SOUTHERN PINES — In its final regular-season meet, the Richmond Senior High School cross country program faced a large and difficult field on Tuesday.
Running the 3.2-mile race at Pinecrest High School, the Raiders and Lady Raiders faced the host teams along with Hoke County High School, both of which have proven to be competitive against Richmond this season.
The Lady Raiders had the best outing for Richmond, taking second as a team with 56 points. Pinecrest was first (19 points) and Hoke County took third (65 points).
The Raiders notched a third-place finish with 83 points behind winner Pinecrest (21 points) and Hoke County (39 points).
“These are two teams we’ve run against a couple of times this season,” co-head coach Ashleigh Buie said. “We knew going into the race that both of them were going to be tough opponents and we expected there to be a lot of runners on the course.
“Even though we didn’t get the results we wanted, we’re still really proud of all of our kids’ efforts. It was a tough course and the kids really stuck it out and battled to the finish line. It was a good test to prepare us for the conference championship meet.”
Lady Raiders take second
Nine total runners competed for the Lady Raiders on Tuesday, with three setting new personal records and another posting her fastest time this season.
Junior Marianna Mendez, who won last week’s meet at Hinson Lake, was eighth overall with a time of 23:23.98. Leading the Lady Raiders as she has all season, Mendez was the only top-20 finisher for Richmnd and secured the team eight points.
Junior Alivia Webb was next to cross the finish line for Richmond, coasting in at 25:16.15. She was 23rd overall and added 10 points and jumped several spots in the team’s lineup.
Sophomore Samantha Barnes (26:45.05) and junior Ella Munn (26:46.73) were 32nd and 33rd overall, respectively. The pair combined for 23 points.
Senior Kaleigh Cloninger, who ran her fastest time this fall, clocked in at 27:26.54. That was 39th overall and notched Richmond’s final 15 points.
Also racing for the Lady Raiders were junior Quanna Bostic (29:15.49, PR), junior Nelly Cadena (30:59.29), freshman Makensey Puckett (31:19.82, PR) and senior Ashley Canas (33:25.28, PR).
Raiders finish third overall
Across the board at Pinecrest, Richmond’s times were up for the eight Raiders who competed.
Senior Zaviar Lowry once again paced the team, following up his second-place run at Hinson Lake a week ago with an 18th-place mark at Pinecrest. He recorded 13 points with a time of 20:17.98.
Sophomore Cameron Gladden added 16 points with a 41st place finish of 22:58.29.
Sophomore Angel Cristobal (24:33.72) and senior Toby McInnis (25:06.50) crossed the finish line back-to-back in 50th and 51st place. The two combined for 35 points.
Rounding out the Raiders’ scoring was sophomore Jake Richardson in 60th place with 19 points. He had a time of 26:27.99.
Other runners for Richmond included senior Cain Hunsucker (27:37.43), sophomore Luke Gilliam (28:46.96) and junior Jaxon Chavis (29:29.00).
The Raiders and Lady Raiders will prepare for the Sandhills Athletic Conference championship meet, which will be held next week.
