The boys cross country season came to a bittersweet ending this past weekend at the regional competition. It was bitter because, they did not qualify for the state tournament on November 1st. However it was sweet because, they have been working hard all season and 3 PR’s were set. The girls are advancing to the state tournament and are looking to pull off an upset. Overall the season for the boys was more or less what was expected, the program is rebuilding, but next year the should be even better because, they are only losing 2, all be it fast, seniors to graduation (Robert Russell and Jacob Larson). The girls team will be even better next year, because the top 4 runners are sophomores and freshman, so the next 2-3 years the girls team will dominate. Things only get better from here.
Photo Credit: Hannah Phillips. A shot of the 3A Mideast Regional, hosted by Northern Guilford High School.[/caption]The NCHSAA 3A Mideast Regional could have gone better for the Panthers that qualified, as some of the six athletes had remarkable performances, and the others leaving with the desire to have a redo. Two Panther athletes achieved the ultimate goal of the meet: qualification for the NCHSAA 3A State Championship.
Freshman Adalyn Fleming and sophomore Montee Mitchell have qualified in the 800m and the 110m hurdles, respectively. Fleming ran her PR (personal record) by over five seconds, an incredible accomplishment in the 800m. The freshman rising star finished in 2:24.87, taking the bronze medal by finishing third. Fleming missed regional runner-up by less than a second, while also becoming the first freshman to place in the top three in the 800m at this regional since 2003, an unbelievable feat. Adalyn also ran the 1600m, finishing seventh in 5:46.
As for Mitchell, the meet’s Performance of the Day winner, the sophomore was actually entered into the meet due to consideration (the process of selecting additional athletes other than the ones who did not meet the qualification mark). Mitchell, different from the hundreds of athletes, coaches, and spectators watching, had an ambition to not only participate, but to show out and prove that he belonged there. The sophomore was seeded thirteenth out of the fourteen entered athletes. In the prelims of the 110m hurdles, Montee took over a half a second off of is PR, finishing sixth in 16.23. The top eight finishers in the prelims qualify for the finals, meaning Mitchell was only one great race away from state qualification. Later in the day, when it was time for the 110 meter hurdle final, the sophomore was ready. Mitchell took almost another quarter of a second of his PR, finishing in 16.02. In his fourth-place finish in the finals (top four qualify), he officially made the state championship. Mitchell was the only non-senior in the top five, and will be facing his toughest competition at states.
Six other Panther athletes competed at this regional meet. Fleming’s partner-in-crime, fellow freshman Claire Barger, ran the 1600m and the 3200m. Barger just missed state qualification herself, finishing fifth in the 1600m. Her 3200m performance was a minor disappointment, with the freshman running well off her PR. The last student-athlete that rounds out the star freshman milers trio here at Orange is Julianna Lester, who actually ended up running the 1600m, despite her running in a local 5k race earlier in the morning. Lester was the second overall female in the 5k, but it was not her best performance in the 1600m. Lester finished in 6:02, 11 seconds off her PR. It was a pretty solid performance for Lester as a whole on the day.
Two other Orange girls competed, junior Morgan Efland and senior De’ja Johnson. Efland finished fifth in the prelims of the 100m hurdles, and eventually ran a 17.49 en route to a sixth-place regional finish. In what was the last Orange High School athletic competition for Johnson, the senior triple jumped almost a whopping two feet farther than her previous PR, leaping her way to a sixth-place finish at 34’2.5”.
In a very unfortunate sequence of events shortly before this regional championship, the more than likely team MVP, senior Brandon Vanhook, sustained two serious injuries in his knees. His ambition for a regional championship pushed him to participate. Shortly before departing to get to Northern Guilford, the site of regionals, Vanhook’s spikes broke. With the combination of replacement shoes and a somewhat crippling injury, the senior leader could not pull of a miracle. In what was thought to be Orange’s greatest chance for a regional champion, Vanhook in the long jump, was an unfortunate disappointment, but adequate considering the circumstances. The senior jumped just under 20’, almost two feet under his PR, finishing sixth. If Brandon would have jumped his PR, he would have won by over a foot. One great performance emerged from Vanhook, however. He ran his PR in the 100m prelims (11.19), in an eighth-place finish. This, unexpectedly, put Vanhook in the 100m championship. Vanhook ran a 12.01 in the finals in another eighth-place finish.
The last Panther who participated was another underclassman, freshman Joseph Pannachia. Pannachia ran alongside Mitchell in the 110m hurdles, and ran his PR by .7 seconds. Pannachia missed finals qualification by two spots, running a 16.91 in a solid tenth-place finish.
Congratulations to our Panther track team for a very successful regional meet! Adalyn Fleming and Montee Mitchell will advance to the NCHSAA 3A State Championship meet, which will be this Friday, May 16 at NC A&T’s Irwin Belk Track. We wish Fleming and Mitchell best of luck at the highest level of competition in the state!
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.
Jaden Vines, the first seed, and Jabari Hargrove, the second seed, went to the semifinals, losing to Chapel Hill in doubles ending with a tie breaker. Fourth seed Lee Oechsle won his first-round match but lost to the first seed of Chapel Hill. Third seed Corey Johnson also won his first-round match but lost his second-round match. Sixth seed Grayson Caudill and fifth seed Benjamin Pickard both lost in the first round of doubles to JF Webb.
Vines finished fourth in the Big Eight conference tournament. Vines and Hargrove made it to the finals, losing in a third set tiebreaker to Chapel Hill. They competed and represented Orange High School in a excellent manner.
In the end, Johnson and Oechsle made it to quarter finals for singles. Corey upset Northern Vance’s first seed 8-6 in the first round and Oechsle defeated Oxford Webb.
All photos taken by Brianna Hales.
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Even though the team lost that did not affect their hunger on and off the court. For senior night the coach and parents pitched in to order pizza and make a cake for the players. Since there were no seniors on the team this year they dedicated the food to their hard work all season.
Wednesday, April 24, the top six seeded players got out of school at 10:40 am to go to Chapel Hill High School and participate in the Carolina 3A Conference Tournament. They all agreed that they were excited to get out of school early. Two of the top six seeds though were not able to go according to Samsa and some of the other players were substituted in. Jaden Vines and Jabari Hargrove lost 3-6 in doubles. Lee Oechsle won his first round in singles but then lost. Addison Andrews and Corey Johnson also lost their doubles match.
Tuesday, April 30 the first rounds of the State Duals Playoffs begin for men’s tennis.