For the past four years, Adelyn Alvis has been knocking on the verge of a state championship.
On Wednesday, she and Clara Fowlkes joined an exclusive club–their own.
At the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem Alvis and Fowlkes became the first women in Orange High history to win state championships in Indoor Track and Field.
Alvis, who is a three-sport athlete, won the 5A State Championship in the 500 meter dash in a photo finish. Alvis held off Ella Myers of North Lincoln by six-hundredths-of-a-second, finishing at 1:17.27. Myers crossed at 1:17.33.
Alvis is the first female athlete in Hillsborugh history to win an indoor track and field state championship in a running event. The only other Hillsborough athlete to win in a running event was Cedar Ridge’s A.J. Tucker, who captured the 3A/2A/1A State Championship in the 3,200 meters in 2013.
Fowlkes won her first state championship in the pole vault. Fowlkes cleared eleven feet on Wednesday afternoon, easily turning back the challenge from Elizabeth Surface of Durham School of the Arts. Surface cleared nine feet, six inches.
Fowlkes finished 2nd in the pole vault at the 3A Outdoor State Track and Field Championships at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro last May.
Now, the Fowlkes family has two state champions in its household.
In 2022, Fowlkes’ sister, Caroline, won the 3A State Championship in the pole vault at the outdoor championships when she was a student at Cedar Ridge. Caroline Fowlkes went on to compete in indoor and outdoor track and field at Appalachian State.
Fowlkes is the second female pole vaulter in Hillsborough history to win an indoor state championship. Cedar Ridge’s Jordan Lee won the 2008 3A/2A/1A State Championship when she cleared nine-feet, six-inches.
Before Wednesday, there had been only one other Orange athlete to win a state championship in indoor track and field. Jamar Davis won two gold medals in the 2018 3A State Championships. In the long jump, Davis cleared 22-feet, 2.50 inches. In the triple jump, he beat the field with a leap of 46-feet, 2.50 inches. Later that spring, Davis competed in the Penn Relays before moving on to a four-year career at N.C. State.
Orange finished fifth in the women’s team standings with 44 points. North Lincoln captured the state championship with 82 points. The Lady Panther finished highest among Big 7 Conference schools.
Alvis, who was a starter for the Orange women’s tennis team that reached the round of 16 in the 5A State Dual Team Playoffs for the first time in school history last fall, also qualified in other events on Wednesday. She finished fifth in the long jump, ninth in the triple jump.
In running events, Alvis finished 5th in the 55 meter hurdles finals at 8.79 seconds.
In the men’s events, Orange senior Myles Jermyn earned the silver medal in the 3,200 meters. Jermyn, who helped Orange win the 2024 3A State Cross Country championship, finished at 9.28.25. Michael Ferguson, a senior from North Buncombe, came in first at 9:26.63.
Orange junior Grant Schmid Jr., the younger brother of two-time 3A Cross Country State Champion Gabriel Schmid, finished fourth in the 1,600 meters at 4:25.59. Ferguson also claimed the state title in the 1,600 meters with 4:10.35.
Cedar Ridge’s Ender Buchanan, the 2025 3A State Outdoor Track and Field champion, finished 6th in the indoor track championships, clearing 14 feet. Ryan Yoder of Seaforth claimed the state title at 15 feet.
The Orange men finished 10th in the team standings with 19 points, the best among Big 7 teams. J.F. Webb, which had a state champion with in the long jump with Elijah Long, finished with 18 points.
Orange’s Reilly Jermyn, a four-sport athlete who competed at the 5A State Women’s swimming championships last Friday, finished fourth in the 1,600 meter finals at 5:10.47. Three runners from North Lincoln took spots 1-2-3 in the event, led by senior Olivia Ferraro.
Jermyn also finished 7th in the 3,200 meters.
In the women’s 500 meters, Keely Hyers of Cedar Ridge finished 8th at 1:25.72.
In the 1000 meters, Orange’s Ava Bishop came in 6th at 3:12.71.
Cedar Ridge’s Michelle Pringley, a freshman, finished in the top 10 in the shot putt just two days after her basketball season ended.
