Orange’s 4×800 women’s relay team of Kayla Willey, Ava Bishop, Reilly Jermyn & Kinsey Ross accomplished something special on Friday. They are the first relay team in Orange & track field history to win a state championship. Willey, Bishop, Jermyn and Ross captured the 5A State Championship inside Truist Stadium at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. Jermyn ran the anchor leg and closed with a time of 9:42.70. It was a convincing victory for Orange. Franklin finished in second place at 9:48.80. At the Central Regional championships, freshman Amatha Reddy stepped in with Bishop, Willey and Ross to take first place at Southeast Alamance High School in Haw River, finishing at 10:10.05. In her first appearance at the state championships, Reddy finished 13th in the 800 meters with a time of 2:27.66. Bishop would also finish 2nd in the 1,600 meters in the regional championships. At North Carolina A&T, Bishop would finish 4th in the 3,200 meters in the state championships, closing with a time of 11:29.31. At the state championships, Willey, a sophomore, finished 13th in the 400 meter dash at 1:01.53. Jermyn won the 5A Central Regional championship in cross country last fall. Now, Willey, Bishop, Jermyn and Ross can forever lay claim to being the first relay state champions in Orange track & field history.
