ROCKINGHAM — An underclassmen-heavy roster boasts a lot of speed and athletic ability for the Richmond Senior High School girls’ indoor track and field team this season.
With their first meet of the season approaching, the Lady Raiders have been fine-tuning their skill sets the past few weeks.
Following a tough workout regimen, Richmond’s runners, jumpers and throwers have been spending time in the weight room to build strength, as well as working on agility, core strength and speed endurance.
Leading the team again this season is veteran head coach Reggie Miller, who has 15 years of coaching experience.
He said there are four main goals this season — to stay injury free, improve each day in practice, win the Sandhills Athletic Conference championship and qualify as many Lady Raiders as possible for the state championship.
This year’s team has 24 student-athletes, many of whom are returners and compete in several events.
There are no seniors on the team, which means the Lady Raiders will rely on the leadership of nine juniors and nine sophomores.
Miller said the versatility of this year’s team is a strength, something that will allow the Lady Raiders added depth in several events. But he added that doing things the right way is important to avoid injury.
Six of the nine juniors have competed in previous seasons — MaKhia Burch, Anayjah Dumas, Amariah Gibson, Sharonda Henderson, Fallon Little and Tenaziah McNeil.
Four of those six are multi-event participants — Burch (hurdles, long jump, sprints), Dumas (hurdles, long jump, triple jump), Little (sprints, long jump, triple jump) and McNeil (sprints, relays). Henderson will compete as a high jumper and Gibson is a sprinter.
Junior newcomers are Quanna Bostic, who previously played basketball, Morgan Hines and Mariana Mendez.
Bostic is expected to compete in hurdles, high jump and long jump, while Mendez, who is an all-conference cross country runner, will run distance events and test her speed in sprints.
Seven sophomores are also set to participate in multiple events.
They are Anahi Gomez (distance), Zoie Hill (sprints), Brooklyn Jemison (sprints, relays), Taylor Newton (sprits, relays), Zykira Steele (sprints), Kymaria Wall (sprints, relays) and KaMora Watkins (sprints, jumps, relays).
Watkins, a multi-sport student-athlete, returns this winter after winning the SAC title in the high jump in indoor track as a freshman.
Single-event Lady Raiders include Ella Parker and Malani Wilson, both of whom will throw shot put.
Miller is also encouraged by the pre-season performances of many of his freshmen, which will have six student-athletes participate this season.
He’s already placed some of them into events. Dayana Franco will run distance, Riley McDonald will do sprints and jumps, Samya Patterson is set to do hurdles and jumps and Heaven Terry will run hurdles and sprints.
Other freshmen include Jakayla Bostick and Antanyia Nowell.
Indoor track, while mostly run on outdoor tracks, is reflected in the specific events the Lady Raiders will compete in. Echoing boys’ head coach John Rich, Miller pointed to indoor events helping prepare the team for spring track and field.
Winter sprints consist of the 55 and 300-meter dashes, both helpers for the 100 and 200-meter dashes for outdoor. Distance runs are 500 and 1000-meters, as well as the 1600 and 3200-meter runs.
Hurdles are minimized to 55-meters, while the relays (4×200, 4×400 and 4×800-meters) remain the same. All field events — high jump, long jump, triple jump and shot put — are also the same.
SCHEDULE: Below is the complete 2023-24 schedule for the Richmond girls’ indoor track and field team. The majority of meets will be held at Pinecrest or Union Pines high schools.
Dec. 2 Polar Bear Meet @ Pinecrest
Dec. 9 Polar Bear Meet @ Union Pines
Dec. 29 Polar Bear Meet @ Pinecrest
Jan. 6 Polar Bear Meet @ Union Pines
Jan. 16 SAC Championship @ JDL in Winston-Salem
Jan. 27 Polar Bear Meet @ Union Pines
Jan. 31-Feb. 3 Last Chance Meet @ Pinecrest (Date TBD)
Feb. 9 NCHSAA 4A State Championship @ JDL in Winston-Salem
The Richmond Observer will continue its award-winning coverage of the Richmond girls’ indoor track and field team this winter.
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