SANFORD — A competitive field at the Sandhills Athletic Conference championship meet saw the Lady Raider track and field team take fourth overall on Saturday.
Participating in this year’s championship, hosted by Southern Lee High School, the Lady Raiders secured 85.5 points. That was just 2.5 points behind Hoke County High School for third place.
Union Pines High School won the overall team event with a score of 226.5 points, followed by Pinecrest High School in second (179 points).
The Lady Raiders, who had won four regular-season meets against SAC opponents this spring, earned one first-place finish. They added three second-place marks, one third-place winner and three fourth-place tallies.
Taking first overall and winning an individual conference championship was the girls’ 4×200-meter relay team. Made up of juniors Andrea Ellerbe, Isis Covington, Akeya Harrison and senior Josely Hunter, the team finished the two laps around the track in 1:49.65.
That mark was 0.85 seconds faster than second-place Hoke County, with Harrison securing the win in the final stretch at the anchor position.
Ellerbe, who has impressed in sprinting events all season, collected two of the three second-place finishes for the Lady Raiders. She took runner-up in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes.
In the open 100, Ellerbe ran the race in 12.86 seconds, just behind Union Pines’ Zoie Vela (12.49 seconds). Crossing the finish line in 27.29 seconds in the 200-meter dash, Ellerbe placed second to Vela again (26.05 seconds).
Senior Ja’Niya Blue notched the other second-place finish in the long jump, leaping out to a distance of 15 feet, 9 inches. Taking the championship was Annika Stark of Union Pines, who jumped 16 feet, 7 inches.
Covington registered one third-place and one fourth-place finish, starting with a third-place time of 12.95 seconds in the open 100-meter dash. She was just 0.09 seconds behind Ellerbe.
In the 200-meter race, Covington clocked in at 27.65 seconds for fourth place. Just ahead of her was Hoke County’s Amara Morrisey (27.59 seconds).
Contributing one fourth-place mark apiece were Harrison and senior I’liyah Hailey. Harrison took fourth in the open 100-meter (13.23 seconds) and Hailey ran a time of 55.86 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles.
Richmond also had six fifth-place finishes during the SAC championship.
Those came from Harrison (200-meter), senior Maylyn Wallace (1600-meter), freshman Jamaya Fuller (100-meter hurdles), Blue (triple jump) and the 4×400-meter and 4×800-meter relay teams.
The Lady Raiders and head coach Reggie Miller will now prepare for the NCHSAA 4A Mideast regional meet, which will be held on May 14. The regional event will be held at Apex Friendship High School.
