RAEFORD — By adding new events and a couple additional swimmers to its lineup, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ swimming team was able to capitalize Thursday during its second meet of the season.
Like the boys’ swim team, the Lady Raiders put together a strong performance to record a season-best performance in team scoring.
Swimming against the five other Mid-South Conference teams in their first meet since before Thanksgiving, the Lady Raiders finished tied for fourth place with 187 points. Also scoring the same amount of points was Jack Britt High School.
Moving up a spot in the standings and adding 58 more points than the last time out, Richmond had several swimmers record personal best times in a variety of events.
Part of the boost in points was the result of adding two more relay races to their regimen, as well as seven Lady Raiders recording individual points.
Five swimmers recorded double-digit points — junior Natalie Richardson (24 points), sophomore Kaydence Sellers (21 points), senior Jada Scott (19 points), senior Presley Dawkins (12 points) and junior Lillian Hill (11 points).
For Sellers, Scott and Hill, those totals were new single-match personal records. Richardson was one point off her previous best score.
“This was a really good meet for us,” head coach Lauren Brewer said. “The girls have been working hard at practice to condition to be able to add in more events, and adding the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard relay gave us a big boost in points, as well as confidence.
“I was so proud to see so many girls also record individual points,” she added. “A lot of the girls are returners and that helps. And even some of the newcomers have really shown a lot of promise and growth between our first two meets. The goal is to get better each week and we did that tonight.”
Three relay races combined for 88 points for the team — the 200-yard medley relay, the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Of the three, Richmond’s best finish was third place in the 200-yard freestyle. Combining for a season-best time of 2:27.98 (2.13 seconds faster) were Richardson, Hill, Scott and Dawkins in the anchor.
Swimming the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay for the first time this season, the Lady Raiders placed fifth (30 points) and sixth (26 points) in them, respectively.
Competing in the medley were Richardson (backstroke), Scott (breaststroke), Hill (butterfly) and Dawkins (freestyle). The four combined for a time of 2:55.39.
Freshmen Jasey Braddock and Autumn Cooper, along with sophomore Caroline Robbins and Sellers, swam the 400-yard freestyle in 7:22.69.
Richardson collected her team-high 24 points in two events — the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke. She was sixth overall and earned 13 points with a season-best time of 1:46.02 in the backstroke, and added 11 points with a PR time of 3:11.27 in the open 200 (eighth place).
Making her debut, Sellers scored her 21 points in the 50-yard freestyle (43.13 seconds) and the 100 backstroke (1:46.05). She was seventh in the backstroke (12 points) and ninth overall in the 50-yard race (9 points).
In addition to her part in two of the three relays, Scott swam in two individual events and had PRs in both en route to her 19 points. Her best finish was seventh in the 100-yard freestyle (1:31.00, 12 points), followed by a 10th-place time of 2:06.18 in the 100-yard breaststroke (7 points).
Dawkins (12 points) and Hill (11 points), two others to swim two relays, swam in one individual event to score her respective points.
In the 200-yard freestyle, Dawkins set a PR time of 3:03.46 for seventh place and 12 points. Hill swam the open 100 race in 1:32.30 for eighth overall and her 11 points.
Chipping in six points apiece with 11th-place times in the open 50 and the 100-yard breaststroke were sophomore Abby Hinson and Cooper, respectively. Hinson’s time was 56.39 seconds and Cooper ended her race in 2:15.84.
Several Richmond swimmers competed in exhibition heats. Those swimmers included: Robbins (44.39 seconds) and sophomore Bayden Bendell (49.41 seconds) in the open 50; Braddock (1:25.70) and sophomore Annabelle Millen (1:34.55) in the 100-yard freestyle; and sophomore Hayden Chappell (2:03.30) in the 100 backstroke.
An exhibition team of freshman Alaya Rankin, Hinson, Sellers and Braddock swam the 200-yard freestyle in 2:55.82. Richmond’s other 200 medley relay team was disqualified for an early dismount.
The Lady Raiders will be back in action following the new year on Jan. 8 for another MSC meet.
