Photo Credit: Spencer Husen. Athletes warm up and prepare for their events at this year's Big 8 Conference Championships, hosted by Cedar Ridge.[/caption]In what was the last track meet of the 2014 season for all except for four talented athletes, high school track dreams were made, and the athletes, coaches, and parents get to look forward to what could be a very competitive 2015 season. Hosted by Cedar Ridge, the 2014 Big 8 Conference Championships proved to be a huge success for OHS.
Three Panther athletes entered last Thursday afternoon, May 1, with the guarantee that they will be eligible for the next level of postseason competition, the 3A Mideast Regional meet. However, one junior athlete had the ambition to include herself with the trio. This meet’s Performance of the Day award goes to Morgan Efland, who ran the 110 meter hurdle finals in 16.8 seconds, the exact time needed to send her to regionals. Unfortunately, no other Panther athlete officially met a 3A regional qualifying standard, but there is still a small chance that if not enough athletes in the 3A mideast region qualified in a certain event, they will start selecting the best available athletes in the pool of runners/jumpers/throwers who have not hit the qualifying mark yet. This actually happened last season with Efland, and now she has a crack at it again, with even a chance to advance to states. The other three dominant Panther student-athletes who have already qualified are comprised of two freshman girl distance stars, and an experienced veteran ready to make his mark in the OHS track history books. The three athletes alone have qualified in seven events. With the addition of Efland, you can see eight events at the 3A Mideast Regional meet with Panthers competing. These are freshman Claire Barger in the 1600m and 3200m, Adalyn Fleming in the 800m and 1600m, senior Brandon Vanhook in the 100m, 200m, and long jump, and, Morgan Efland in 110m hurdles.
As for the great individual performances from the conference championship meet, there were several great ones. An extraordinary eleven athletes scored individual team points (top six finish) in their respective events on Thursday, with several breakout performances. In order of when they happened, here are the Panthers that scored for Orange: Morgan Efland 2nd in 110m hurdles, Montee Mitchell 3rd in 110m hurdles, Joseph Pannachia 5th in 110m hurdles, Claire Barger 5th in 1600m, Shaqyone Moore 3rd in 400m, Morgan Efland 3rd in 300m hurdles, Joseph Pannachia 3rd in 300m hurdles, Montee Mitchell 4th in 300m hurdles, Jesse Flores 5th in 300m hurdles, Julianna Lester 5th in 800m, Claire Barger 6th in 3200m, Lasheema Kerney 5th in discus, De’ja Johnson 5th in high jump, Shaqyone Moore 5th in high jump, Derek Boone 3rd in long jump, De’ja Johnson 2nd in triple jump, and lastly, Derek Boone 6th in triple jump.
Orange’s 2015 outdoor track season is looking very promising, led by an extremely strong core of hurdlers and distance runners. At this year’s conference championships, the Panther boys and girls placed seventh and sixth, respectively, out of eight teams. However, with the potential improvement of several student-athletes that are already very talented in their respective events, you can expect the potential for a top five finish at next year’s conference meet, along with more regional qualifiers.
Despite the 2014 season track team coming to an end, Claire Barger, Adalyn Fleming, Morgan Efland, and Brandon Vanhook will fight on and compete in the 3A Mideast Regional Championships, which will be this Saturday, May 10, at Northern Guilford. OHS athletes’ results will be posted when available. Congratulations to the Orange High School track team for another solid season!
0 comments