LAURINBURG — Two weeks since the Richmond Senior High School boys’ track and field team competed in its first, and perhaps only, meet of the season, the final results are in.
On Thursday, March 12, on the same afternoon the North Carolina High School Athletic Association first announced all sports would be suspended due to the coronavirus, the Raiders stormed their way to a first-place finish.
Competing at Sandhills Athletic Conference rival Scotland High School, the Raiders earned 242.5 points to earn the meet victory. Scotland took second in the three-team event with 148.5 points, while Seventy-First High School finished third with 63 points.
Purnell Swett High School was originally slated to participate, too, but Robeson County Schools canceled all extracurricular activities the day before the meet.
The Raiders and third-year head coach Chris Campolieta dominated in the jumping (61 points), sprinting (60 points) and throwing (50.5 points) events. As a team, Richmond collected seven first-place event finishes.
Richmond swept the high jump with junior Dalton Stroman and senior Antron Miller finishing first and second, both with a height of 5 feet, 6 inches. Sophomore Jaleak Gates took third after clearing the bar at 5 feet, 2 inches.
Baldwin would place in all three jumping events, earning second in the triple jump (42 feet, 5 inches) and third in the long jump (21 feet, 1 inch). Stroman impressed in the triple jump with another first-place win, leaping 43 feet, 1 inch.
The Raiders also swept the competition in the 100-meter dash, as junior Tremel Jones paced the field with a finish of 10.68 seconds. Fellow junior Caleb Hood and Gates came in second and third respectively, posting a time of 11.13 seconds each.
Miller would add two more second-place finishes to Richmond’s tally, earning points in the 110-meter hurdles (17.54 seconds) and the 300-meter hurdles (42.56 seconds).
Other first-place wins for the Raiders included junior Trevor Moss in the 400-meter dash (54.12 seconds), senior Joey Nicholson in the 800-meter dash (2:21) and senior Joerail White in the discus throw (124 feet, 2 inches).
The 4x100-meter relay squad also took first of the three teams competing, finishing the circuit in 44.04 seconds.
Nicholson earned second in the 1600-meter run (5:18), while junior teammate Carson Jordan also earned points in the distance events. Jordan was just behind the pace in the 800-meter dash, taking second with a time of 2:22, and was third in the mile (5:19).
Also putting together notable finishes for the Raiders were: Jones in the 200-meter dash (second, 22.93 seconds), Jaron Coleman in the open 200 (third, 23.10 seconds), Derrick Everette in the discus (third, 111 feet, 2 inches) and Bryan Stanback in the 110-meter hurdles (third, 18.84 seconds).
All North Carolina high school sports are suspended indefinitely by the NCHSAA.
