LAURINBURG — Another week in the pool paid dividends for the Richmond Senior High School boys’ and girls’ swimming teams on Wednesday.
Splashing into the water at O’Herron Pool on the campus of St. Andrews University, the Raiders and Lady Raiders earned their best respective finishes of the season in their second Sandhills Athletic Conference meet.
Head coach Mike Way’s Raiders finished tied for third place with Hoke County High School, seeing both teams collect 91 points. The Lady Raiders swam their way to a fourth-place finish behind a 98-point effort.
For the second week in a row, Pinecrest High School’s boys’ and girls’ teams placed first, notching 296 and 265 points, respectively.
“We have another week of practice in the pool under our belts and that showed tonight,” Way explained. “Each week we are trying to stay competitive and see our swimmers improve their finishes. There was a lot of that tonight, especially in the relay races.”
The best finish by either team was the boys’ 200-yard freestyle relay team comprised of Eric Singleton, Colin Wheeler, Jonathan Alecia and Aiden Liston. The foursome swam to a finish of 2:00.17, good enough for second place and earned the Raiders 26 points.
Several other relay teams would net big points for the Raiders and Lady Raiders. In the evening’s second event, the boys’ 200-yard medley relay team took third place, clocking in at 2:23.27 for 24 points.
Participating in that event were Singleton (backstroke), Thomas Barbee (breaststroke), Dakota Locklear (butterfly) and Robbie Baxley (freestyle).
The Lady Raiders’ 200-yard freestyle relay team also grabbed third place with a time of 2:25.36 and 24 more points. Haleigh Poston started the first leg, and was followed by Kayla Hawkins, Ellie Buck and anchored by Maylyn Wallace.
Rounding out the relay events, which provide teams with the chance to earn the biggest block of points, was the Lady Raiders’ 400-yard freestyle. Participating in the race for the first time this season, Hawkins, Poston, Ariel Spooner and Wallace finished the marathon in 6:03.36 (fourth place, 22 points).
In individual events, several Richmond swimmers also impressed. Locklear, a senior, paced the Raiders in the 50-yard freestyle, taking third overall (26.78 seconds, 12 points). Baxley, also a senior, was right behind him in sixth place with a time of 29.67 seconds (9 points).
Just prior to the boys’ race, Poston and Wallace would combine for 19 points in the girls’ 50-yard freestyle. Poston notched fifth place (34.05 seconds, 10 points) and Wallace tapped the end wall in sixth place (34.26 seconds, 9 points).
Sophomore Kassie Smith, who competed in an exhibition heat, recorded her fastest time in the event this season with a mark of 37.99 seconds.
The 100-yard freestyle also provided Richmond’s teams with substantial points, including 9 points from Baxley, who took sixth overall with a time of 1:12.25. Freshman Wil Mabe, although swimming an exhibition heat, impressed with a time of 1:23.14.
Wallace and Poston traded places in the longer of the two freestyle races, seeing Wallace, a sophomore, finish seventh (1:24.89, 7 points). Poston, a senior, took eighth place with a finish of 1:27.09 (5 points).
Sophomores Kenleigh Frye, Buck and O’cean Bennett would take the top three spots in the 100-yard freestyle exhibition standings. They finished with times of 1:26.58, 1:28.08 and 1:34.26, respectively.
To close out Richmond’s points in individual events, Buck (1:45.63) and Barbee (1:37.71) both took fourth overall in the 100-yard breaststroke. Spooner, Richmond’s lone female 100-yard backstroker, earned sixth place and 10 points with a time of 1:46.50.
All SAC teams will take a break over the holiday and return to the pool for another regular season meet on Wednesday, Jan. 8.
