Orange Track and Field

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is sophomore cross country runner Gabriel Schmid. This fall was the most successful season in Orange men’s cross country history. The Panthers won the Central Carolina Conference championship. They also captured the Mideast Regional Championship, just the second regional title in team history. Schmid played a big role in the Panthers’ success. He placed third in the Central Carolina Conference championship meet with a time of 16:44.28, which helped the Panthers finished with 28 points and earn the championship. In the Mideast Regionals, which included a field of 130 runners, Schmid finished 4th. He crossed the finish line at 16:44.31. Orange came in 3rd in the 3A State Championships. Schmid, in a field of 175 runners, finished 12th. Since cross country season ended, Schmid has gone right back to work with many of his teammates. Now, they’re preparing for the indoor track & field season, which will start in January. In addition to running, Schmid sings in the Orange chorus.

By most standards, the orange men’s cross country season with a unparalleled success.

However, there were higher expectations around the program this year under new coaches Hannah Hribar and Brian Schneidewind. In the 3A State Championships at the Ivey Redmond Sports Complex in Kernersville on Saturday, the Panthers finished third, tied for the best finish in team history.

Yet the top runner for the Panthers, senior Spencer Hampton, felt like they left some money on the table.

“Our goal from the beginning of the year was to win states,” Hampton said. “Based on how we were doing at the beginning that was our goal. But North Lincoln just had an amazing meet. I think with the team we had, the best we could have done was second. I look forward to seeing how Orange does next year, though I won’t be here.”

Hampton finished eighth overall in the state meet with a time of 16:10.88. Stuart Cramer’s Zachary Willer was the individual state champion, crossing the finish line at 15:42.61.

North Lincoln claimed the 3A State Championship with 106 points. Croatan was second with 125 points. Orange finished with 151 points, edging out South Central, who had 156 points.

Instrumental in Orange’s best-ever finish in the state championships was sophomore Gabriel Schmid, who came in 12th overall at 16:20.47. Another sophomore, Alden Cathey, came in 53rd. Senior Ethan Horton finished 57th overall. Senior Nick Pell, who was the Homecoming King and a backup tight end for the Orange men’s cross country team, finished 61st.

“Spencer and Gabe are amazing athletes and people,” Hribar said. “They help propel the team forward by being an example of the famous quote, “excellence…is not an act but a habit”. They have shown the team how much repeated efforts result in repeated success.”

The strong showing in the State Championships came a week after Orange captured the 3A Mideast Regional championship at Northwood High School in Pittsboro. Hampton finished 2nd in the region. The Panthers also won the Central Carolina Conference championship, where Hampton again paced the Panthers with a runner-up finish.

Last summer in outdoor track & field, Hampton won the 1,600 meter Mideast Regional Championship at Southern Lee High School in Sanford. A week later, Hampton finished 2nd in the 3,200 meters at the 3A State Track and Field Championships at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro.

“This is a truly incredible group of students,” Hribar said. “They are not only dedicated to running, but to creating a culture of excellence on the team. They run together outside of workouts, meet up for breakfast before school, and show up for each other.”

Cedar Ridge’s Roman Morrell was the top finisher in the men’s meet for the Red Wolves. Morrell, a junior, came in 26th overall at 16:59.46.

With Schmid and Cathey returning next fall, the Panthers will look to another strong season in defense of their regional championship. Many of these runners have already turned their attention to indoor track & field season.

“The highlight of the season for us was really changing the narrative and the culture around OHS cross country,” Hribar said. “Not only are we now known as being a highly competitive team in the state, but other coaches, teachers, and administrators comment on how our athletes have created a welcoming and supportive environment that students want to be a part of.”

In the women’s State Championships, Cedar Ridge’s Zoe Wade was the top local finisher. Wade, a senior, came in 60th at 21:49.79.

Croatan’s Navaya Zales of Croatan was the individual female state champion. Carrboro’s Hannah Preisser finished 2nd.

North Lincoln also won the 3A State Women’s Championship in the team standings with 59 points. Carrboro was second with 150 points. The top Central Carolina Conference female squad was Northwood, who finished 11th.

It has been a full Halloween weekend for Brian Schneidewind.

Just hours after he organized Orange High’s Homecoming festivities on Friday night, he woke up early Saturday morning for his second trip to Pittsboro in as many weekends. As Orange’s cross country coach, he rode back up 15-501 that afternoon after the Panthers won only its second regional championship in team history.

He arrived back to his Hillsborough home just in time to watch his beloved Michigan State Spartans pull off a comeback they’ll be taking about for decades in East Lansing, where he once lived. Against hated rival Michigan, the Spartans roared back from a 30-14 deficit to beat the Wolverines 37-33 at Spartan Stadium.

Yet even that illustrious comeback paled in comparison, at least in his mind, to what his cross country team pulled off at Northwood High School on Saturday morning. The Panthers won the 3A Mideast Regional championship with 62 points. It came just one week after Orange claimed the Central Carolina Conference championship on the same course in Pittsboro, the third conference title in team history.

Northwood came in second in the team standings with 78 points. Durham School of the Arts finished third with 101. Cedar Ridge was 12th with 283.

The common cliche about cross country events along a 3.1 mile course is “it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” It certainly didn’t end that way on Saturday when Orange’s Spencer Hampton and Carrboro’s Quinn Baker were engaged in a race to the finish line for first place. Hampton led by about 150 feet with 165 yards remaining. But Baker ran down Hampton and passed him with about 150 meters remaining.

Hampton, who finished second in the conference meet last week, finished as the overall runner-up again with a time of 16:17.60. That was only .26 of a second behind Baker. Hampton led a championship effort by Orange which included sophomore Gabriel Schmid coming in fourth at 16:44.31. Sophomore Alden Cathey, a member of the Panthers’ Conference 9 Championship team in men’s lacrosse last spring, crossed the finish line 14th. In a field of 130 competitors, Orange’s Ethan Horton finished 19th at 17:50.01.

Just hours after he was crowned Homecoming King and played his final game as a member of the Orange football team at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough, senior Nick Pell finished 23rd at 18:10.52.

Cedar Ridge junior Roman Morrell qualified for the 3A State Championships individually. He came in 9th place with a time of 17:26.05.

Schneidewind, in his first season as Orange’s cross country coach, previously served as the coach at Millbrook for 12 years. Orange’s last regional championship team was in 2008. Ironically that year, the Panthers finished ahead of Millbrook, coached by Schneidewind, at a major invitational.

“I had no clue where Orange was at the time,” Schneidewind said. “I didn’t even know where Hillsborough was.”

Schneidewind moved to Hillsborough after he wife got a job at Duke University. He has taught at Orange for five years while also coaching track & field.

Hampton’s 2nd place finish continues what has been a memorable year. In June, Hampton finished 2nd in the 3,200 meters at the 3A State Track and Field Championships at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro. He won the Mideast Regional Championship in the 3,200 meters at Southern Lee High School.

“I knew we had a good team from track season,” Schneidewind said. “Obviously, you never know how things are going to translate from track to cross country. Additionally, I definitely saw the kids were working hard in track, but it was great to see that they were willing to work and put it even more miles in cross country this fall.”

Before this season, only one Orange runner had finished a cross country race in less than 16 minutes. This year, there have been two–and it happened in the same event.

On October 2 at the Great American Cross Country Festival at WakeMed Soccer Complex in Cary, Hampton finished at 15:44.80. Schmid, who competed in a separate race, completed the course in 15:8.90.

“About midway through this season, Gabe definitely took his running to the next level,” Schneidewind said. “I knew Gabe was good from his freshman year in track. Around October, he became a top level runner.”

For Pell, it was his first race in over a month after he suffered a hip injury playing football. Pell, who caught a touchdown pass against Granville Central last month, actually went home with the regional championship trophy on Saturday.

“It’s not every day that you can hold up your regional cross country trophy with your senior football placard and a Homecoming crown,” Schneidewind said.

Cedar Ridge’s Zoe Wade qualified for the 3A State Women’s Cross Country Championship. Wade, who finished fourth in the CCC Championships, came in 17th in the regional championships.

Orange’s top female runner in the regionals was sophomore Kassi Scarantino, who finished 30th at 23:06.16.

The 3A State Championships will be held next weekend at the Ivey Redmond Sports Complex in Kernersville.

The cross country course at Northwood High School is one of the premier sites in the state. It has hosted conference and regional championships.

Only two months after nearly winning a state championship in track & field, Orange’s Spencer Hampton continued a stellar start to the fall season in Pittsboro.

On Monday, Hampton finished first in a Central Carolina Conference meet that also included Cedar Ridge, Northwood, Eastern Alamance and Western Alamance. Hampton had the top time of the day at 17:37.03, pacing a pack of 64 runners.

Hampton’s finished led Orange to come in 2nd in the team standings with 47 points. Northwood, which had four of the top seven runners, finished first with 23 points.

Orange’s Abezu Delvecchia was the only other Panther in the top 10, coming in 9th at 19:00.62.

Cedar Ridge came in fourth in the team standings with 98 points. Junior Roman Morrell came in fourth overall for the Red Wolves with a time of 18:00.90.

On September 10, Hampton finished 2nd in the Friday Night Lights Festival at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville among 238 runners in the men’s invitational race. In June, Hampton led most of the race in the 3,200 meters at the 3A State Track & Field Championships at North Carolina A&T University. He finished 2nd behind Williams

In the Friday Night Lights Festival, Orange’s Gabriel Schmid finished 11th, crossing the finishing line at 16:43.60.

In the Northwood meet, Cyrus Neal came in 11th, while Schmid finished 21. Freshman Aiden Viola, sophomore lien Cathey, seniors Gabriel Jamison and Ethan Horton, Josiah McCoy and Jospeh Bernardo all finished in the top 50 for Orange.

For Cedar Ridge, Grayson Weisenfeld, sophomore Ethan Benner, Ryan Rakouskas, freshman Ryan Capps, junior John Stephenson, freshman Shea Spiller, and senior Mason Meyer all had top-50 finishes.

In the women’s race at Northwood, the top finisher from a local school was Orange junior Sophia Schultz, who crossed the finish line at 24:38.01.

The Cedar Ridge women’s team finished third among six teams. The Red Wolves had four runners finish in the top 20, including junior Sarah Fenwick, who came in 15th. Senior Sarah Tucker, who has competed in cross country and track & field at Cedar Ridge since she was a freshman, came in 17th.

Cedar Ridge’s Caroline Fowlkes, who qualified for the 3A State Track & Field Championships in the pole vault as a freshman, finished 21st.

Freshman Celine Galla came in 22nd, while Serena Summers and Georgia Roney finished 25th and 27th, respectively.

The Orange women’s team came in 5th in the overall standings. Abby Hengsterman, Harper Trost, Maggie Saunders, Avery Hengsterman, and Margaret Hales all had top 40 finishes for the Panthers. Junior Kate Barger also crossed the finish line for Orange.

In the Friday Night Lights Festival, freshman Caroline Cathey was the top Orange finisher on the women’s team with a time of 23:11.00. She finished 123rd out of 210 runners. Kassi Scarantino, Schultz, Saunders, and Hales also ran for Orange in Kernersville.

Cathey’s time in Kernersville was the top time by a female Orange runner so far in the young season.

Men’s Soccer: Cedar Ridge 2, Eastern Alamance 0

Days after scoring two goals against Orange in the Hillsborough Derby, Cedar Ridge’s Chris Mendez added to his team-lead in goals.

On Monday night, Mendez scored the game-winning goal as Cedar Ridge defeated Eastern Alamance 2-0 at Fred Brady Stadium in Mebane. Senior Jorge Salazar added insurance for the Red Wolves, who improved to 3-7 overall, 2-1 in the Central Carolina Conference. It was the second straight conference win for the Red Wolves.

Mendez now has seven goals on the season. Salazar is second on the team with seven points.

Goalkeeper Benjamin Weaver earned his second clean sheet of the season. It was his second straight win in net.

The Red Wolves were supposed to face Western Alamance on Wednesday night at Red Wolves Stadium, but the game was rained out. Cedar Ridge will host Person on Thursday night in Hillsborough.

Orange 4, Person 1

Orange co-Captain Jasper Tell scored the game-winning goal as the Panthers earned its first win in the Central Carolina Conference over Person on Monday night at Orange Soccer Park.

Junior Dylan Silverman assisted on the opening goal, then added Orange’s second goal later in the first half. In the second half, junior Cooper Zinn notched his third goal of the season. In the final ten minutes, junior Jack Pendergast added the first goal of his varsity career.

Orange’s trip to Northwood on Wednesday night was rained out. The Panthers will travel to Southern Durham on Friday.

Women’s tennis: Williams 5, Cedar Ridge 1:

Last Wednesday, the Red Wolves had just enough time to squeeze in six singles matches against Williams. Three of them went to 10-point tiebreakers in the third set, all of them claimed by Williams.

Red Wolves senior Chloe Patz won the Red Wolves only match at #2 singles over Haven Amick of Williams 7-6, 6-4. Cedar Ridge is 3-3 overall, 2-3 in the CCC. Their match scheduled for Wednesday against Person was rained out. The Red Wolves host Durham School of the Arts on Thursday.

Cross Country:

Two months after finishing 2nd in the state in the 3,200 meters, Orange senior Spencer Hampton made a major impression by finishing 2nd in the Friday Night Lights Festival, one of the biggest cross country events of the regular season at Ivey Redmon Sports Complex at Mount Tabor on September 10.

Hampton finished 2nd out of 238 runners with a time of 16:07.30. The only runner in the entire field to finish ahead of Hampton was North Lincoln’s Stephen Fernetti, who came in six seconds ahead of Hampton.

The strong showing by Hampton helped Orange finish fifth among 30 teams. In addition to Hampton, Orange’s Gabriel Schmid finished 10th. Sophomore Alden Cathey came in 23rd. Senior Ethan Horton came in 83rd and junior James Wheelis came in 93rd.

Providence captured the men’s team competition.

In the women’s race, Orange freshman Carolina Cathey was the top finisher, coming in 123rd. Kassi Scarantino, Sophia Schultz, Maggie Saunders and Margaret Hales also competed for Orange.

Women’s golf:

The latest Central Carolina Conference women’s golf meet was held at the Valley in Burlington on Monday. Orange senior Sarah Durham, this week’s Orange Panther of the Week, finished fifth overall out of 23 competitors with a 51. It was her third top five finish in three matches this year.

Sarah’s younger sister, Samantha, finished only one stroke behind her sister with a 52. Shannon Dorsi, Kayla Pope and Lucia Godinez also competed for Orange.

Cedar Ridge’s Olivia Aitkin tied for 9th with a 59.

Northwood won the team meet with a 151, two strokes better than Eastern Alamance’s 153. Orange came in fourth out of five teams with 168 strokes.

Our Retro Orange Panther of the Week takes us back to February 7. Freshman Katie Belle Sikes had a memorable year at Orange in more ways than one. She won two regional championships in swimming. At the Greensboro Aquatic Center, Belle won the regional titles in the 50 yard freestyle and the 100 yard freestyle. A week later at the 3A State Championships in Raleigh, Belle finished 2nd in the 50 yard freestyle. She came in 3rd in the 100 yard freestyle. Belle also finished 5th in the regional championships in the 200 yard medley relay with Riley White, Brooke Walker and Melissa Campbell. After the winter ended, Belle continued to practice with her club team at the Orange County Sportsplex. Like many other swimmers across the country, Belle spent the past two weeks watching the Summer Olympics in Tokyo closely, and dreaming of reaching that level someday. For now, Belle is preparing for her sophomore year at Orange and preparing for next November when the next swim season begins. This year, Belle will compete in a more traditional setting instead of the pandemic conditions of 2021, where she largely raced against the clock.

Our Retro Orange Panther of the Week is swimmer Owen Rasinske. Last winter, Rasinske qualified for the 3A State Championships in four different events. He teamed with classmate Matthew Geib, junior Ian Moore and sophomore Evan Phillips to finish 10th in the state in the 400 yard freestyle relay in 3:27.40. Like nearly everything else, the state swimming championships were impacted by the pandemic this year. Instead of the intensity of competing against eight other swimmers in opposing lanes, Rasinske and his teammates competed against the clock in timed finals. He joined Moore, Phillips and Geib to finish 10th in the 200 yard medley relay at 1:42.56. That group finished 5th in the Central Regional Championships. Individually, Rasinske finished 10th in the state in the 50 yard freestyle at 22.31 seconds. He also finished 10th in the state in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 49.03 seconds. In the Central Regional Championships, Rasinske finished 2nd in the 50 yard freestyle and 3rd in the 100 yard freestyle. Rasinske graduated from Orange in June and is set to take a gap year. For now, he continues to train with his club team at the Orange County Sportsplex.

Our final Orange Panther of the Week for the 2020-2021 academic year is senior track and field athlete Erin Mink. On June 26, Mink finished 7th at the 3A State Track and Field Championships at North Carolina A&T’s Truist Stadium in Greensboro. Mink cleared ten feet. The previous week, Mink came in second at the Mideast Regionals at Southern Lee High School in Sanford. Mink didn’t just excel in the pole vault. At the Big 8 Conference Championships, Mink finished second in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump. This season, Mink Mink finished first in the triple jump at Friday Night Lights at East Chapel Hill High School on June 4. Mink had eight first place finishes for Orange this season in three different events. Her final meet at Orange took place two weeks after she graduated. Later this month, Mink will move in to her new surroundings at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she plans to study biology.