Photo Credit: Amanda Tavares[/caption]Jared Riley was born a sports fan. He grew up a sports fan and he still is one today. He enjoys all sports, but his favorite is football. Riley is the sports editor for the Orange High School newspaper Den Echoes. He is a 16 year old, three-time-award-winning journalist, but these accolades do not matter to him yet as his goal is to one day be a journalist for ESPN. He wants to be the next Adam Schefter.
Riley has played football since he was eight, and he wants to continue to be around football even when he grows up. He is an offensive lineman on the Orange High football team.
Riley has a life outside of football as well. He is in multiple clubs. Some of these include the Society of Saint Andrews (SOSA) and Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). Riley enjoys hanging out with his friends. They like playing basketball and other sports outside. His favorite television shows are Sports Center and the news. Watching shows like this will definitely prepare him to work on ESPN.
Riley hopes to go to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has an advantage over other students, as he attended a journalism camp at UNC this past summer. He sure has set the bar high and should be an example to others about having high hopes for their education.
Photo Credit: Amanda Tavares[/caption]Mitchell Askew, a 14-year-old freshman, is the newest addition to the Orange High School newspaper Den Echoes. Askew is an avid sports fan and joined the newspaper to write about Panther sports and to “learn how to interview people and learn how to write.” Askew hopes that the journalism class can propel him to an eventual career as a sports broadcaster. Along the way to his future stardom, Askew has aspirations of attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Askew not only watches and writes about sports, but he also competes in multiple ones. Askew is a member of the Panther cross country and wrestling teams. Askew is not a slouch either, as he took third place at the Appalachian State Wrestling camp in his weight division. Askew’s brother Jamison (16), a junior, also competes on both the cross country and wrestling teams and, despite the age difference, the younger Askew says, “I'm better than [Jamison].”
Be prepared for many ESPN-quality articles from Askew this year, along with some possible athletic articles featuring him.
By: Ashley Hinkle
Tuesday November 13 2012, OHS Senior Jack Twomey-Kozak was surprised by ESPN and local newspapers. The media gathered in the gym to present him with the Wendy’s High School Heisman award, and reveal that he was a Top 12 Finalist nationally.
The award was presented by Wendy’s representative Burt Walker. The award was founded in 1994 by Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas in partnership with the Heisman Memorial Trophy Committee to recognize high school students who excel in academics, athletics and in serving their community. Twomey-Kozak was chosen out of 45,000 applicants to be in the 12 national finalists. The Orange High administration was not aware of Twomey-Kozak’s status, so everyone was in shock as the announcer awarded Twomey-Kozak with his Heisman award. This award is great honor for him, his family and our Panther family. Along with his silver and gold medals of achievement, he receives a $2,000 monetary award for Orange High School, a trip to New York City to compete with the other 12 finalists and a hundred dollar gift certificate to Wendy’s restaurant. ESPN followed Twomney-Kozak for the rest of the day and for the beginning of Wednesday morning.
When interviewed, Twomey-Kozak was very honored and surprised. “It is a huge honor. I am pretty overwhelmed,” he said. “I did not expect this at all, my dad texted me during the end of first period saying ‘come to the gymnasium.’ I was totally caught off guard. I something was up, saw all the cameras and all the coaches sitting together and I just knew I was getting some sort of an award or something.”
After his brief award ceremony, he joined his friends junior David Peters, senior Anderson Pope and senior Cory Moyer on the bleachers to celebrate his moment in glory with his fellow Panthers. Twomey-Kozak will travel to New York City on Friday, Dec. 7. The two national winners—one boy and one girl—will be announced at the banquet. Each National Winner will each receive a crystal Wendy’s High School Heisman trophy, a $500 Wendy’s gift card, and a donation from Wendy’s in the amount of $10,000 to their respective high school. Additionally, the winners will be recognized during the collegiate Heisman Trophy broadcast December 8 on ESPN2.