ROCKINGHAM – To anyone following Richmond Senior High School varsity athletics over the last few years, one probably noticed that the numbers in the victory column in many sports have increased despite a steady decrease in the ages of student-athletes.
Many in Raider Nation can probably name off several of the super sophomores that were part of the Raider football team that went 11-2 in 2018.
If you follow softball, then you are even more aware of how much the younger players are impacting the game. Looking around the bases in the spring of 2017, you would have seen sophomores covering first base and shortstop while freshmen were responsible for managing second and third bases. That team made it all the way to the regional final.
As sports continue to evolve with a bigger emphasis on training, game knowledge, sportsmanship and integrity in the middle schools, things are looking up in Richmond County. In this series, each week, the Richmond Observer will take a look at a few “Fantastic Freshmen” who hope to make a big impact over the next few years.
Ellie Buck
Though it’s gaining some steam, soccer isn’t an incredibly popular sport in Richmond County. When you take a look at the middle school programs, there is probably an even bigger decline in interest. So, when the Lady Red Rams of Hamlet Middle School defeated rival Rockingham Middle School 3-1 in last spring’s conference title game, it may not have caught the attention of too many in the community.
However, one name managed to work its way from that game’s stat sheet into the headlines -- Ellie Buck. Buck, then an eighth grader, scored two goals in the first half to lead the Lady Red Rams to victory.
Now a ninth grader at Richmond Early College, she is already a multi-sport athlete for RSHS, but uses her experience as a member of the Hamlet soccer program as motivation to grow as an athlete.
“My fondest middle school sports moment is making the soccer team in seventh grade,” Buck shared. “It made me realize my love for the sport. It was the first sport I really enjoyed.”
Buck’s journey from joining the team as a seventh grader to her stellar performance in the conference title game a year later was not an easy one. She did not play very often, but still attended practices and had an incredible work ethic both on the field and in the classroom.
During that time, Buck was also a member of Hamlet’s volleyball team. All of her hard work paid off on the field at Rockingham Middle School that afternoon last May.
“My biggest accomplishment was last year at the championship soccer game,” Buck continued. “I hadn’t played that much the last few games and it really gave me the motivation to work harder. I had worked very hard to improve on my weaknesses during and after practice. When the game came around, (Coach Ashleigh) Buie put me in as a starter and I scored two goals and had one assist. It made me realize that hard work pays off and to keep striving to improve.”
Buck’s comments mirrors the statement made by her former coach last spring. “Ellie has scored three goals her whole life, and two of them were today,” said Buie following the title game victory. “She usually doesn’t start, but she has been working so hard that I decided to start her. She is the hardest working player on the team, always striving to improve, and today she let it shine.”
Currently Buck is a member of the Lady Raiders swim team. The school’s swimming program is only in its second year and it lost several members of its inaugural team to graduation. With team front runners Natalie Davis and Greyson Way set to don their caps and gowns in June, Buck and the other younger Lady Raiders will be critical to the program’s future.
Buck’s work ethic has shined in the pool just as it has on the field. In a sport where the clock is everything, she has managed to reduce her time each and every week. She cut nearly a second and-a-half from her 50-yard freestyle time between weeks three and four, which pushed her into the conference’s top 20 swimmers of that event (out of 70 participants).
Buck is also one of four swimmers on the program’s relay team that includes Davis, Way and junior Aerial Spooner. In the most recent meet of the season, fellow freshman Kassie Smith joined Buck on the relay team when Davis was unable to participate due to illness.
In the fall, Buck was one of six freshmen on Richmond’s junior varsity volleyball team that went 16-4. She plans to sweep the three scholastic sports seasons by trying out for the Lady Raider soccer team in the spring.
First and foremost, Buck succeeds in the classroom. “It’s been an adjustment being an Early College student and an athlete, but I’ve managed so far,” Buck explained. “My favorite subject is English because I’ve had really great English teachers over the years and I’ve always enjoyed reading.”
In addition to playing two sports and keeping her grades up, Buck is also a ninth-grade representative in the Student Government Association (SGA), as well as an active member of the National Beta Club.
“She is a very good student and is always determined to succeed,” shared Richmond Early College English teacher Kristi Wagers. “She is loved by all the teachers because she is so well-mannered, has such a great attitude and everyone likes her. On a side note, she always wears the cutest clothes.”
When it comes to clothes, there is only one thing that Buck wears that is definitely important to Raider athletics. According to Buck, she has lucky socks. Perhaps over the course of the next three and-a-half years, those socks will bring a little extra Raider Magic to Richmond Senior High School.
Buck and the other members of the Richmond Senior High School boys and girls swim teams will wrap up their regular season on Wednesday, Jan. 9, at St. Andrews University in Laurinburg. The meet begins at 5:30 p.m.
