Lady Raiders finish 5th overall in fourth meet

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RAEFORD — Dealing with a limited roster Wednesday, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ swimming team recorded a season-low score.

Competing in their fourth Sandhills Athletic Conference meet of the season at the Leach Aquatic Center, the Lady Raiders finished fifth out of seven teams with 46 points.

In addition to not having all of its swimmers, Richmond also faced two disqualifications and missed participating in a couple of events.

Although the team took a hit to its normal place in the standings, seniors Samantha Barnes and Jamison Hubbard, along with sophomore Natalie Richardson, all had season-best times in one event.

“Tonight just wasn’t our night as a team,” head coach Ashleigh Buie said. “We were down a couple of swimmers and we weren’t able to capitalize in some events that we normally do.

“It was a strong night for several of the girls, including Samantha, Jamison and Natalie,” she added. “Our goal is to always get better from meet to meet and there were areas we did that tonight.”

Barnes and Hubbard each set their fastest time in the 50-yard freestyle race. Hubbard’s time of 32.60 seconds placed her seventh overall in the final heat, earning the team seven points.

Swimming her way to a ninth-place finish, Barnes clocked in at 34.04 seconds for four points. Both swimmers were about a second faster than their previous best time.

As the lone Lady Raider to swim the 200-yard freestyle, Richardson placed sixth in the event with a time of 3:12.66. Taking more than a dozen seconds off her time, Richardson added nine points to the sheet.

The remainder of Richmond’s points were the result of a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay race. It was the team’s best placement in the event this season and its second-fastest time.

As a unit, Barnes, sophomore Lillian Hill, senior Alivia Webb and Hubbard completed the race in 2:21.17, just 0.59 seconds off the Lady Raiders’ fastest time this winter.

Pinecrest High School won the meet with 280 points, followed by Union Pines (253), Scotland (113) and Hoke County (62) high schools. Finishing behind Richmond were Lee County (29) and Southern Lee (14) high schools.

The Lady Raiders will swim in their final regular season meet next Wednesday. The meet will be held at the Leach Aquatic Center and start at 6 p.m.

PHOTOS: Click here to view photos from Wednesday's SAC swim meet.

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