ROCKINGHAM — Cross country runners from three of Richmond County’s four middle schools returned to competitive action last Thursday.
Official results from the conference’s second meet of the season were released Monday morning, after runners ran the 2.1 mile race at Hinson Lake.
Middle school sports returned last week following some students returning to in-school learning. The comeback ended a two-month long hiatus as a result of Richmond County Schools switching to online learning in early December.
Ellerbe, Hamlet and Rockingham middle schools raced on Thursday, but Cordova Middle School did not participate.
Like they did in the season opener, the Hamlet boys and Rockingham girls took the top spot in their respective races. Scores were calculated using the top four finishers from each school.
The Red Rams tallied 12 points for the big win, while the Lady Rockets notched 17, edging rival Hamlet by just two points.
Finishing second in the boys’ race was Rockingham (32 points), followed by Ellerbe (38 points). The Lady Red Rams had 19 points for second place and Ellerbe didn’t have a girls’ team participate.
Hamlet’s boys took the top three spots in their race, seeing Jordan Bostick take first overall for the second time this season. Fellow Red Rams Chamore Shaw and Jason Walker took second and third, respectively.
Rounding out the winning score for Hamlet was Billy West, who placed sixth overall. Teammate Elijah Hollingsworth finished ninth.
Three Rockingham runners placed in the top 10, first with Jake Veach placing fourth, followed by Graham Odom and D.J. Gainey, who came in back-to-back for seventh and eighth place.
Ahron Patterson’s 13th-place finish, followed by Ben Lutz’s 14th-place mark secured the second-place finish for Rockingham.
The Wildcats landed a top-five finisher in Sean Smith, who was helped by fellow Ellerbe runner Jake Richardson, who finished 10th.
Derek Evans and Brooks Calhoun clocked in at 11th and 12th place, respectively, for the Wildcats.
In the girls’ race, Rockingham’s Mariana Mendoza and Presley Dawkins took one and two, just like they did in the first meet. Teammates Ella Munn (sixth place) and Dayana Franco (eighth place) were the next two Lady Rockets to cross the finish line.
Caroline DeAguilar helped Rockingham to the win with a ninth-place finish.
Hamlet’s top three runners ended their race in quick succession, starting with Layla Smith in third place. Kyra Gilcrest and Olivia Brown were quick on her heels, placing fourth and fifth respectively.
Alivia Webb placed seventh to secure the team’s final score, while teammates Saquanna Bostick and Kelsie Cox ended the race in 10th and 11th place.
The middle school conference championship meet will be held at Hinson Lake on Monday at 4 p.m.
Results were submitted by Rockingham athletic director Amanda Gainey. No official times were reported.
