LAURINBURG — Swimmers from the eight Sandhills Athletic Conference schools met on the campus of St. Andrews University Wednesday for the first co-ed swimming meet of the 2018-19 season.
Packed into the Knights’ swimming complex, the Richmond Senior High School boys and girls swim teams, coached by Mike Way, started their second season in program history a little slower than the head coach anticipated. The Raiders finished fifth out eight teams with 106 points, while the Lady Raiders slipped to seventh place with 74 points after a late-meet disqualification.
Pinecrest and Jack Britt high schools, two programs that have several experienced swimmers and dominated the conference standings last season, finished first and second, respectively, in both the boys and girls meets. The Patriots beat the Buccaneers 280-259, while the Lady Patriots edged the Lady Buccaneers by one point, 310-309.
Way didn’t hesitate to say that Pinecrest and Jack Britt compete in a league of their own, while Richmond is content with battling for the No. 3 spot in the conference, or the top spot among the six remaining schools.
“We didn’t finish where we wanted to do, but the kids competed hard,” Way said following the season opener. “For most of them, this was the first time they’ve been in a swim meet, and it’s a little overwhelming. But they went in and did things right which is a good step.
“I thought we did a little better than I anticipated, but at the same time, we want to do better,” he continued. “We had higher finishes (Wednesday) than we did all of last last year, and I hope to see that trickle down deeper into the teams.”
Several Richmond swimmers won their individual heats, but it was the returners from a year ago that impressed. For the Lady Raiders, it was the tandem of seniors Greyson Way and Natalie Davis who made a splash in the 50-yard freestyle event. Way, the daughter of the head coach, came in second overall out of 36 qualified swimmers with a time of 31.99 seconds, about a second and a half behind Pinecrest’s Amy Cooper. Davis was on the heels of her teammate, as she finished third overall with a time of 32.28 seconds.
The 50-yard freestyle was also the Lady Raiders’ strongest event, as eight different swimmers placed in the top 22 spots. Haleigh Poston finished seventh overall (35.44), and Caitlyn McGuire rounded out the top 10 with a time of 36.06. The other four Lady Raiders were Aerial Spooner (15th, 37.19), Lauren Humman (18th, 38.17), Kelsey Murray (19th, 38.23) and Hailey Wheeler (22nd, 39.83).
For the boys’ team, of the six swimmers, only Dakota Locklear has swam competitively before. He was the only Raider to finish in the top 10 in the boys 50-yard freestyle, coming in third place with a time of 28.00 seconds. Senior Nolan Allen was the second Richmond swimmer to finish the event, as his time of 33.83 seconds was good enough for 18th place.
Davis and Way also finished in the top 10 of the girls 100-yard freestyle, which is comprised of making two full laps in the pool. Davis took third overall with a time of 1:14.90, while Way finished seventh (1:18.06). In the same event, Locklear placed fourth overall in the boys competition, hitting the wall with a final time of 1:04.78.
One area that Richmond is working on improving is its ability to compete in more events once swimmers gain more experience. Way’s teams bypassed several events Wednesday, keeping opportunities to score more points off the board. But Way was pleased with the effort of all of his swimmers, especially the newcomers.
“The boys don’t have enough swimmers to compete in all events, but all six have come a long way,” Way said. “Everyone swam competitively, and we had some good times. Part of what we’re after is improvement — last year we were almost all juniors and seniors, now we have more kids willing to come out and participate.
“I was pleased with our freshmen Ellie Buck and Kassie Smith, as well as sophomore Thomas Barbee,” he added. “They did good in their first meet, and they give us a chance in the future. I thought the whole team’s effort was a bright spot, and they talked about how much they enjoyed the meet on the bus ride back.”
Both or Richmond’s teams were disqualified in the 200-yard free relay due to early take-offs from the block. Way noted that DQ had “cost us some points,” and would have made a difference because “there’s not a whole lot of separation from fourth and seventh place.”
With the first of four regular season meets in the books, Way and the Richmond teams will head back to the practice pool looking to improve.
“The way I explained it to the team was is the chicken and the egg — I’m not sure what comes first,” Way concluded. “We have to have swim endurance to be competitive in races, but to have endurance you need swimming technique. It’s a balancing act of swimming fast and being technically correct. It’s a work in progress, and the thing we need now is stamina in the pool.”
The next meet will be Wednesday, Dec. 5, at St. Andrews, beginning at 6:15 p.m.
