey Nicholson, the Raiders saw Purnell Swett take first (24 points) and Jack Britt finish second (42 points).
In what proved to be a career afternoon for a handful of Lady Raider runners, Brown finished second overall with a time of 21:59, just three seconds behind Purnell Swett’s Kylie Chavis (21:56). At the 1.5 mile turn, the two were step for step, and it wasn’t until the final 100 yards that Chavis out-sprinted Brown to the finish line.
Sophomore Maylyn Wallace had the best showing of her young cross country career, coming in third place with a personal record time of 24:15. That time was exactly one minute faster than her previous best, and she moved up four spots from last week’s race. She’s now taken over six minutes off her 5K time from her first race.
Freshman Sheccid Heaton also had a personal best performance, following Wallace with a time of 24:18 for fifth place, just two seconds behind Jack Britt’s Charlotte Branconier. Heaton’s time was 1:38 faster than her Week 2 race in Lumberton.
The Lady Raiders would see 10 of their runners finish in the top 15 spots in the race. Junior Allyson Leggett would start a string of seven-straight Lady Raider finishers when she clocked in with a time of 26:31 (ninth place). Following her were Wyand (26:58, 10th), freshman Rylie Bohman (27:02, 11th) and Calhoun (27:29, 12th).
Rounding out the top 15 spots were three more Lady Raiders, starting with junior Zamiya McInnis (27:36, 13th). She was followed up by freshmen Andrea Ellerbe (28:26, 14th) and C’Nedra Hinson (28:27, 15th). Jack Britt had three total runners in the top 10, while Purnell Swett had two.
“The girls did awesome and being on our home turf really helped out with our times,” head girls’ coach Jessica Covington said. “We keep improving and I’m so proud of all of them. Maylyn and Sheccid keep climbing closer and closer toward the top spots.
“It’s very important that the girls continue to finish together in big chunks near the top,” she added. “We’ve done that pretty well this season and every girl who improves her time is only helping the team.”
In the boys’ race, Richmond’s junior Carson Jordan continued to lead the Raiders with another top-five finish. He crossed the end mark in third place, a season-best finish, with a time of 19:24. That was 22 seconds faster than his time a week ago, and he’s taken 42 total seconds off in the three races this season.
Winning the boys’ race was Purnell Swett’s Kenny Locklear (18:39), and Jack Britt’s Tony Bidoli was second, only two seconds faster than a closing Jordan.
Jordan would be the only Raider to finish in the top 11 spots, as junior teammate Josh Wallace would come in 12th place (22:26). Fellow junior Will Thompson improved his time by 51 seconds, finishing in 15th place and a time of 23:15.
Other Raider finishers were: freshman Ethan McDonald (24:51, 22nd), freshman Kodie Simmons (25:00, 24th) and Tillman (26:29, 29th).
“The guys did a tremendous job today and never quit despite being down a man,” Miller said. “Carson continues to come into his own and he’s knocked almost two minutes off his time since he last ran here. Ethan, Josh, Devon, Kodie and Will all continue to get better.
“Unfortunately we didn’t win today, but everyone crossed the finish line,” he closed. “I tell them that you don’t get awarded for starting a race, but you can be when you finish a race. I was proud of their efforts and we’ll get back to practice and get ready for our next meet.”
The Raider and Lady Raider cross country teams will run in an invitational at the Carolina Horse Park in Raeford on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m.
