Men’s swimming: Senior Evan Phillips and sophomore Luke Roman each continued their strong seasons as the Orange men’s swimming team swept Western Alamance and Northwood in a dual meet at the Orange County Sportsplex on January 11.
Phillips has now qualified for five separate events in the 3A Central Regionals. Roman, who finished 8th in the 2022 3A State Championships in the 200 yard freestyle, also has qualified for five separate events for regionals.
Orange won over Northwood 102-49. The Panthers also defeated Western Alamance, who hosted the meet, 110-41.
In addition, Roman, Phillips, senior Andrew Weeks and sophomore Nick Baczara won the 400 yard freestyle relay, earning a trip to Greensboro with a time of 3:41.36, well ahead of the automatic qualifying regional time of 4:00.99.
Last year, Roman, Phillips, Baczara and Alex Andre finished 9th in the 3A State Championships in Cary.
Phillips won the 100 yard breaststroke, touching the wall at 1:07.67.
Weeks won the 100 yard backstroke at 1:02.24.
Roman, Phillips, Alex Andre and Andrew Weeks won the 200 yard medley relay.
Andre, a sophomore, has qualified for five different events, as well. Andre reached regionals in the 200 yard freestyle last Thursday, coming in first at 1:57.51.
Roman, who opened the year by breaking the school record in the 200 yard freestyle last month, won the 500 yard freestyle at 5:00.28.
Orange will host senior night in a dual meet against Cedar Ridge on Thursday night at the Orange County Sportsplex.
Once a swimmer qualifies for regionals, they can only choose two individual events to participate in.
Women’s swimming: Orange 82, Western Alamance 55; Northwood 80, Orange 74
Another big night from 2022 3A State Champion Katie Belle Sikes for Orange carried the Lady Panthers swimming team past Western Alamance last Thursday at the Orange County Sportsplex. Sikes, who became the first female to win a state swimming championship in school history last February, has qualified for another six events for regionals.
Sikes swam and qualified in the 200 yard individual medley. She has a goal of qualifying for regionals in every individual event. Sikes also won the 100 yard backstroke.
Junior Riley White qualified for the 500 yard freestyle, winning the race at 5:39.93. White also qualified for regionals in the 100 yard butterfly, finishing second behind Northwood’s Abigail Emrich.
Sikes, White, Piper White and Ainsley Rasinske won the 400 yard freestyle relay. They came in at 3:56.12, well under the automatic regional qualifying time of 4:50.99. They also qualified for the 200 yard freestyle relay, winning the event at 1:58.47.
Indoor track: Thus far in the season, three Orange Panthers have qualified for the 3A State Indoor Track and Field Championships.
In November, Orange junior Gabriel Schmid qualified in the 3,200 meters in the New Balance Dash for Doobie 3,200 at Ronald Reagan High School in Pfafftown. Schmid, the 2022 3A State Champion in men’s cross country, finished 12th at 9:20.33. The qualifying benchmark for the 3,200 meters is 10:00.
Since then, Issac Seymour, a senior who played on Orange’s men’s basketball team last year, has qualified twice in the high jump. On December 10 at Dave Thaden Stadium at East Chapel Hill Polar Bear event, Seymour cleared the bar at 5-feet, 10 inches, two inches above the minimum qualifying jump.
In the women’s high jump, Grace Pell also qualified. Pell finished first with a jump of 4’10”. Pell was also the top runner for the Orange women’s cross country team last fall.
In the Eastern Alamance Polar Bear at Fred Brady Stadium in Mebane, Orange junior Aedan Sampey qualified for the state championships in the pole vault. Sampey cleared 11-feet and finished second behind Eastern Alamance’s Gabe Ocampo. The minimum qualifying height is 10-feet.
Also at the Eastern Alamance Polar Bear, Seymour won the high jump by clearing 5’8″.
The 3A State Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held February 10 at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem.