CARY–For someone who swim as an Orange Panther, Amanda Jones took to being a Red Wolf pretty well
When she started as Cedar Ridge’s swim coach in 2020, she had eight swimmers.
On Friday, Jones ended her tenure at Cedar Ridge with two women’s relay teams earning silver medals in the 5A State Championships and her women’s team finishing 4th overall.
“It’s definitely a bittersweet moment for me,” Jones said. “It’s something that I’m really proud of. I’m incredible proud of my swimmers. It felt incredible to go up to the podium and get a medal event after event after event. I’ll certain miss it. I’ll miss this team. I love this team.”
Jones, who graduated from Appalachian State, recently moved to Apex for a new job, which makes traveling to the Orange County Sportsplex in Hillsborough at 6AM every morning exhausting on several levels.
On Friday, several Cedar Ridge competitors set school records at the State Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary.
Freshman Wren Brand, sophomore Natalie Kunz, junior Margaret Payton and Eden Pollard finished 2nd in the 400 freestyle relay at 3:50.15. In the tightest finish of the 5A State Championships, they missed out on a state championship by three-hundredths-of-a-second. South Brunswick finished at 3:50.12 to take the crown.
Brand, Kunz, Payton and senior Hala Zafar also had a runner-up finish in the 200 freestyle relay at 1:45.11, another school record. South Brunswick’s team of Adrianna Jackson, Opal Boehmer, Phoebe Cumbee and Peyton Stigman took the state title at 1:44.30.
Brand, who started swimming competitively just two years ago, earned a silver medal in the 100 yard butterfly. In her first state championship appearance, Brand finished at 32.30 seconds. Seaforth senior Sydney Burleigh captured the championship at 56.15 seconds. Brand also set a new school mark in the 50 yard freestyle at 24.92 seconds, coming in fifth overall.
Payton finished third in the 500 yard freestyle at 5:30.86 to earn her first individual medal at the state championships. Ella Lechene of Croatan captured the gold medal at 5:18.56. Payton also came in fourth in the 200 yard freestyle at 2:04.29.
Kunz came in 16th in the 100 yard backstroke at 1:12.02.
The Cedar Ridge women finished with fourth in the state with 150 points. South Brunswick swept both the men’s and women’s state championships, winning the women’s title with 232 points.
In the men’s ranks, Red Wolf junior Christopher Seawell earned the bronze medal in the 100 yard freestyle at 49.65 seconds. Seawell, in his third state championship appearance, also came in fourth in the 100 yard backstroke at 56.26 seconds. North Lincoln’s Jackson Kroh finished with the gold medal at 50.46 seconds.
Seawell’s performance in the backstroke was also a school record.
Red Wolf sophomore J.E. Sandor earned the bronze medal in the 500 yard freestyle. He touched the wall at 5:03.26, another school record. Colton Roberts of Seaforth won the state championship at 4:44.27.
Sandor, like all of his teammates, will miss Jones.
“She was always really positive around me,” Sandor said. “She really made me feel like I could do anything. I’m going to miss her a lot but I know she’s taking the next journey as to what she wants to do.”
Sandor, Seawell, Zion Green and Simon Salazar-Coronado came in seventh in the final event of the championships, the 400 yard freestyle relay at 3:45.23.
While Jones is leaving Cedar Ridge, she isn’t closing the door on coaching again.
“It’s time for a little bit of a break,” Jones said. “I love Hillsborough sports. Orange County is a fantastic county. Everybody is so supportive of each other. Orange and Cedar Ridge swimmers have a really special relationship because they’re swimming with each other on their club teams. It’s the kindest sports environment I’ve ever encountered.”
