PEMBROKE — The Lumberton girls 4×100 relay team hadn’t finished first in a race all season entering the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 4A Mideast Regional on Friday at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

They picked a good time for their first victory.

The Pirates team of Aniya Merritt, Chadon Foreman, Kyleigh Pollock and La’Kayia Hunt won their heat and finished fourth overall in the regional, advancing to the state championship meet next Friday in Greensboro.

“Exhilarating,” Foreman said. “Especially from all this hard work, and switching relay teams and people around, it feels good that we finally got our dream team.”

The Pirates won the heat in 50.63 seconds, edging out Hillside to win the heat. In the other heat, Athens Drive (48.67) Panther Creek (49.56) and Richmond (50.25) posted faster times, but Lumberton got the final transfer spot to the state meet.

“You’ve got one senior, a freshman and two sophomores on a relay team making states, and that’s a good moment,” Pirates girls track coach Adam Deese said. “We’re just going to work and see what we can do going into next week.”

The race wasn’t without incident, including a shaky baton exchange, but the Pirates overcame that to win.

“(The exchange) takes a lot of practice, and trust because you can’t look back,” Foreman said.

Foreman nearly qualified for state in the 200-meter dash, finishing second in her heat and sixth overall in 26.29. Jack Britt’s JaMeesia Ford finished first overall at 24.27.

“I just felt like everything was so natural; while I was running I felt like I was running my race,” Foreman said. “I love the 200, it’s my favorite race. When I got to the end, I was still running my race — I think I zoned out a little bit, because I was just running my race — but I finished and I was like, ‘that was great, I’m ready for states, prepping for that for next week.’”

“She (finished second) in her heat, so hopefully she’ll get in there,” Deese said before the final results were posted. “Chadon’s done a good job, she’s been a good foundation getting things going for us.”

Foreman also finished seventh and Hunt eighth in the 100-meter dash.

Keke Lawrence finished eight in the long jump in 15 feet, 9 inches, behind winner Sanya Lecue from Scotland at 18-04, and 10th in the triple jump at 32-05, behind Riverside’s Rafaela Drake, who won at 36-04.

Nasyari McCrimmon, who won the Sandhills Athletic Conference championship in the discus, finished ninth in the event with a throw of 80-06; Katie Stevens from Panther Creek won at 111-04.

The Pirates’ 4×200 relay team of Merritt, Emerson Gist, Pollock and Hunt finished seventh in 1:49.51; Athens Drive won in 1:43.39.

In the boys meet, Robeson County had four participants in the 100-meter dash, with Purnell Swett’s Jermaine McNeill finishing highest among them in seventh at 11.34. Lumberton’s Jacoby Pevia was eighth in 11.49, the Pirates’ Keith Underwood was 10th in 11.53 and the Rams’ Garyen Maynor was 11th in 11.63. Hoke County’s Jadarien won in 10.72, beating the field by over a quarter second.

Maynor also finished seventh in the long jump at 20-05.50, behind winner Jordan Reece from Jordan at 22-00.00.

Lumberton’s Ernest Bratcher finished ninth in the discus with a throw of 115-10; South Garner’s Nelson Anderson won at 149-05.

The Rams’ 4×800 relay team of Josiah Brooks, Brayden Wilkens, Lonnie Maynor and Kenneth Locklear finished ninth 9:20.76, with Green Hope winning the event in 8:11.67.