LAURINBURG — The Richmond Senior High School boys’ cross country team became the second program to begin its shortened season on Wednesday.
Running at the James L. Morgan Recreation Complex, the Raiders raced to a second-place finish. Richmond, which collected 49 points, competed against Scotland High School and host Purnell Swett High School.
The meet was originally supposed to be held at Luther Britt Park in Lumberton, but was changed earlier this week.
Each team used its top-five runners to calculate its score, and Scotland took the season opener after all five of its participants finished first through fifth, respectively. The Fighting Scots finished with a team tally of 15 points, while Purnell Swett ended with 56 points.
Senior Carson Jordan was the first Raider to cross the finish line after the 3.2-mile race. His unofficial time was 20:24, and the four-year veteran admitted he knew he could have done better.
“Today was a bit underwhelming for me, but I think I did the best I could under the circumstances,” Jordan said, noting all the extra coronavirus protocols. “I wasn’t expecting to run on the edge of the woods, so I hit my runner’s wall quicker.
“After I got adjusted, I was able to power through that,” he added. “We’re used to running more inclines and today’s course was a lot flatter. As a team, I think we did fantastic, but we have more room for improvement.”
A mixture of seasoned runners and newcomers rounded out the top five for the Raiders. Senior Bryan Morales took ninth overall in his first career high school race with a mark of 21:40, while program veteran Will Thompson was right behind him in 10th place (22:33).
Sophomore Naaman Perakis and Kevin Dominguez finished 11th and 12th, respectively, with times of 23:10 and 23:12.
“It felt great to race today because we have done a lot of training up to this point,” Morales said. “That really helped me with my time and improve my strides. I definitely got a way better time than I thought, which is great.”
Also running for Richmond were Cain Hunsucker (23:39) and Kodie Simmons (24:09), who helped offset the bulk of Purnell Swett’s runners. Per the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s COVID-19 guidelines, teams are only allowed seven total runners.
Scotland’s Jackson Sellers led the boys’ race with a final time of 17:29. Purnell Swett’s top runner was Brayden Wilken, who took sixth place (19:53).
Richmond’s head coach Jessica Covington was impressed with her team’s performance and said she was glad her runners finally got a chance to compete after months of preparation.
“It was an awesome day,” Covington said. “I thought everyone had great times and they all showed improvement. A lot of our runners had better times from where they left off last year, so for that to be our starting point is great.”
The Raiders will return to the course next Tuesday, Nov. 24, at Lumberton. The meet will begin at 2:40 p.m.
