CHARLOTTE — The Richmond Senior High School boys’ and girls’ track and field teams impressed at the Corvian Invitational over the weekend.
Competing in a field of 23 schools from across the state, Richmond’s runners and field athletes combined to bring home 25 medals by finishing in the top three of several events.
Ellerbe, relay teams lead Lady Raiders
The Lady Raiders registered five first-place finishes on Saturday, including two from junior sprinter Andrea Ellerbe, who is ranked as one of the fastest athletes in the state.
Ellerbe won the open 100-meter dash (12.92 seconds) and open 200-meter dash (27.40 seconds), while also contributing to the 4×100 and 4×200-meter relay teams’ wins.
The 4×100 relay team edged Mallard Creek High School by 1.55 seconds, finishing with a mark of 51.20 seconds. Following that was the 4×200 relay team’s time of 1:49.85, which was nearly 2.5 seconds faster than Mallard Creek.
Richmond’s other first-place mark for the girls was sophomore Aniyah Tanksley in the 300-meter hurdles, who finished with a time of 55.98 seconds.
The Lady Raiders also secured three second-place marks at the invitational. Senior I’liyah Hailey took second in the 300 hurdles (56.70 seconds), and the 4×400 and 4×800-meter relay teams also placed second with times of 4:54.36 and 13:51.41, respectively.
Rounding out the top three placements for the Lady Raiders were junior Akeya Harrison in the 100-meter dash (third, 13.24 seconds) and senior Rayana Shubert in the discus (third, 96 feet and 6 inches).
Host of Raiders secure top-three finishes
In the boys’ events, the Raiders had two first-place winners, five second-place marks and had eight athletes bring home a third-place medal.
Senior sprinter Jaylen McDonald and junior jumper Emerson Wall accounted for the Raiders’ first-place podiums.
McDonald won the open 100 with a time of 11.49 seconds, and was followed in third place by teammate Cason Douglas (11.65 seconds). In the triple jump, Wall had the longest launch of the day with a distance of 41 feet and 6 inches, a half an inch farther than Owen Duggan (Mallard Creek).
Taking second place in the 200-meter dash was Douglas (24.03 seconds), senior Trey Thomas earned second in the 110-meter hurdles (17.56 seconds) and senior Javares Stanback also finished runner-up in the high jump (5 feet and 6 inches).
The Raiders’ 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams also placed second overall, putting in times of 43.26 seconds and 1:32.96 seconds, respectively.
A host of Raiders took third place in their events, starting with Douglas in the 100-meter dash. Senior Kelay Lindsey earned third in two separate events — the 200-meter dash (24.20 seconds) and the discus (88 feet, 6 inches).
Freshman Dillon Veach was third in the 110 hurdles (21.25 seconds), Wall took third in the long jump (19 feet, 10 inches) and senior Chris Ellerbe cleared the bar at 5 feet, 4 inches in the high jump.
Closing out the day for Richmond was junior Urijah McDonald in the shot put (35 feet, 11.5 inches) and the boys’ 4×400-meter relay team (3:55.83).
Both Richmond teams will return to Sandhills Athletic Conference action on Wednesday with a road meet at Lee County High School.
