SOUTHERN PINES — The 3.2-mile course at the Elks Lodge, the home cross country course for Pinecrest High School, proved to be a challenge for Richmond’s runners on Tuesday.
Rolling with steady hills, the course posed as a significant challenge and added time to many of the Raider and Lady Raider’s times. It was the first time this season Richmond Senior High School’s cross country teams traversed the Patriots’ home turf.
The Sandhills Athletic Conference meet was the regular-season finale and was a tune up for next week’s SAC championship run. Runners from all eight SAC schools participated, which was also the first time that has happened this season.
The Lady Raiders finished with 108 points, while the Raiders tallied 177 points. Scores were determined using the top five runners from each team.
Pinecrest would win both the boys’ and girls’ races, seeing the girls score 16 points and the boys clock in with 17 points. The top five Lady Patriots would finish first, second, third, fourth and seventh, while the top five Patriots crossed the finish line in first, second, third, fifth and sixth, respectively.
Junior Carson Jordan, who has been the No. 1 Raider all season, had the best overall finish for any Richmond runner. His time of 20:00.00 was good enough to crack the No. 15 spot, edging Jack Britt High School’s Seth Marschall by six seconds. During last week’s meet, Jordan had posted a season-best time of 18:47.
On the Lady Raiders’ side, senior Airel Brown kept pace with her No. 1 spot on the team with a 16th-place finish and a final time of 24:50.90. Next to cross the finish line was sophomore and Official Richmond County Female Athlete of the Week Maylyn Wallace, whose time of 25:17.90 was just 22 seconds behind Brown.
The Raiders wouldn’t see their second runner and third runners end their 5K race until the 38th and 39th spots, respectively. Coming in were juniors Joshua Wallace (22:49.00) and Will Thompson (23:24.00).
Rounding out the top five for head coach Reggie Miller were freshmen Ethan McDonald (41st, 25:03.00) and Kodie Simmons (44th, 25:54.00). Senior Devon Tillman ended his race in 46th place with a time of 27:14.00.
Lady Raider head coach Jessica Covington would see a pair of freshmen in Sheccid Heaton and Rylie Bohman come in back-to-back for 22nd and 23rd place. Heaton recorded a time of 26:38.00, while Bohman was just two seconds behind her (26:40.00). Senior Abby Calhoun closed the top five runners with a time of 27:40.10 in 30th place.
Both teams will spend the week preparing to better their times for the SAC championship, which will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at the Carolina Horse Park in Raeford. Richmond ran there in the Patriot Derby Invitational on Sept. 28.
