RAEFORD — The Richmond Senior High School boys’ swimming team opened its season last Thursday at the James A. Leach Aquatic Center.
Fielding a smaller roster this season, the Raiders had just five swimmers in action across five events.
As a team, Richmond collected 84 points and finished sixth out of the six qualifying teams in the Mid-South Conference meet.
Leading the meet was Pinecrest High School with 387 points, followed by host Pine Forest (346 points), Hoke County (244 points), Jack Britt (195 points) and Overhills (191) high schools.
The bulk of the Raiders’ points came in the 200-yard freestyle relay (28 points), along with senior Cole Thrower’s 27 individual points in two events.
Also adding individual points were seniors DJ Gainey (17 points) and Luke Gilliam (12 points).
In the 200-yard relay, Richmond placed sixth overall with a time of 2:25.84. Gainey swam the first leg, followed by senior Austin Rainwater, Gilliam and Thrower in the anchor spot.
Thrower set a new single-meet career-high with his 27 points. His best finish of the meet was fourth place in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:04.84, which collected 15 points.
Also swimming in the 50-yard freestyle, Thrower was the team’s fastest swimmer in the event. He clocked in at 27.85 seconds, putting him seventh overall (12 points).
Richmond’s other qualifying swimmer in the open 50-yard race was Gainey, who recorded five points with a 12th-place finish (36.10 seconds).
As the Raiders’ only competitor in the 200-yard freestyle, Gainey added his final 12 points with a time of 3:41.24, placing him seventh in the field.
Capping the team’s individual points effort was Gilliam in the 100-yard backstroke. He earned all of his 12 points with a seventh-place time of 1:59.31.
Rainwater and freshman Zion Barnes each swam exhibition heats of the 50-yard freestyle, finishing with respective times of 43.86 seconds and 1:08.94.
Richmond’s next MSC meet will be Dec. 11 at the Leach Aquatic Center. Events will start at 6 p.m.
The Richmond Observer will publish an article on the Lady Raider swim team’s results soon.
