SpicyTricks

Although the record of the track team may not have shown much hope, the potential of some of the individuals on the team is quite astounding. 

The freshman based Orange High School Track and Field Team wrapped up its season on Wednesday, April 24 with a very good performance at the Carolina 6 Conference Championship Meet, debatably the toughest in the state, at Cardinal Gibbons.  Elite forces Chapel Hill and Cardinal Gibbons stole the show, but a few Orange athletes did steal the spotlight temporarily.

By far the most notable performances of the day were the only victories in an event by our Panthers, as our very own senior Maddie Gawerecki, who threw her personal record of 105’6” in the discus, clinched the victory by over 4 and a half feet over the next competitor. Another notable victory was  junior Brandon Vanhook jumped his personal record of 19’8” to seal the deal in the long jump.  There were a total of 10 medals (top 3 finish) given to 7 different athletes on Wednesday, as follows: Morgan Efland placing 3rd in both the 100m hurdles and 300m hurdles, Indy Reid-Shaw finishing 2nd in the 1600m, Maddie Gawerecki placing 1st in the discus and 2nd in the shot put, Deja Johnson finishing 3rd in the triple jump, Kirsten Owens tying for 3rd in the high jump, Brandon Vanhook placing 1st in the long jump and 2nd in the 200m, and Derek Boone finishing. 3rd in the high jump.

Qualifying for the Regional Championship Meet is a very common goal for most North Carolina athletes, and especially for our panthers.  Fortunately, 3 of our panthers qualified for the regional meet, which will be held May 4th, at Walter Williams High School in Burlington, NC.  These athletes are seniors Maddie Gawerecki and Indy Reid-Shaw, and junior Will Henderson.  Gawerecki is the only competing in 2 events: the discus and the shot put, but Reid-Shaw and Henderson will compete in the 1600m for their respective genders.  

The official meet performance list published by NC MileSplit projects (if ranked by their personal record), an 11th-place and 3rd-place finish by Gawerecki in the shot put and discus (respectively), a 2nd place finish by Reid-Shaw, and a 6th place finish by Henderson.  If these projections prove to be correct, our Orange High track team will send at least 2 athletes to compete at the state meet, which is the following weekend at NC A&T University.