Myles Jermyn will graduate from Orange High in June with a list of running accomplishments that almost goes unmatched locally.
He was the leader of Orange’s 2024 3A State Championship cross county team, the first in school history. He helped Orange win three Central Conference championships and three Mideast Regional championships.
Jermyn came in second individually at the 5A State Championship at the Ivey Redmond Sports Complex in Kernersville on Halloween, which led to the Panthers finishing second in the team standings behind Oak Grove. It may have been Jermyn final cross country run as a member of Orange High, but his legacy as a Panther wasn’t finished.
On November 29, Jermyn qualified for the Brooks National Cross Country Championships. Running in the the South Regionals at McAlpine Park in Charlotte, Jermyn was one of three runners to qualify for the men’s national championship in San Diego on December 13.
Jermyn finished seventh in the men’s standings among a field of 210 runners from 14 different states, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. His time of 15:00.76 was the best among North Carolina public school runners. The only other competitor from North Carolina to finish ahead of Jermyn was Kavi Gibson of Cary Academy, who came in second overall at 14:52.81. Evan Spreitzer of Holy Trinity Academy in Melbourne, FL paced the pack at 14:52.13.
Jermyn is one of 50 runners in the United States to qualify for the Brooks National Championships. His inclusion puts Orange in exclusive company.
Orange High is the only high school in North Carolina to have two runners qualify for the National Championships in the last 13 years. In 2023, Gabriel Schmid earned a spot at nationals.
“It feels amazing,” Jermyn told ncmilesplit.com. “I’ve been training every summer the past few years. All of that leading up to nationals. I’m so happy I finally made it.”
Schmid won back-to-back individual 3A State Championships in 2022 and 2023. He is currently on a Mormon mission and will start running for N.C. State’s cross country team next year.
Schmid is the son of Duke men’s cross country coach Kevin Jermyn, who was the head coach at Elon University when Myles starting running at Orange. He was named the head coach at Duke in July 2024.
“The race unfolded exactly like I wanted it to,” Jermyn said. “I went out at around 20-to-30th and just kept picking people off one-by-one.”
As a sophomore, Jermyn finished second behind Schmid for the 2023 Central Conference individual championship. The 1-2 pair led to Orange winning the 2023 conference title. Jermyn finished eighth in the 2023 regional championships while Schmid took the individual title. Orange won the team championship under head coach Brian Schneidewind with 38 points, 22 less than Northern Nash. He finished 7th in the 2023 3A State Championships, where Orange finished second behind Croatan.
Jermyn started running at Orange Middle School.
In 2024, Jermyn captured his first Central Conference individual crown at Lake Cammack Course in Burlington as Orange took the top three individual spots. Lucas Van Mater and Grant Schmid finished behind Jermyn. In the Mideast Regionals, Jermyn finished 2nd individually at Owens Recreation Park in Louisburg, leading Orange to its third Mideast Regional Championship. A week later in Kernersville, Jermyn finished 6th individually as the Panthers put three runners in the top 12 to win the state championship, beating North Lincoln by 27 points.
This season, Jermyn finished 2nd at regionals in Kernersville. For the second year in a row, Jermyn clinched a spot on the 5A All-State team with the runner-up finish in the state championships.
Next week, Jermyn will spend part of his holiday season where he’s dreamed of going for years—California.
“I’m exciting to be going to San Diego,” Jermyn said. “I just want to have a good time and have as much fun as possible racing.”
