CAMERON — Two first-place finishes highlighted the Richmond Senior High School girls’ indoor track and field team’s season opener.
The Lady Raiders competed in the Polar Bear invitational at Union Pines High School on Saturday, and like the Richmond boys’ team, took third overall out of eight teams.
Winning the first meet of the winter was Pinecrest High School (222.5 points), followed by Union Pines (136 points) and Richmond and head coach Reggie Miller with 94.5 points.
Participating in 11 different events, the Lady Raiders added four second-place finishes, two third-place marks and another two fourth-place times.
Leading the way with a win apiece were the 4×200-meter relay team and senior Honesty Horne.
A competitor the last couple of years, as well as during the spring season,the 4×200 team cruised to a win with a time of 1:50.85, nearly five seconds faster than second-place Pinecrest.
Making the two laps around the track were seniors Isis Covington, Andrea Ellerbe and Akeya Harrison, along with sophomore Ja’Mya Fuller.
Horne impressed in the shot put, taking home the top spot with a distance of 27 feet, 7.5 inches.
One of Richmond’s second-place spots belonged to junior Anniston Griggs, who tossed the shot put 25 feet, 7 inches.
Covington (7.61 seconds), Harrison (7.90 seconds) and Ellerbe (7.92 seconds) placed second, third and fourth, respectively, in the 55-meter dash. Winning the race was Briana St. Louis (7.29 seconds, Union Pines).
Ellerbe also took second place in the 300-meter sprint, clocking in at 46.49 seconds. Just ahead of her was St. Louis (41.05 seconds).
Richmond’s other second-place performance was sophomore Mariana Mendez (3:31.04) in the 1000-meter run. She also earned fourth in the 1600-meter run, crossing the finish line in 6:04.43.
She was just 0.32 seconds off the lead in the 1000-meter race, edged by Corrine McGuire (3:33.69, Pinecrest).
Fuller rounded out Richmond’s top point-getters with a third-place time of 9.93 seconds in the 55-meter hurdles.
The Lady Raiders are set to compete in their second meet of the season next Saturday at Pinecrest High School.
