SOUTHERN PINES — The Richmond Senior High School boys’ and girls’ cross country teams competed in their first meet of the season Wednesday.
Running a 3-mile race at Pinecrest High School, the Raiders and Lady Raiders also ran against fellow Mid-South Conference opponent Pine Forest High School.
Joining the competition were non-conference teams from Father Vincent Capodanno High School and the Sandhills Highlanders Homeschool Athletic Club.
With the majority of both of Richmond’s teams sporting new runners this season, many of whom are new to the sport, the Raiders and Lady Raiders both finished fifth out of the five qualifying teams.
Finishing with 108 points were the Lady Raiders, while the Raiders accumulated a score of 142 points.
Winning the meets were the Pinecrest boys (18 points) and the Pinecrest girls (20 points).
Newcomers lead Lady Raiders
The Lady Raiders had eight runners compete in the meet, with the top five finishers combining for the 108 points.
Three newcomers — senior Melanie Garcia, junior Emely Valencia and sophomore Jazlyn Garcia — were the top three runners for the Lady Raiders.
Running in her first career meet, Melanie Garcia led the team with the fastest time of 26:17.82, which put her 16th overall.
Valencia and Jazlyn Garcia were 18th and 19th, respectively. Crossing the finish line in 26:32.47 was Valencia, followed by Jazlyn Garcia’s time of 26:43.28.
Two other first-year runners rounded out the top five and the scoring for Richmond. Junior Janet Morales finished in 29:22.90 (27th place) and sophomore Adryan Southall clocked in at 29:33.60 (28th place).
Other runners in the race for the Lady Raiders were sophomore Karen Zamora (29:42.05), senior Jada Scott (30:07.93) and junior Madyson Cloninger (29:29.89).
Scott, a four-year runner, set a new personal record time Wednesday, taking 46 seconds off her previous best time.
Returners pace Raiders
In a similar situation, five of the Raiders’ eight runners this season are newcomers to the team.
Two of the returning runners — senior Jake Richardson and sophomore Elliot Samuel — were the Raiders fastest during the meet to help the team to its score of 142 points.
Richardson led the way with a time of 22:45.67, good enough for 24th overall. Samuel set a new personal record time in the race, clocking in at 23:00.98 (25th place), nearly a full 65 seconds faster than his best time as a freshman.
The next three runners to cross the finish line for Richmond to round out the scoresheet were three of the team’s newest members. Senior Elijah Shaw was 30th in the field of 35 qualifying runners with a time of 27:37.80.
Freshman Angel Vega and sophomore Jaron Gainey were the final two Raiders to record points. Vega was 31st in the field (28:08.05) and Gainey ended his race in 29:10.26 (32nd place).
The Raiders’ other three runners were newcomer sophomore Nolan Dawkins (29:42.71), senior returner Luke Gilliam (30:14.21) and freshman Zion Barnes (36:01.98).
Richmond’s cross country teams will host a home non-conference meet Thursday at Hinson Lake. Boys’ and girls’ teams will both run at 4 p.m.
