SOUTHERN PINES — The Richmond boys and girls track and field teams finished second — both behind host Pinecrest and in front of Seventy-First and Lumberton — at the second Sandhills Athletic Conference meet on Thursday.
Head boys coach Chris Campolieta watched his squad rack up 67.25 points behind leading performances in the high jump, shot put, 100- and 400-meter dashes and the 4x1m relay. Head girls coach Reggie Miller witnessed the Lady Raiders score 95 points thanks to winning efforts in the long jump, high jump, 100m hurdles and the 4×1 relay.
Preston Coker was at the forefront of the boys team’s second outing. The senior was the one responsible for the victories in the 100m dash (11.15 seconds) and the 400m dash (50.13s) and was an important part of the 4×1 win (43.27s).
Xavier Pettigrew, senior, tied for first with Seventy-First’s Jah-Kahri McClain in the boys high jump (5 feet, 10 inches). Jahmeek Harden, sophomore, bested his competition in the shot put with a 40-foot, 6-inch toss.
For the Lady Raiders, it was Jakerra Covington and Taliah Wall who placed first individually.
Covington, a sophomore, topped the high jump (5 ft, 2 in) while Wall, a senior, won the 100m hurdles (17.28s). They would end up sharing first place — bringing in five points each — in the long jump (15 ft, 6 in) event.
Covington was also the second leg in the 4×1, which the Richmond girls won with a time of 50.63.
The other three legs were Monasia Kearns (first), Maddisyn Diggs (third) and Allexis Swiney (anchor).
The Lady Raiders’ A team in the 4×2 had a 30-yard advantage heading into the third exchange and was on pace to clock an impressive time of 1:44, Miller said, but ended up dropping the baton and had to settle for third place.
Both Richmond’s boys and girls recorded a large number of runners-up and top-five finishes.
Zachariah Hamilton finished second in the boys 800m run, Antron Miller came in at No. 2 in the long jump, Alex Quick was right behind Pettigrew and McClain in the high jump and the Raiders’ B team in the boys 4×1 relay placed second.
Not too far behind Coker in the 100m was Malik Stanback — recently recovered from an ACL injury — in third place. Traveon Short and Joerail White finished third in the long jump and discus throw, respectively.
Javon Little (4th in shot put), Dalton Stroman (4th in 200m dash), Derrick Everette (4th in discus), Daryl Brown (5th in discus), Caleb Hood (5th in long jump), Xavion Lindsey (5th in 300m hurdles) and Trevor Moss (5th in 400m) were a plethora of other names for the Richmond boys to put forth solid efforts in Southern Pines.
On the girls side, there were seven individuals who came in second place.
Ariel Brown was close to winning the 1600m run, Covington placed second in the 100m dash, Sierra Ramsay was runner up in the 400m dash, Rayana Shubert grabbed the No. 2 spot in the discus, Jardai Tillman finished second in the shot put, and both Wall and Kibreanna Stewart tied for second in the high jump. The Richmond girls 4×8 relay placed second as well.
The Lady Raiders had 10 other individuals finish either third, fourth or fifth in nine other events.
Both Richmond teams will be back in action next Thursday, Mar. 28, when they host Jack Britt, Lumberton and Purnell Swett for the season’s third conference meet.