The 6’8 Christian Fischer made his final swim meet at the Triangle SportsPlex memorable on Thursday afternoon. He won two events: the 50 and 100 yard freestyle. In the 100, he edged Orange’s Gabe Walker with a time of 52.38. In the 50, he narrowly defeated Collin Montague by four-tenths-of-a-second.
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Fisher won the 100 yard freestyle and the 50 yard freestyle against Orange on Thursday afternoon.
In her final meet at the Triangle SportsPlex in Hillsborough, Cedar Ridge senior swimmer Hannah Kloetzer captured victories in two events. She won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:33.33, 44 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor. She also captured the 200 yard freestyle at 2:05, ahead of Orange’s Lauren Behringer.
Cedar Ridge’s Hannah Kloetzer Talks Winning Two Events on Senior Night vs. Orange
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You can do a lot in a lifetime
If you don’t burn out too fast
You can make the most of the distance
First you need endurance
First you’ve got to last
–Neal Peart
Ironically, despite winning back-to-back Big 8 Cross Country Individual Championships, Ian Elliott doesn’t think he’s a marathon runner.
“I’m bigger than most runners,” said Elliott. “I figure I’m more of a track runner. Cross country is pushing it.”
The mental hurdles that may keep Elliott from running further didn’t factor into his final cross country season at Cedar Ridge, even when it should have. The Big 8 Confernece Championship meet at Chapel Hill High School was run in 89-degree temperatures on October 19.
Despite the unseasonably warm weather, Elliott finished with a time of 16:42.08, eight seconds better than Chapel Hill’s Ryan Combs to win his 2nd consecutive Big 8 Championship. In fact, Elliott was the only non-Chapel Hill runner in the top 10.
“It was a lot grittier this year,” said Elliott. “Mainly because of the weather. But I also feel I’m good in heat. I put in fairly hard miles in heat during the summer. Although I knew it feel awful. But that’s running.”
The heat is something Elliott relished during his stint at Cedar Ridge. He went on to finish 7th at the MidEast Regionals at Northwood High a week later. He finished 26th in the state meet, when the traditional fall weather had finally settled in.
“I think some people are just better in the heat and some aren’t,” said Elliott. “I’m not as good in the cold, even though I practice a lot in the cold and the rain. I never perform well in the rain.”
“You just have to be gritty. It doesn’t have to be a pretty race as long as I do well.”
Elliott has already started his indoor track season, recently finishing 15th in the 1500 meters in the NC Runners Holiday Invitatational at JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem.
After Elliott finishes the upcoming spring outdoor track season, he plans to hang up his sneakers, leaving as the most accomplished cross country runner in Cedar Ridge history.
“I’m not looking to run competitively in college,” said Elliott. “I’d love to stay in shape and run for a club. Maybe run a Fun Run 5K. Maybe take one hard every now and then. But after this track season, I think I’ll be done with competitive running.”
The only thing standing between Cedar Ridge’s Elizabeth Zarzar and more individual championships during the 2016 fall season were the very best runners in the state.
Zarzar finished 3rd in the Big 8 Girls Cross County Conference championship on a sultry fall day at Chapel Hill High School. The only runners who crossed the finish line ahead of her were two from Chapel Hill, a squad that captured the 3-A state championship claimed its second straight state championship.
However, nothing held Zarzar back on October 11 at Orange High. Competing against runners from Orange, J.F. Webb and Southern Durham, Zarzar completed the course in 21:05, beating the closest competitor by over one minute.
“I was proud of my run,” said Zarzar. “Especially because of the heat. My time was a lot better than I thought. I didn’t get my personal record, but I really wasn’t expecting to because of the heat. I was really happy with how I placed.”
Zarzar also finished 3rd in the 3-A Mideast Regionals at Northwood High School in Pittsboro, earning at spot in the state championships. In the 3-A state meet, she finished 11th overall at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville.
Chapel Hill junior Katherine Dokholyan captured the conference, regional and state championships.
Zarzar, a senior, was still proud of her season, often running in temperatures far warmer than previous years.
“I thought I started this year really strong,” said Zarzar. “We start training in June, so once conference and regionals come around we have to make sure we don’t get sore.”
Elizabeth is ranked 6th in her class at Cedar Ridge and holds all of the school’s long distance records. She earned WRAL’s Extra Effort Award in October.
After playing twice in two days, the Cedar Ridge boys basketball team will have to be content with a split going into Christmas break.
Elijah Haynes scored 21 points as the Tigers defeated the Red Wolves 75-62 at Tiger Gymnasium.
Terrance Crawford led the Red Wolves with 16 points, while Dmonte Kinney and Khalil Barnett added ten.
According to the News of Orange, Cedar Ridge led 22-15 in the second quarter before the Tigers finished the half on a 18-2 run. CHHS led 33-24 at the half and never trailed again.
Cedar Ridge heads into the Holiday at the Pines Tournament in Southern Pines with a 5-4 record, 1-2 in the Big 8.
On Monday night, the Red Wolves had a healthy Caleb Cashaw against Granville Center, which made a big difference.
Cashaw paced the Red Wolves with 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field as Cedar Ridge cruised past the Panthers 68-54 in Stem. Freshman Mekai Collins added 13 points, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
Trailing 15-14 after the first quarter, Cedar Ridge held the Panthers to nine points in the second quarter. Cedar Ridge shot a season-high 51 percent from the field.
B.J. Freeman added eight points and nine rebounds.
The Cedar Ridge girls basketball team enters the holiday break on a three-game winning streak. The Red Wolves defeated Granville Central 71-35 on Monday, then knocked off Chapel Hill 40-25 on Tuesday. Cedar Ridge is now 6-3, 2-1 in the Big 8. The Red Wolves of Coach Felton Page will start play in the Eastern Alamance Holiday Tournament on Thursday.
Before the Cedar Ridge and Orange boys and girls basketball teams go thinking about opening presents, getting much-needed rest during Christmas break and enjoying the NBA’s smorgasbord of games next Sunday, they have their business to take care of on the hardwood.
On Friday, the Cedar Ridge boys and girls were supposed to play on Friday against Southern Durham. The Orange squads were slated to face Northern Vance. None of those games took place. They Orange County School System cancelled after school activities on Friday afternoon due to the threat of freezing rain. That despite the fact that Northern Vance’s boys and girls team had already made the 75-minute trip from near the Virginia border to Hillsborough by bus, only to be told there would be no games that night (The doubleheaders are slated to be rescheduled for January, though a date hasn’t been determined by school).
Now, CRHS and Orange have vital games this week before going into their holiday tournament. Cedar Ridge will play two games in two days, starting with its first road trip of the season tonight against Granville Central in Stem. (It will be another tripleheader, with the girls playing at 6, the boys at 7:30). Then on Tuesday night, the boys travel to Chapel Hill, while the girls will host the Red Wolves.
Cedar Ridge is 4-3, 1-1 in the Big 8 Conference. They will enter tonight’s game against the Panthers will five days off after its thrilling 39-36 victory over Northern Vance last Wednesday, a game where Dmonte Kinney hit the game-winning 3-pointer with :18 remaining.
For Cedar Ridge, the layoff between games was welcomed with open arms. Center Colby Cashaw has been hampered with a knee injury since the Orange game on December 10. He was held to two points against the Vikings.
The Orange boys have only one game this week, but it will play a huge role in the Big 8 Championship race. They travel to Southern Durham on Tuesday night for at 7:00 tipoff.
The Panthers lost to East Chapel Hill on Wednesday 67-58 to fall to 5-4. They shot 36% from the field, but only 5-of-24 from 3-point range. Connor Crabtree scored a season-high 35 points, but Logan Vosburg was held to a season-low four points.
The Orange girls will get a chance to go into Christmas undefeated when they host Soutnern Durham on Tuesday at 7:00. Orange held off East Chapel Hill 46-39 on Tuesday at Wildcat Gymnasium. Kaylen Campbell scored 13 points while Jazlyn Watson registered 12. Icez Barnett had 12 rebounds, though East Chapel Hill outrebounded the Panthers 38-34. The Panthers’ defense stifled the Wildcats, limiting them to 22% shooting from the field.
The local schools will split in different directions for their respective holiday tournaments.
The Orange boys travel to Greensboro for the Eastern Guilford Holiday Tournament, starting Wednesday, December 28. It will be an eight-team field with the championship slated for December 30.
The Orange Girls and Cedar Ridge girls will both play in Mebane at the Eastern Alamance Holiday Tournament starting December 29th. It’s also an eight-team field with the championship set for New Year’s Eve.
As for the Cedar Ridge boys, they head to Southern Pines for the Holiday in the Pines tournament. The Red Wolves will open against Pinecrest on December 28th.
For the second time in three weeks, Orange wrestling captured a team championship at a multi squad tournament.
After winning the Jim King/Orange Invitational two weeks ago, the Panthers finished first in the Eastern Alamance Eagle Classic on Saturday. Behind 1st place finishes from Gavin Wiggins (120), Charlie Fitzpatrick (152) and Payton Wilson (220), the Panthers finished with 286 points, outdistancing Southeast Guilford’s 259. Cedar Ridge finished with 65.
After coming in as the runner-up at the JKO, Wiggins won the 120 pound championship with two major decisions and a pin. He defeated Graham’s Isiah Smith 11-1 on Friday to advance to the semifinals. On Saturday, he easily put away Bishop McGuiness’ Jared Russell 15-1 before pinning Southeast Guilford’s Turner Garrison in 2:32. Wiggins is now 17-3.
Fitzpatrick’s path to the championship was so dominant, he was only extended into the 2nd period once in four matches. He pinned Raleigh Sanderson’s Arsalan Momand in :17, followed by a 1:04 pin of Bartlett Yancey’s Tristan Winn. In the semifinals, he pinned Eastern Alamance’s Jordan Carr-Daye in 1:12. Fitzpatrick earned the championship by pinning Cole Wellington of Dan River (out of Danville, VA) in 2:55. Fitzpatrick is 19-1 with 16 pins.
Wilson’s three matches might as well have been timed with a stopwatch. He pinned Southeast Guilford’s Levi West in :56 for the 220 championship—his longest match of the weekend. He finished off Cedar Ridge’s Izaac Rivera in :51 on Friday, then defeated Bishop McGuiness’ Nick Ackerman in :16, the second-fastest pin of the weekend (East Chapel Hill’s Micah Baker pulled off a :15 pin in the 285 consolation round).
After missing the final two dual matches in last weekend’s Jim Coggins Classic at Southwest Guilford and Wednesday’s dual match against Northwood because of an ingrown hair on his right leg, Bailey Hawkins returned to action for a runner-up finish at 132 pounds. Hawking scored two pins (over Bartlett Yancey’s Talyn Graes in 1:24 and Northwest Guilford’s Finn Queen in 1:14), then claimed a major decision over Jose Chahulz of Burlington Williams 16-0. Southeast Guilford’s Austin Robinson captured the championship by beating Hawkins 15-6.
Also finishing second was Mitchel Askew at 106 and Daylan Alston at heavyweight. Askew rolled into the finals after a 9-4 victory over Bartlett Yancey’s Jacob Wright in the semfinals. He fell to Northern Guilford’s Heath Ginger 11-3. Askew scored two pins on Thursday over Dan River’s Jalon Scales (1:30) and Northwest Guilford’s Duncan McGuire (:56). Askew, who had a ten-match winning streak going into the Ginger bout, is now 18-2.
Alston pinned Northern Guilford’s Paul Klutz in 1:22 to make the semifinals. On Saturday, he pinned Dakota McLendon of Eastern Alamance in :46 before falling to Southeast Guilford’s Evan Surgeon 11-3.
At 170, Josiah Ramirez suffered his first loss of the season after opening the campaign with 19 straight win. He fell in the semfinals to Northwest Guilford’s Chris Garrison 3-2. Ramirez rebounded to earn third place by pinning Cedar Ridge’s Seth McKee in 2:20, followed by another pin of Western Alamance’s Devin Daniels in 3:49.
Also earning third place was Levi Anderson (138); Avery Jenkins (145); Caleb Brimmer (160); and Braden Homsey (182).
Jamar Davis finished fourth at 195. Mitchell Lopeman came in 5th at 126.
Among Cedar Ridge grapplers, Seth McKee finishing 5th at 170 pounds. He pinned Walker Stewart of Williams in :18 before falling to Southeast Guilford’s Ben Bolcavage in :30. In the consolation rounds, McKee pinned Alex Credle of Northern Guilford in :50 and Bartlett Yancey’s Zack Riccihini in 1:49.
The Red Wolves’ DeMarcus Smith finished 5th at 170. He pinned Cummings’ Jacob Boggs in 2:13 to place in the tournament. Smith earned wins over Williams’ Charlie Sartin, Sanderson’s Kim Blythe and Bishop McGuinness’ Garrett Hope.
Orange and Cedar Ridge will partcipate in the Tiger Holiday Wrestling Classic, a two-day tournament that begins Thursday at Chapel Hill High School. The finals will be Friday.
Hillsboroughsports.com has added radio coverage of Cedar Ridge boys and girls basketball games to its coverage.
Because of the generosity of sponsors like Carolina Hilltopper Lacrosse, the Deer Pushers Association of America, Handy Andy’s, and Carden’s Body and Paint Shop, coverage of Cedar Ridge sports will now be carried on HillsboroughSports.com. This will extend to spring sports, as well as to next football season.
In order to listen to Cedar Ridge sports, simply go to http://www.spreaker.com/user/cedarridge. Not only can you hear the broadcasts live, but they’re available on demand to hear the moments you want to experience again.
HillsboroughSports.com’s focus is to cover high school sports in an updated, comprehensive fashion featuring all athletes in all fields, regardless of season. The addition of the Cedar Ridge Network will continue that purpose well into the future.
Kevin Anzenberger will serve as the play-by-play man for Cedar Ridge basketball, baseball, lacrosse and softball games for the future. The website will broadcast as many games as possible as staffing allows, starting with Friday’s doubleheader against Southern Durham at CRHS Gymnasium.
In order to inquire about sponsoring Cedar Ridge broadcasts, email Jeff Hamlin at hamlin37@hotmail.com.
The Red Wolves face Southern Durham on Friday night at 7:30.
Cedar Ridge Boys Basketball Coach Clay Jones Talks Northern Vance Win
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