Richmond High School

Devils Race Hard at Richmond Invitational Saturday morning brought the Richmond Red Devils cross country team to their home turf as the hosts of the Richmond Invitational at IU East. With a newly-revamped course and some tough competition, the teams were off to the races. The girls kicked off the meet in the first race of the day. Keena Barker finished in 20th place with a time of 23:39.92. Katy Peacock finished in 25th with a time of 24:18.74. Lauren Newton was hot on her heels in 26th with a 24:33.02 finish, a new personal record by nearly four-and-a-half minutes. Kemaira Farris-Craig took 32nd place with a time of 25:32.49, a PR by almost four minutes. Lena Allen finished in 36th with a time of 26:33.66. Amya James wrapped things up in 50th place with a time of 45:56.99. The girls team finished in fifth place overall, trailing East Central, Greenfield-Central, Southport, and Marion. The boys raced second, with Cale Newton setting a new personal record with his third-place finish of 17:25.61. Xavier Ogle was right behind in fifth place with a time of 17:36.93. Julian Bowden took 15th with a time of 18:59.65. Brady Newton and Austin Retter finished on each other’s heels in 24th and 25th. Brady set a new 37-second PR with a time of 19:50.44, and Retter shaved five seconds off his personal-best with a time of 20:05.29. Trevin Crosby made his cross country return in 27th place with a time of 20:21.44. Layton Smith finished 37th to wrap up the top seven varsity finishers with a time of 21:24.94. Aiden Andresen was the next to cross for Richmond, kicking off a run of red jerseys in 43rd with a time of 23:03.06. Jackson Gray (44th, 23:09.88), Titus Moore (45th, 23:29.70), and Cole Hileman (47th, 23:42.26) cruised in one after the other. The boys race wrapped up for Richmond with Aiden Merkamp in 56th with a time of 26:25.86. The boys finished in third place behind Marion and Southport. Full results can be found on Athletic.net (https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/243167/info). The team returns to their home course this Saturday for the Wayne County Invitational as the boys hope to defend their county title and the girls attempt to earn the trophy for themselves. High school races kick off at 9:30 AM. Written by: Hunter Lambright