ROCKINGHAM — Similar to the boys’ program, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ track and field team started its new season on the right foot.
Beginning competition with two meets this week, the Lady Raiders and head coach Reggie Miller competed in a Sandhills Athletic Conference meet before taking on a tough field of competition at the Golden Dash Relays.
Lady Raiders win season opener
Starting the season Thursday at Lee County High School, the Lady Raiders competed against the host Lady Yellow Jackets and Scotland High School.
Racking up the points, Richmond took first place with 126 points. The Lady Raiders had three first-place finishes (30 points), five second-place finishes (40 points), six third-place results (36 points), six combined fourth and fifth-place marks (18 points) and two sixth-place finishes (2 points).
The three wins went to senior Amariah Gibson, junior Ka’mora Watkins and the 4x100-meter relay team.
Gibson won the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.06 seconds and Watkins added 10 points with her first-place height of 4’-0” in the high jump. The Lady Raider 4x100 lineup coasted to a win of 52.91 seconds.
Four Lady Raiders and one relay team finished second in their respective events — Watkins (triple jump, 30’-3”), junior Kymaria Wall (400-meter, 1:11.00), sophomore Emily Gonzalez (1600-meter, 7:18.11), senior Anayjah Dumas (100-hurdles, 18.06 seconds) and the 4x200-meter relay team (1:59.90).
Watkins (long jump) and Dumas (triple jump) each took third place with respective distances of 15’-6” and 27’-1.5”.
Other top-three finishers in the conference opener were freshman Amonie McNeil (100-meter, 13.56 seconds), freshman Duraysia McDonald (400-meter, 1:11.03), freshman Chrislynn Culley (100-hurdles, 20.18 seconds) and freshman Zarriahnna Ray (shot put, 28’-7.5”).
Richmond ties for 7th at Golden Dash Relays
Using the season opener as a chance to qualify for Saturday’s invitational meet, several Lady Raiders helped Richmond compete at the Golden Dash Relays in Fayetteville.
Placing seventh overall out of 18 teams, the Lady Raiders collected 39 points. That tied them with Durham School of the Arts.
The bulk of Richmond’s points came from hurdles (16 points) and sprints (8 points). The team notched 6 points in relays, 5 points in jumps and 4 points in throwing events.
Dumas secured 10 points with her first-place time of 18.06 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, while Culley added six points with a third-place time of 18.79 seconds.
Gibson and McNeil both earned points in the 200-meter dash, finishing third and seventh, respectively, in the finals heat. Gibson crossed the finish line in 27.30 seconds and McNeil raced to a time of 27.83 seconds.
Representing the Lady Raiders in the 4x200-meter relay race were Gibson, Culley, McNeil and Wall, who passed the baton in 1:49.21. That was good enough for third place and six more points.
In the triple jump, Watkins recorded four points with a fifth-place distance of 32’-6” and Tanaja Harrison added one point with a jump of 30’-1.5” (eighth place).
Richmond’s final points came in the shot put. Ray placed fifth for four points with a throw of 32’-0.25”.
The Lady Raiders will compete at Pinecrest High School Thursday in another SAC meet. Events will start at 4 p.m.
