SMITHFIELD — The Richmond Senior High School boys’ and girls’ swimming teams concluded their season last Saturday at the Sandhills Athletic Conference championship.
Official results were released Wednesday, and like the Raiders and Lady Raiders have all season, they took fifth overall in the conference title meet.
Richmond and fourth-year head coach Mike Way finished with 62 points, edging sixth-place Seventy-First High School by 14 points. The Lady Raiders were without junior Ellie Buck, and even with a limited roster, Richmond remained consistent.
The SAC championship wrapped up an uncharacteristically short swimming season, which featured just two regular-season meets.
Junior Wil Mabe had a career day in the pool, collecting a team-high 24 points, and he set new personal records in both of his events. Competing in the 50-yard freestyle, Mabe took sixth overall with a time of 31.04 seconds, 1.40 seconds faster than his previous best during the season’s first meet.
But it was in the 100-yard freestyle that Mabe made his biggest improvement. In that event, he finished in eighth place with a mark of 1:10.98. That time shaved 6.05 seconds off his PR, and was the biggest jump of any Richmond swimmer in any event this season.
“I got my personal best by pushing myself at practice,” Mabe explained. “And every time I swim, I just try to shave a few seconds off.
“I’m so glad I go to swim because I have so much fun going to meets with my teammates and coaches,” he added.
Senior Thomas Barbee concluded his swimming career by competing in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard freestyle. New to the 200 IM and swimming it for just the second time, Barbee posted a time of 3:27.20. That placed him seventh overall and added 12 of his 19 points.
In the 100-yard freestyle, he placed 10th with a time of 1:18.49 and collected seven more points.
Fellow senior Jonathan Alicea swam in the 50-yard freestyle for the Raiders and recorded a season-best time. Alicea completed the lap in the pool in 31.96 seconds, good enough for seventh place and 12 points.
Freshman Katie Way was the lone Lady Raider to compete on Saturday and she finished her first season with another personal best time. Swimming in the 50-yard freestyle, Way placed 10th with a time of 46.13 seconds.
In just three meets, Way took her time down nearly three seconds. Her finish awarded her seven points that went toward Richmond’s total.
“I was really glad I decided to swim this year,” Way said. “I went in unsure what to expect the first few practices. Regarding my new personal best, it was just a learning process.
“The first two meets were just my way of seeing what it was all about,” she continued. “By the third meet, there really was no way for me to do any worse than I had done previously.”
She noted that her favorite part of the season, besides competing in the pool, was the team’s trip to Chick-fil-A.
Pinecrest High School was tagged the SAC champion with 738 points between the boys’ and girls’ teams. The Lady Patriots took first (371 points) and the Patriots took second (367 points).
Jack Britt High School placed second overall (720 points), and the Buccaneers earned first with 372 points. The Lady Buccaneers placed second with 348 points.
