ROCKINGHAM — Making its way next into the lineup of The Richmond Observer’s feature series of Top Sports Stories from the 2024-25 school year is the cross country team.
As the only co-ed program during the fall sports season, the Raider and Lady Raider runners racked up dozens of miles through training and meets this season.
Prior to its home meet at Hinson Lake in Rockingham on Oct. 4, 2024, head coaches Ashleigh Buie and Morgan Tedder recognized the program’s five senior runners — Samantha Barnes, Jaxon Chavis, Mariana Mendez, Mascha Theijs and Alivia Webb.
In addition to celebrating their seniors, both Richmond teams completed the 3-mile race in second place, one of the better overall finishes as a program all season. Both teams kept close tabs on race winner and perennial powerhouse Pinecrest High School.
Mendez paced the Lady Raiders with a time of 22:50.3, which was fourth overall and contributed to the team’s 40 points.
Leading the Raiders was junior DJ Gainey, who finished second overall with a time of 20:43.7. That tied his career-best time and added two points to Richmond’s 49 points.
View full results and read the complete article from Oct. 4, 2024 below:
Cross country reams place 2nd at Hinson Lake on senior night
ROCKINGHAM — Running on their home course Tuesday, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ and girls’ cross country teams put up some of their best times this season.
The Raiders and Lady Raiders ran the second of their two 3-mile races at Hinson Lake while hosting Pinecrest and Scotland high schools.
Tuesday was also Richmond’s senior night, which recognized Samantha Barnes, Jaxon Chavis, James Coicou, Mariana Mendez, Mascha Theijs and Alivia Webb.
PHOTOS: Click here to see a photo gallery of Richmond’s senior night.
Both Richmond squads finished second overall behind Pinecrest. Scotland’s two teams didn’t have enough runners to qualify for points.
“We always enjoy getting to run on our home course because we’re familiar with it and are able to run more comfortably,” co-head coach Ashleigh Buie said. “Running against Pinecrest is always a tough task but we are really pleased with how our runners did.”
“Our focus in every race is to improve our times,” explained co-head coach Morgan Tedder. “Facing good competition is always a good motivator and several of our runners were able to set personal best or season-best times.”
Mendez paces Lady Raiders on senior night
Senior Mariana Mendez, who placed fourth overall, nears the halfway point of Tuesday’s race. (Kyle Pillar, sports editor)
The Lady Raiders recorded 40 points in Tuesday’s race behind Pinecrest (19 points). Mendez was the first Richmond runner to cross the finish line in fourth place, timing in at 22:50.3.
Barnes and Theijs were the next two Lady Raiders to finish, crossing the finish line in seventh and eighth place, respectively. Barnes’ time of 24:32.5 was a season-low time and just four seconds from her career fastest time.
Theijs, a foreign exchange student from Germany, posted her fastest time in her tenure at Richmond. She clocked in at 26:13.8, which was 3.2 seconds faster than her season-opening run at Union Pines High School.
Richmond’s other two point earners were Webb (29:02.9, 15th place) and sophomore Madyson Cloninger (30:43.3, 18th place). That mark by Cloninger was a new career-best, which was 1:19 faster than her previous best from last season.
The Lady Raiders’ final two runners, junior Jada Scott (19th) and sophomore Makensey Puckett (22nd), recorded times of 31:52.1 and 32:20.7, respectively.
Gainey takes second overall for Raiders
The Raiders weren’t far off their female teammates’ point total, as they finished with 49 points. Pinecrest won the match with 20 points.
Junior dual-sport fall student-athlete DJ Gainey proved to be the pacesetter for Richmond, who dashed to a second-place finish behind Kaden Lindsey (Pinecrest).
Gainey hustled in for a final time of 20:43.7, which tied the fastest race time of his career. He was just 20.1 seconds behind Lindsey.
Freshman Victor Nguyen (sixth place) and junior Jake Richardson (10th place) also picked up points for the Raiders. Nguyen finished in 22:10.6, while Richardson followed in 23:48.9.
The final Raider two Richmond runners to contribute to the team score were freshman Elliot Samuels (13th place) and junior Luke Gilliam (20th place).
Samules’ new personal best time was 24:04.3, more than 90 seconds faster than his first run of the fall, and Gilliam ran the race in 30:23.3.
Chavis closed his final home race with a time of 36:14.0 (21st place), which was his best time this season.
