Cedar Ridge Cross Country

The Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team finished 1st at the West Point on the Eno race to open its abbreviated season. Senior Jill Myler ran the hilly course at a time of 21 minutes, 39 seconds, crossing the finish line first against teams from Northern Durham and Southern Durham. Despite not being at Cedar Ridge for in-person classes because of the pandemic, Myler finds herself busy. She is a member of Cedar Ridge’s International Baccalaureate program and helps tutor elementary school students in Hillsborough. Also at West Point on the Eno, Cedar Ridge’s Zoe Wade finished third, while Sarah Tucker came in 5th. Caroline Fowlkes, who qualified for the 3A state championships in the pole vault as a freshman in spring of 2019, and Georgia Roney also finished in the top 8.

The Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team was the only local representatives at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 3A State Championship meet at Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville on November 2.

Unlike last year, the Cedar Ridge women didn’t qualify as a team. Instead, three Red Wolf runners reached the state meet based on their individual finishes at the Mideast Regional Championships at Northwood High School on October 26.

Junior Anne Morrell finishes with the fastest time among Cedar Ridge runners with a time of 19:41.50, good enough for 35th place. Last year, Morrell ran the same course at 20:11.33.

The other two Cedar Ridge runners also improved from their times at the Redmon Complex from 2018.

Sophomore Zoe Wade came in 74th at 20:35.61. Last year, Wade finished 101st with a time of 21:37.10.

Wade’s classmate, Ruby Lapham, finished 84th with a time of 20:50.28. In 2018, Lapham came in 113th at 21:50.78.

All three runners had personal bests times.

The state championships completed a grueling postseason stretch that started with the Big 8 Conference Championships, which was held on October 19 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. Morrell finished tenth in the Big 8 Championships, the highest among runners outside of Chapel Hill.

Morrell won a sprint to the finish line to edge East Chapel Hill’s Sara Oren for a spot in top ten. Senior Allison Musty finished 15th and joined Morrell on the All-Big 8 Conference team.

“Allison had a great race,” said Cedar Ridge women’s coach Paul Lockwood. “This was her type of race. The weather’s cooler. It’s nice out. You can’t always have nice weather. Anne had a great day and ran really well.”

In addition, Lockwood was voted as the Big 8 Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. Lockwood, who is in his second year, led the Cedar Ridge women to three dual match victories this year. Cedar Ridge also captured the Greensboro Cross Country Invitational race at Hagan State Park on September 28.

“It all goes back to the kids,” Lockwood said. “If I can’t have them, I don’t have anything. They’re awesome. I enjoy being around them. They work hard and I enjoy being around that.”

In addition to Morrell and Musty, Wade finished 16th at 20:36.60. Right behind her was teammate Ariadna Solis, who finished 17th. Junior Jill Myler came in 18th.

The top Orange finisher in the women’s race was junior Ava Zinn, who crossed the finish line 28th with a time of 21:56.70.

In the men’s race, Cedar Ridge senior Noah Draughon finished 17th with a time of 17:47.30. The Red Wolves Drew Gillespie came in 28th at 18:12.80.

Orange senior Bennett Flemming finished 24th at 18:09.50.

At the Mideast Regionals, the Cedar Ridge women’s team finished 5th among 15 teams. Morrell came in 12th at 20:16.14. Last year at the regionals, Morrell finished 19th at 20:26.21. Wade came in 24th, while Musty finished 28th.

Orange’s Zinn came in 49th at 22:43.13. Senior Hailey Bullard, in her final race, finished 58th.

In the men’s race, Orange’s Flemming was the highest finisher among Hillsborough runners, finishing 32nd.

Levi Draughon came in 34th for Cedar Ridge. Noah Draughon finished 42nd.

The fall sports season will officially end in Hillsborough on Saturday—unless Orange football can make the state playoffs.

The possibility of that appears remote, at best, as of Wednesday night. Orange’s current MaxPreps ranking is #69. Assuming that Orange beats Chapel Hill on Friday night, three of Orange’s five wins will have come against teams ranked in the bottom ten of 3A football, according to MaxPreps.

The Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team narrowly missed the state playoffs. The field of 64 was announced on Monday morning. Cedar Ridge was on the bubble, but missed out after losing to Southern Durham in the season finale.

Cedar Ridge ended the season 7-12-1, 5-9 in the Big 8 Conference.

The Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team has a good showing in the 3A Mideast Regionals at Northwood High School in Pittsboro. While Cedar Ridge didn’t qualify for the state championships as a team, like last year, there are several individual Red Wolves who will participate in the states on Saturday at Ivey Redmon Park in Kernersville.

Here is this week’s Magnificent 7, which will be the next-to-last edition for the fall sports season. We’ll begin focusing on winter sports next week.

Anne Morrell: Finished 12th at the 3A Mideast Regional Cross Country Championships at Northwood High. Morrell, a junior, qualified for the state championships for the third year in a row with a time of 20:16.4.

Zoe Wade: Finished 24th at the Mideast Regional Championships. Crossed the finish line at 21:05.84. Wade also qualified for the 3A State Championships. A sophomore, Wade will have participated in the state championships each of her first two years at Cedar Ridge.

Desi Raspberry: Cedar Ridge junior wide receiver had three receptions for 69 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown pass from William Berger against crosstown rival Orange on Friday night. Raspberry had the most yards from scrimmage for the Red Wolves.

Elliott Woods: Had 87 rushing yards and two touchdowns for Orange in a victory over Cedar Ridge at Red Wolves Stadium. Woods also had two tackles. Coming into the game, Woods led Orange in receptions and tackles. He was named this week’s Orange Panther of the Week.

Omarion Lewis: A sophomore, Lewis had a career-high 173 yards rushing against Cedar Ridge. Lewis added two touchdowns. He now leads the team in rushing yards and touchdowns this season, even though he missed the season-opener against R.J. Reynolds because it appeared he would spend this season on the junior varsity team.

Joseph Kiger: Led Orange in receiving with a career-high five receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown. On defense, Kiger led the team with six tackles. He also had ten rushing yards. Kiger also was the long snapper on extra points for kicker Nigel Slanker. He will play his final game in Hillsborough against Chapel Hill on Friday.

Bennett Fleming: The top finisher for the Orange men’s cross country team last week at the Mideast Regionals. Fleming came in 32nd with a time of 18:08.88. At the Big 8 Cross Country Championships at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, Fleming was also the top finisher for Orange.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is men’s cross country runner Levi Draughon. At the Big 8 Cross Country Championships at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, Draughon was the highest placer among Cedar Ridge male runners with a time of 17:47.30. He finished 17th overall to qualify for the Mideast Regionals. On Saturday at the Regionals at Northwood High School in Pittsboro, Draughon finished 34th among 134 runners, again the highest among Cedar Ridge runners.  Cedar Ridge finished eighth among 20 teams at the Mideast Regionals. Draughon is only a sophomore and still has plenty of years left to compete as he prepares for indoor track & field season for Cedar Ridge. 

The fall sports season is drawing to a close with some playoff intrigue in football and men’s soccer. On Monday night, the Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team dropped a 1-0 decision to Southern Durham on senior night at Red Wolves Stadium. The Spartans scored in the opening minute and largely packed in its defense the rest of the game to hold Cedar Ridge scoreless.

It was a costly loss to Cedar Ridge’s playoff chances. On Tuesday, the Red Wolves’ MaxPreps ranking fell to #68. They’re 7-12-1 overall, 5-9 in the Big 8 Conference. While Southern Durham’s MaxPreps ranking is #67, they can’t make the state playoffs ahead of the Red Wolves because Cedar Ridge finished ahead of them in the Big 8 standings.

Last week, the Orange football team kept its playoff hopes alive with a dramatic 31-30 overtime win over Northwood. Machai Holt scored in overtime for the game-winning score. Sophomore Omarion Lewis scored three touchdowns.

On Saturday, the season ended for the Cedar Ridge and Orange High volleyball teams. Terry Sanford defeated the Red Wolves 3-1 in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs. Clayton swept Orange. Two nights later the Comets stunned previously undefeated Grey’s Creek 3-0 to advance to the Round of 16.

The Big 8 Conference Cross Country Championships were held at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary last Thursday. We’ll have more details on the results in a post coming up later tonight.

Now, here’s the Magnificent 7 from Week 9 of the Fall Sports Season:

Anne Morrell: Finished 10th in the Big 8 Women’s Cross Country Championships with a time of 19:52.70. Helped Cedar Ridge finish 3rd in the Big 8. The Red Wolves will compete in the 3A Mideast Regionals at Northwood High School in Pittsboro on Saturday.

Allison Musty: This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week, Musty was also named to the All-Big 8 Conference team in women’s cross country (Morrell was, as well). Musty finished 15th overall in the Big 8 Championships, crossing the finish line at 20:34.30.

Reese Weaver: Scored a hat trick in Cedar Ridge’s 9-0 win over Vance County on October 23. Weaver has eleven goals for the Red Wolves this season.

Levi Draughon: A sophomore, Draughon finished 19th in the Big 8 Men’s Cross Country Championships for Cedar Ridge. He was the highest finisher among Cedar Ridge runners. Cedar Ridge finished 4th as a team.

Omarion Lewis: The sophomore Orange running back was named the Orange Panther of the Week after rushing for 95 yards and three touchdowns in the Panthers 31-30 win over Northwood in overtime last Friday night. Lewis leads the team in rushing.

Machai Holt: Made an interception in the fourth quarter of the Northwood game. Two plays later, Holt scored off a 32-yard touchdown pass from Wyatt Jones to tie the game against Northwood. Holt scored on a 10-yard touchdown run in overtime. Holt leads the team with eight touchdowns.

McKenzie Hawks: Hawks competed in the 3A Central Regional Women’s Golf Championships at Greensboro National Golf Club last week. Hawks, a senior, shot 107. Sarah Durham, an Orange sophomore, were the only Hillsborough representatives in the Central Regional Championships.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is cross country runner Allison Musty.  Last week, Musty finished 15th at the Big 8 Championships at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. She made the All-Big 8 Conference team. Musty helped Cedar Ridge finished 3rd as a team in the conference. Musty, a senior, helped set the school record in the 4×400 relay team in outdoor track & field for Cedar Ridge in 2017.  Last year, Musty was part of the Cedar Ridge 4×800 relay team that qualified for the 3A State Track & Field Championships in Greensboro. In cross country,  Musty helped the Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team qualify for the state championships as a team when they finished 2nd in the 3A Mideast Regionals in 2018. This weekend, Cedar Ridge has a goal of repeating its success when they compete in the Mideast Regionals again. It will be held Saturday at Northwood High School in Pittsboro.  

The Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team had another strong showing at the Big 8 Cross Country Championships at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on Thursday. The Red Wolves finished third behind Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill. In a sprint to the finish line, Cedar Ridge Anne Morrell edged out East Chapel Hill’s Sara Oren for 10th place, meaning Morrell was named to the All-Big 8 Conference team for the second year in a row. Allison Musty, Zoe Wade, Ariana Solis, Jill Myler, Ruby Lapham and Sarah Tucker also ran for the Cedar Ridge women. Next week, Cedar Ridge will compete in the 3A Mideast Regionals at Northwood High School in Pittsboro. Last year, the Cedar Ridge women finished 2nd in regionals and qualified for the state championships as a team. 

The finish line is approaching for several fall sports. After the Big 8 Women’s Tennis Championships last week at East Chapel Hill High School, two singles players qualified for the 3A Mideast Regionals at the Burlington Tennis Center. Another tandem qualified for the doubles regionals.

In volleyball, Cedar Ridge and Orange enter the week tied for 3rd place after the Lady Panthers defeated the Red Wolves last Thursday. Orange hosts Chapel Hill this week, while Cedar Ridge will have senior night on Tuesday against East Chapel Hill. Orange will also have its senior night on Thursday against Southern Durham.

In men’s soccer, the second leg of the Hillsborough Derby will be held tonight (Monday) at Orange. After Cedar Ridge rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat Orange in penalty kicks last month, the Panthers will look to split the season series tonight at Orange Soccer Stadium. Cedar Ridge defeated Orange last year at OHS. Cedar Ridge is on the state playoff bubble, currently ranked #63 in the Maxpreps ranking. Orange is #71.

Of course, on Friday night, there’s football. Cedar Ridge, coming off the Chapel Hill win last week, will look for its first winning streak since September 2016 when they travel to East Chapel Hill. Interestingly, the last time Cedar Ridge won consecutive games, they defeated Jordan-Matthews and East Chapel Hill en route to a 6-5 season.

Orange will make its first-ever trip to Vance County. After a disappointing performance against Northern Durham, Orange’s state playoff hopes may be on the line against the Vipers.

Without further ado, here’s this week’s Magnificent 7.

Isaiah McCambry: The sophomore was simply sensational in the Cedar Ridge football team’s 20-19 win over Chapel Hill. He amassed 190 rushing yards and three touchdowns as the Red Wolves won a varsity football game for the first time in 765 days. McCambry has a chance at a 1,000 yard season. With four games remaining, he has 630 yards and five touchdowns.

Brianna Cellini: Cellini qualified for the 3A Mideast Regional tennis tournament in doubles. Last week, Cellini and Mary-Hunter Millet partnered to advance to the semifinals of the Big 8 Conference Tournament. Cellini and Millet will start play this weekend at the Burlington Tennis Center. Cedar Ridge’s Olivia Ward also qualified for regionals in singles competition.

Anne Morrell: Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team won a meet at Orange last week. Morrell won the women’s race at 22:31.6. In fact, Cedar Ridge had the top seven finishers: Morrell, Zoe Wade, Jill Myler, Ariadna Solis, Allegra Hart, Allison Musty and Sarah Tucker. Morrell has been the top finisher for the Cedar Ridge women in races in Charlotte and Greensboro this season.

Cameron Lloyd: Lloyd is one of three Cedar Ridge players to register 100 points this year. The kicker is all three of those players are freshmen. Lloyd had two 20-kill matches last week. In a four-set win over Northern on Thursday at Poe Gymtorium in Durham, Lloyd had 20 kills, eleven digs, three aces and two assists. In the five-set loss to Orange, Lloyd had a career-high 25 kills, five aces, 17 digs, and an assist.

Jera Hargrove: A sophomore, Hargrove qualified for the 3A Mideast Regionals during the Big 8 Women’s Tennis tournament. In the quarterfinals last Wednesday, Hargrove defeated an opponent from East Chapel Hill 6-2, 6-4 Hargrove also won in Orange’s final dual match of the season against Northern Durham last Monday. Hargrove had to default in her semifinal match in the Big 8 Tournament because of a gimpy knee, but she is set to compete for a spot in the state championships this weekend.

Lottie Scully: The Orange volleyball team is headed to the state playoffs after sweeping Cedar Ridge and Northwood last week. Scully, a sophomore, had 12 kills, three aces, ten blocks and eight digs against the Red Wolves. Scully is second on the team with 72 kills going into Tuesday match against Chapel Hill.

Bennett Fleming: A senior for the Orange men’s cross country team, Fleming finished first in a meet against Cedar Ridge last week at Cedar Ridge. Fleming crossed the finish line at 18:53.6. as Orange won the meet with 26 points. Last month, Fleming was Orange’s top finisher at the Adidas Cross Country Challenge at WakeMed Soccer Complex in Cary.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior cross country runner Anne Morrell. Last week at the Wendy’s Invitational in Charlotte, the Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team finished 1st in the Open Division race, beating out 24 other teams from across the state. Morrell was the top finisher for the Red Wolves at 20:09.90. Last month, Cedar Ridge also finished 1st in the 36th Greensboro Invitational in Pleasant Garden. Morrell finished 7th overall. The Red Wolves Cross Country team finished 2nd in the 3A Mideast Regionals last year, qualifying for the state championships. Morrell has experienced plenty of success in cross country and track & field so far in her Cedar Ridge stint. She continued her strong 2019 form on Tuesday when Cedar Ridge won a dual match against Orange, a race where Morrell finished 1st. 

This was the week that was: This is the first time all year that Cedar Ridge volleyball starts the week outside of first place in the Big 8 Conference. After losses to East Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill, the Red Wolves enter Tuesday’s match against Orange still battling for an automatic spot in the playoffs.

For those unfamiliar with how the current playoff structure works in North Carolina, the teams that finish in the top two of their conference automatically make the playoffs. The remaining teams are determined by MaxPreps rankings. As of Sunday night, Cedar Ridge and East Chapel Hill are tied for 2nd with 7-2 conference marks. Orange is 6-3, which makes Tuesday’s match between the Red Wolves and the Lady Panthers all the more important. A second place finish guarantees a home state playoff match for whoever captures it.

However, Orange and Cedar Ridge are shoo-ins for the state playoffs. Cedar Ridge’s MaxPreps ranking is #15. East Chapel Hill is #18. Orange is #24. Neither Cedar Ridge or Orange are on the bubble to make the playoffs, but they sure would love to host a match in the state playoffs. That’s much more questionable in the final two weeks of the regular season.

However, the Cedar Ridge and Orange men’s soccer teams are on the bubble. Cedar Ridge has a critical match against Northwood on Monday night. The Red Wolves swept Southern Durham and Vance County last week. Orange defeated Southern Durham but fell to Northern Durham. Cedar Ridge’s MaxPreps ranking is #65, while Orange is #71.

In women’s tennis, Orange and Cedar Ridge will compete in the Big 8 Conference Tournament on the Lindsay Linker Tennis Courts at East Chapel Hill on Wednesday afternoon. Orange guaranteed itself a winning season on Thursday by beating Roxboro Community School, it’s first winning campaign in at least eight years.

Here’s the Magnificent 7 from an interesting Week 7. As always, two of the following athletes will be named the Orange Panther of the Week and the Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week sometime in the days ahead.

The Magnificent 7:

Reese Weaver: Scored the opening goal in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Southern Durham at Spartan Stadium. On Monday night, Weaver scored two goals as the Red Wolves defeated Vance County 6-1 in Henderson. Weaver, a senior, now has eight goals this season.

Zoe Wade: After her teammate Anne Morrell was honored last week when the Red Wolves women’s cross country team won the Greensboro Invitational, Wade is inducted into the Hall of Awesome this week after coming in 10th at the Wendy’s Invitational at McAlpine Park. Wade crossed the finish line at 20:31.50. Morrell finished 7th as the Red Wolves won its second open race in two weeks. Cedar Ridge finish 1st out of 25 teams.

Brianna Cellini: Won her singles and doubles match as Cedar Ridge defeated Vance County in Henderson 9-0. It was Cellini’s final dual match as a member of the Red Wolves. In her career, Cellini helped the Red Wolves win the 2016 Big 8 Championship. Now, she will focus on the Big 8 Tournament on Wednesday in an attempt to qualify for regionals.

Cameron Lanier: Finished with eleven kills, a block, an ace and a dig in the Cedar Ridge volleyball team’s 3-2 win over Vance County on Monday. On Wednesday, she had the final two kills in Cedar Ridge’s sweep of N.C. School of Science and Math. Cedar Ridge is 14-3 headed into Monday’s road trip to Bartlett Yancey.

Sydney Allison: The Orange women’s tennis team won its final home match of the season against J.F. Webb on Wednesday. Allison was selected by head coach Justin Webb as the player of the match. She won her match at #2 singles 8-6. Later on in doubles, Allison teamed with Gaylaw Eh to win 8-1. On Friday, Allison teamed with Elsa Landeros to win at #3 doubles as the Lady Panthers clinched a winning season.

Tyler Werden: Werden scored the game-winning goal in the first period of extra time as the Orange men’s soccer team defeated Southern Durham 3-1 on Monday night. On September 27, Werden scored two goals in a loss to Carrboro. He also scored in a loss to Northern Durham on Thursday.

Avery Miller: The sophomore stepped up with seniors Emma Clements and Elizabeth Vosburg out of the lineup against East Chapel Hill last Tuesday. Miller had eleven kills in a tight 3-1 loss to the Wildcats. On Thursday in Orange’s 3-0 win over Vance County, Miller led Orange with eleven kills. She also had eight digs and an ace as Orange improve to 11-6.