SMITHFIELD — The Richmond Senior High School boys’ and girls’ swimming teams combined for another fifth place finish during Saturday’s conference meet.
Just the second Sandhills Athletic Conference meet of the season, the Raiders and Lady Raiders swam at the Smithfield Recreation and Aquatic Center. Six different teams competed, with Richmond tallying a season-high 71 points.
To keep swimmers socially distanced, the SAC meet was split into two different sessions. Richmond competed against Pinecrest and Hoke County high schools for the second week in a row.
Head coach Mike Way said he was pleased with the team’s performance, noting a couple of season-best times. He was also impressed with senior Thomas Barbee’s first career attempt at the 200-yard individual medley.
“As a whole, I would say we did really good,” Barbee said. “I’m so proud of our team for going out into a new and very uncomfortable environment and competing like we always do. We did great because everyone left that comfort zone and tried harder than the week before.”
Completing four laps in the pool, Barbee swam the event in 3:25.75, which put him in sixth place. Grabbing 13 points for the team, Barbee completed the event by swimming 50 yards each of the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.
“Swimming the IM was very unusual because I had only swam it two days before as a joke, but swimming it was actually really fun because I could feel my individual progress over my three years,” he added of the event.
“When I first set my sights on it, the entire goal was to just prove I could do it, but actually completing it made me so proud of myself because it’s the hardest event. I spent the rest of the day stoked just because I finished it.”
Barbee added that his next goal is to “drop my time 10 seconds and to get everyone on the team to try something they’re unfamiliar with.”
Junior Wil Mabe set a new season-best in the 100-yard freestyle race, clocking in at 1:17.03. That time was 0.68 seconds faster than his first meet of the year, and Mabe’s time put him in seventh place and added 12 points.
Joining Mabe in the 100-yard freestyle was senior Jonthan Alicea, who made his season debut for the Raiders. He finished the race in 1:21.75, good enough for ninth overall and nine more points.
Barbee and Mabe rounded out the Raiders’ day by swimming in the 50-yard freestyle. Per the NCHSAA’s guidelines, swimmers are only allowed to compete in two events this season.
Mabe finished the lap in the pool in 32.44 seconds (ninth place), and Barbee recorded a time of 36.14 seconds (11th place). The pair combined for 15 additional points for Richmond.
Representing the Lady Raiders on Saturday were junior Ellie Buck and freshmen Carolina Gonzalez and Katie Way. Buck swam in the 50 and 100-yard freestyles, Way competed in the 50-yard free and Gonzalez, a newcomer to the team, did not officially qualify for her event.
Buck and Way took 10th and 11th place, respectively, in the 50-yard freestyle. Coming in at 40.62 seconds was Buck (seven points), and Way’s time of 48.15 seconds was a new career best for her.
That time was 0.85 seconds better than her opening race and Way also picked up six more points for Richmond.
Closing the day was Buck’s ninth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle. She recorded a time of 1:32.14 and nine points.
Pinecrest’s teams combined for 741.5 points and took first overall. Jack Britt High School placed second with 690.5 points. Richmond edged Seventy-First High School by 21 points to take fifth place.
The Raiders and Lady Raiders will return to Smithfield on Saturday for their final regular-season meet of the year.
