This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is freshman Luke McCrary. Over the winter, McCrary qualified for the 5A State Men’s Swimming Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. In the 200 yard medley relay, McCrary joined Jason Spey, Colin Wuthrich and Silas Rowe to finish 13th with a time of 1:54.81. In the 100 yard breaststroke, McCrary finished 13th in the state championships with a time of 1:11.84. At the Big 7 Conference Championships at the Orange County SportsPlex in Hillsborough, McCrary finished third in the 100 yard butterfly at 1:02.48. In the 100 yard breaststroke, McCrary came in second at 1:10.87, just four-hundredths-of-a-second behind Alex Delgadillo of Carrboro for the conference title. Just days after swimming season ended, McCrary started workouts for the Orange tennis team coached by Justin Webb. In the opening match of the season, McCrary started at #1 singles and #1 doubles. McCrary earned his first varsity win against Southeast Alamance on March 11, beating Jack Wells 6-0, 6-2. Orange defeated the Stallions 9-0. McCrary also teamed with Jackson Coleman to win the top doubles match. Against Durham School of the Arts on March 11, McCrary won the top singles match against Benjamin Stemmie 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 10-8 in a 10-point tiebreaker. McCrary is a promising athlete that is already doing important things for Orange athletics in the winter and spring.
