A shot of turn one of Cedar Ridge High School's track. Photo Credit: article.wn.com[/caption]April 12, the Orange Panthers track team traveled to in-conference foe Cedar Ridge High School for the 2014 Orange County Championships, this year dubbed the “Orange County Invitational.” At 10 am the meet kicked off, and right off the gun, great performances and personal records were set across the board, including an individual qualifying for the 3A Mideast Regional Championship meet. The Orange boys and girls squads both placed fifth of the five teams participating (Orange, Cedar Ridge, Carrboro, Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill). However, despite the rough final rank, there were two boys and two girls that placed in the top three in their respective events, with one of them qualifying for regionals.
Senior De’ja Johnson and freshman Joseph Pannachia “medaled” in their respective events, with Johnson placing third in the long jump and second in the triple jump, and Pannachia taking the bronze in the 110-meter hurdles.
Freshman Adalyn Fleming placed third in the 1600 meter, running her PR (personal record) of 5:39 and officially qualifying her for the regional meet. Another freshman, Claire Barger, finished fourth, and missed officially qualifying for regionals by just one-tenth of a second, running her PR of 5:40. Luckily for Barger and another freshman Julianna Lester, who also has a chance of qualification with a PR performance of 5:54, they still have two more meets to break the 5:40 barrier. Despite another excellent performance from the freshman phenom, a county-renowned sprinter and jumper will take home the Orange County Invitational’s Performance of the Day Award, senior Brandon Vanhook. Vanhook qualified for regionals last meet, running a 11.0 100 meter and long-jumping 21’4”. This time around, at the Orange County Championships, Vanhook was one of two athletes. and the only boy, to place in the top three in all of his events (participating in at least three). Vanhook took home all the medals on Saturday, finishing third in the 200 meter, second in the 100 meter, and being crowned Orange County Champion in the long jump. With Vanhook’s PR jump of 21 feet, 8 inches, he puts himself in the record books as one of the best long-jumpers in school history. The senior’s leap ranks him in the top 35 in the state this outdoor season. A big congratulations goes out to our current qualifiers, Fleming and Vanhook.
Next up on the schedule, Orange has their second and last home meet, senior night this Thursday against JF Webb. Then, the team will travel back to Cedar Ridge for the Conference Championships on April 30.
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