Men’s cross country: Orange 17, Cedar Ridge 44, Southern Alamance 55, Person 183: Orange senior Gabriel Schmid started his farewell tour at Orange with a first place finish at a meet in Roxboro.
Schmid, the 2022 3A State Champion in men’s cross country, keyed an Orange victory with a time of 18:39 at Rockets Stadium. Orange, the defending Central Carolina Conference champions, had the top four finishers: Alden Cathy, an All-Conference performer in lacrosse, finished second at 19:25, junior Peter Musser came in third (19:33) while sophomore Myles Jermyn finished fourth (19:36).
Cedar Ridge sophomore Henry Alexander, who finished third in a meet at Eno River Academy on August 23, was the highest placer for the Red Wolves. Alexander finished fifth at 20:27. The Red Wolves’ Ryan Matthews came in sixth at 20;34.
Orange also had the seventh place finisher in Nolan Hufner, a sophomore, at 21:07. Cedar Ridge’s Ender Buchanan came in 10th at 21:52. Red Wolves’ senior Grayson Weisenfeld (11th) and Michael O’Melia (12th) helped Cedar Ridge to a second place team finish. Orange’s Lucas Van Mater came in 13th, while Cedar Ridge’s Eli Auchter finished 15th.
Women’s cross country: Cedar Ridge 15, Person 82: The Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team had the top top five finishers to win its Central Carolina Conference opener at Person High. Naomi Dyreng, who won three regional championships in outdoor track & field last year, was the top finisher for the Red Wolves with a time of 22:35. Junior Abigail Klaitman finished second at 22:50.
On August 23, Klaitman finished first at a dual meet at Eno River Academy. Cedar Ridge’s Serena Summers finished third at 25:35. Kaitlyn Horn (27:02) and Cia Biddix (27:14) rounded out the top five.
Orange’s Kassi Scarantino was the highest-placing runner for the Panthers, finishing sixth at 27:31. Scarantino finished one second ahead of teammate Channing Mahaney.
Cedar Ridge’s Gracie Whitaker (8th) and Rebecca Fullwood (10th) had top-ten finishes for the Red Wolves. Orange’s Mia Blake came in 14th, while Cedar Ridge freshman Samantha Quade finished 15th.
Women’s Tennis: Williams 7, Orange 2: In a match that has huge implications for the Central Carolina Conference championship, the Bulldogs gained revenge against Orange from last year.
The Bulldogs swept all six singles matches to defeat Orange in Hillsborough on Thursday. In 2022, Orange defeated Williams to claim a share of the CCC title, the first tennis championship for the Panthers (men’s or women’s) in team history.
The most competitive match of the day was at #2 singles. Williams junior Jaden Wilson defeated Orange’s Shannon Sollars 6-2, 2-6, 10-5. Sophomore Abigail Brown, Freshman Lindsay Oler, Senior Gracie Hartle, junior Lauren Turner and senior Gracie Gabrielli all claimed singles wins for the Bulldogs.
Orange got their victories in doubles play. The team of Erin and Shannon Sollars won over Brown and Oler 8-5. The Sollars sisters are 5-0 this season. Makayla Davis and Molly Kruse defeated Hartle and Gabrielli 9-8, winning the tiebreaker 7-2.
Orange is 4-2, 1-1 in the CCC.
Cedar Ridge 8, Southern Alamance 1: The Cedar Ridge women’s tennis team won its conference opener in Graham on Thursday. The Red Wolves won all of the singles matches
Senior Cameron Mayhew won at #1 singles over Paicey Cameron 6-1, 6-1. Junior Ella Caltabiano rolled past Madalyn Corbett 6-1, 6-1. Caltabiano also won at #1 doubles, teaming with Catherine Ballenger to defeat Cameron and Corbett 8-1.
Ballenger won her singles match over Ava Lynch 6-0, 6-1. Cedar Ridge’s Raven Mowles-Airing defeated Morgan Edmunds 7-5, 6-4. Annabeth Lundberg won in straight sets over Cherish Ray 6-0, 6-0.
In doubles play, Cedar Ridge’s Madeline Galindo-Woodring and Terra Proctor defeated Lynch and Ray 8-4.
Cedar Ridge is 2-2, 1-0 in the CCC. They will host Orange on Tuesday at Red Wolves Tennis Courts, the first of three matches in three days. The Red Wolves will host Eno River Academy on Wednesday, then travel to Eastern Alamance on Thursday.
Mayhew, the younger sister of three-time CCC men’s player of the year Josh Mayhew, is 3-1 this year in singles play. Cameron Mayhew qualified for regionals in her freshman and juniors years with the Red Wolves.