WADESBORO — Putting together a complete team effort Saturday, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ track and field team easily distanced itself from its opponents.
Back in action for the second time this season, the Lady Raiders were all business at the 74 Expressway Relays hosted by Anson High School.
Thanks to winning 11 events, Richmond fueled itself to the meet victory with 116.25 points.
Also competing were second-place Chesterfield (64.5 points), third-place Anson (51 points) and fourth-place Albemarle (13 points) high schools.
Adding to their double-digit event victories, the Lady Raiders placed second overall four times, had four third-place finishes and tacked on two fourth-place results.
Similar to the Raider track and field team, the Lady Raiders did a lot of damage in the relay races. Of the six relay events, Richmond won five of them and placed third in the other.
The Lady Raiders won the 4x100-meter relay (52.29 seconds), the 4x200-meter relay (1:49.03), the 4x400-meter relay (4:41.70), the 4x800-meter relay (11:53.29), and the 800 sprint medley (2:04.52). In the 4x101 relay, Richmond was third with a time of 1:12.56.
Like she did for much of last season, as well as during this winter’s indoor track and field season, senior Ka’mora Watkins dominated her events and picked up a trio of wins.
In two field events, Watkins finished first – the high jump (4 feet, 4 inches) and the long jump (16 feet, 4.5 inches). Running in the 100-meter hurdles, Watkins led the field with a time of 18.06 seconds.
Three other Lady Raiders earned wins in three different field events – junior Tanaja Harrison in the triple jump (33 feet, 9 inches), senior Emma Williams in the discus (74 feet, 2 inches) and sophomore Zarriahnna Ray in the shot put (33 feet, 5 inches).
Harrison was one of the four Lady Raiders to finish an event as the runner-up. She added points with a second-place time of 20.14 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.
Senior Jasiah Gilchrist was second in the 100-meter dash (12.79 seconds). Taking second in the 1600-meter run was junior Emely Valencia (6:20.65), and freshman Shamia Williams was just behind Watkins in the long jump (16 feet, 3 inches).
Shamia Williams, Emma Williams and Valencia each contributed one third-place result to the team’s point total.
In the 100-meter dash, Shamia Williams clocked in at 13.19 seconds. Valencia completed the 800-meter run in 2:50.24 and Emma Williams landed third in the shot put with her longest throw of 25 feet, 2 inches.
Closing out the Lady Raiders’ top-four finishes were junior Armoni Walden (triple jump, 29 feet, 2 inches) and freshman Rihanna Shields (discus, 66 feet, 0 inches).
The Lady Raiders will travel to Pinecrest High School Wednesday for their first Mid-South Conference meet of the season. Also competing will be Pine Forest High School. Events will start at 4:30 p.m.
