Orange High School

Two Orange High swimmers competed in their respective individual championship meets during the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3A State Swimming Championships.

In addition, Cedar Ridge’s Devin Bunner, who was named the Big 8 Male Swimmer of the Year last month at the Big 8 Conference Championships, finished eighth in the 100 yard breaststroke on Saturday afternoon at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary.

Orange junior Matthew Geib competed in the championship final individually and in a relay race. Geib finished 7th in the 100 yard butterfly at 53.11 seconds. Boyd Poelke of Marvin Ridge captured the championship at 49.26 seconds.

Geib joined senior Noah Jimison, Cross Roman and Owen Rasinske to come in 8th in the state in the 200 yard medley relay at 1:41.55. Earlier in the day, Geib, Jimison, Roman, and Rasinske qualified for the championship race with an eighth place finish in the preliminaries.

It was the last time that Jimison and Roman, both seniors, would race alongside junior teammates Geib and Rasinske.

“In my mind, I was just trying to do my best today,” Jimison said. “We were looking forward to the relays. My goal is this meet was to make the (championship) finals. So I just wanted to make everyone proud.”

In addition, Jimison qualified for the state championships in two individual events. He finished 12th in the 200 yard individual medley at 2:01.21. In the 100 yard backstroke, Jimison came in 14th at 55.65 seconds.

The previous week in the 3A Central Regionals in Greensboro , Jimison, Geib, Roman and Rasinske won the regional championship and broke the school record in the 200 medley with a time of 1:40.44.

“I just wanted to leave it all in the water,” Roman said. “I wanted to give it everything I had and make it the best meet I’ve ever had in my four years at Orange. That’s what I’ll remember about my time at Orange. Breaking the records with my boys right here and just really enjoying the entire four years.”

Bunner ended his Cedar Ridge career with a 10th place finish in the 200 yard individual medley. He touched the wall at 2:00.46.

Cedar Ridge’s 400 yard freestyle relay team of Bunner, Gabriel Castaneda, John Garcia and Grant Fox finished 17th in the preliminaries, ending up with a time of 3:35.39.

In the women’s ranks, Orange’s 200 yard medley team of Abby Dease, Ashley Behringer, Brooke Walker and Calla Walker finished 16th in the 200 yard relay at 1:59.14.

Dease, Calla Walker, Behringer and Melissa Campbell finished 16th in the 400 yard freestyle relay. They ended up with a time of 3:54.62. Campbell is a sophomore, while Walker, Dease and Behringer are all juniors.

Behringer also qualified for the state championships in two individual events. She finished 18th in the 200 yard individual medley at 2:21.45. In the 100 yard butterfly, Behringer came in 17th at 1:01.74.

Calla Walker, a junior, came in 18th in the 50 yard freestyle at 25.83 seconds.

Orange’s Brooke Walker came in 16th in the 100 yard backstroke at 1:13.28.

Chapel Hill won the men’s team state championship at 266 points. Marvin Ridge had 254. Orange finished 13th in the men’s standings with 75 points.

Charlotte Catholic won the women’s state championship.

Mia Davidson: The Mississippi State softball team opened the 2020 season by winning the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Leadoff Classic at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, FL. The Bulldogs defeated Missouri State 5-0 on Friday, romped past Liberty 9-2 and edged Louisville 3-2 in eight innings on Saturday, then shut out N.C. State 9-0 in five innings on Sunday to clinch the championship. Davidson hit her first home run fo the season against Liberty, a solo blast in the fourth inning. For the weekend, Mia hit .385 for the weekend. She finished 5-for-13. In the season opener against Missouri State, Davidson went 1-for-3 with a run scored.

Montana Davidson: Montana started her redshirt junior season by playing all four games this weekend for Mississippi State, as well. Montana went 1-for-2 against Missouri State and had an RBI off a sacrifice fly. She finished .273 with two RBIs. Mississippi State will host Alabama State in hits home opener at Nusz Park in Starkville, MS on Wednesday.

Marvin Jones: The North Carolina Central junior continued a strong season for the Eagles’ indoor track & field team. In the Camel City Invitational at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, Jones won the high jump on Saturday. Jones matched his career-best leap by clearing 2.10 meters. Jones, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2017, has now won the high jump twice and finished second twice this season. He has also qualified for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championships, which starts February 20 in Landover, MD. The Eagles will return to action in the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational, hosted by Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA on Friday.

Bowen Collins: The Lenoir-Rhyne men’s lacrosse team opened its season with a 22-11 victory over Young Harris at Moretz Stadium in Hickory on Saturday. Collins had three goals and two assists for the Bears, who are ranked #16 in Division II. With his first career hat trick, Collins matched his total goal output from all of last season. Collins, a redshirt senior, had five shots, four of them on goal. The Bears face Westminster on Friday in Hickory.

Zach Wright: The former Orange attacker started lacrosse season for the Division II Mars Hill Lions. Montevallo defeated Mars Hill 19-12 at Meares Stadium in Mars Hill on Saturday. Wright scored Mars Hill’s last goal of the third period. He had three shots, two on goal. Mars Hill will host Lees-McRae on Tuesday.

Kaylen Campbell: After starting the year 9-1, the Division III Trinity women’s basketball team has lost three straight. On February 1, Williams defeated the Bantams 83-76 in Williamstown, MA. On Friday, Tufts upended the Bantams 77-61 in Medford, MA. Campbell scored two points and grabbed five rebounds in 16 minutes. Tufts, the top-ranked team in Division III, improved to 21-0. On Saturday, Bates edged Trinity 54-50 in Lewiston, ME. Campbell didn’t score in three minutes of action. Trinity is 15-7 overall, 4-4 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. Campbell has played in 17 games this season. She’s averaging 11.9 minutes per game, 2.9 points per game and 2.2 rebounds per game. Trinity will host Amherst on Friday in Hartford, CT in an attempt to break its losing streak.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior swimmer Noah Jimison. On Saturday, Jimison swam his final meet for Orange in the 3A State Swimming Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. Jimison finished 12th in the state in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:01.76. He also came in 14th in the state in the 100yard backstroke at 55.96 seconds. Jimison was also a part of two relay teams that qualified for the state championships. He joined Matthew Geib, Cross Roman and Owen Rasinske in finishing 8th in the State in the 200 yard medley, coming in with a time of 1:41.55. Jimison, Geib, Roman and Rasinske also finished 12th in the 400 yard freestyle relay. Swimming has been a big part of Noah’s life since he was ten. He has constantly trained at the Orange County Sportsplex and hopes to continue swimming at the next level after he graduates from Orange in June.

Orange High’s 200 yard medley relay team of Noah Jimison, Matthew Geib, Cross Roman and Owen Rasinske came in 8th in the state on Saturday during the 3A State Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center. The group had a time of 1:41.55. On Saturday morning, Jimison, Geib, Roman and Rasinske finished eighth in the preliminaries at 1:40.25 to qualify for the championship final. It was a busy day for Jimison and Geib. Geib reached the championship race of the 100 yard butterfly, where he finished 7th in the state at 52.07 seconds. Also, Geib finished 10th in the 100 yard breaststroke. Jimison finished 12th in the state in the 200 yard individual medley, finishing with a time of 2:01.21 in the consolation race. Jimison, in his final event as a Panther, also finished 14th in the 100 yard backstroke. While Jimison and Roman will be graduating, Geib and Rasinske will be back next year waking up early during winter mornings to practice at the Orange County Sportsplex.

While it wasn’t as dramatic as the UNC-Duke finish on Saturday night, the Stanford and Stanback Middle School wrestling teams had one more tight competition before wrestling season ended.

This time it was at the OPAC Tournament in Roxboro.

At Southern Middle School on Saturday, the Chargers finished first in the OPAC Tournament team standings with 155 points. The Bulldogs had 145 points.

Stanford won its 20th consecutive regular season championship last week after they defeated the Bulldogs 51-45 in Hillsborough. Last month, the Chargers edged the Bulldogs 47-46 at Bulldog Gymnasium.

Both the Chargers and the Bulldogs crowned four individual champions.

Gravelly Hill, who finished with 42 points, had Lucas Calvin win the 198 pound championship. Calvin defeated Stanback’s Carlos Vera De Lara in the championship match. He was one of two Grizzles to win individual championships.

Stanford’s Mateo Albright came in 3rd at 198.

After finishing 2nd last season at 76 pounds, Stanford’s Wyatt Hedrick won the 86 pound championship to complete a perfect season. Hedrick defeated Culbreth’s Jake Kent in the semifinals.

Stanback’s Pierce Prescod won the 101 pound championship, defeating Southern Roxboro’s Christian Lemaire in the final. Prescod had two individual wins over Stanford during the regular season. Stanford’s Aidan Cain finished 4th.

At 109 pounds, Stanford’s Jared Hutchins defeated Smith’s Siena Palmisiano in the final. Hutchins also finished the season undefeated and claimed his 2nd OPEC championship. Last year, he won the 86 pound title. Gavin Stone of Stanback finished 4th.

Josh Cowan won the 116 pound title for Stanford. Cowan defeated Stanback’s Leo Oguntiyinbo in an All-Hillsborough final to end the season undefeated. Cowan finished 2nd last year at 106 pounds.

Stanford’s Jace Womble also completed a perfect season by winning the 135-pound championship. Womble, who was the runner-up at 120 pounds in 2019, defeated Stanback’s Edwin Hernandez Huerta in the championship.

Stanback’s Kaden Tatro was the Bulldogs’ second individual champion. Tatro defeated Stanford’s Andre Hill to win the 141 pound title and ended the year with an unblemished record.

At 163 pounds, Stanback’s Marcos Esparza defeated Stanford’s Joshua Merrill in the title match. Esparza finished the year 11-0.

Stanback’s Joe O’Meila won the 173 pound championship over Northern Roxboro’s Daniel Moreno. O’Meila finished the year 11-1 for the Bulldogs. Stanford’s Vincent Jobert-Stenzel came in third.

Gravelly Hill’s other champion came at 155 pounds, where Mason Cates captured the crown. Cates defeated Stanford’s Sascha Van Praag in the final.

At 185 pounds, Stanback’s Marcos MacNeil came in 2nd. Gravelly Hill’s Victor Mendoza came in third.

Stanford’s Laurencio Grimaldo, competing at 148 pounds, finished 2nd. Angus Pritchard of Gravelly Hill came in 3rd in that weight class.

Stanford’s Kale Womble finished 2nd at 93 pounds after going undefeated in the regular season. Stanback’s Tommy Heckler came in 3rd.

Stanford’s Luke Stitz finished second at 76 pounds, falling in the championship match to Northern Roxboro’s Taveon Moss. Mason Pierce of Stanback finished 3rd.

At 123 pounds, Stanford’s Luke Nevius finished 2nd, falling to Culbreth’s Cameron Perry in the final. Nevius lost only two matches this season. Stanback’s Ryan Rakouskas came in fourth.

At heavyweight, Stanback’s Aaron Olivares Mojica came in second, falling in the final to McDougle’s John Reyez Cruz.

Stanback’s Kellen McMullen finished 2nd at 223 pounds.

Girl’s Basketball:

Last week, Stanford defeated Southern Roxboro 32-17. The Chargers were led by Shannon Murphy with eleven points. Katie Wolter added six. Evelyn George had five. Olivia Jones scored four, as did Dyreshia Farrish. Caden Robinson scored two for the Lady Chargers.

After a solid finish in the 3A Central Regional Championships, ten Orange swimmers are set to compete in the state championships.

Cedar Ridge’s Devin Bunner is also headed to Cary.

At the regionals last week at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, the Orange High men’s team finished 3rd overall out of 28 teams. The Lady Panthers women’s team finished 7th.

The biggest day belonged to Orange sophomore diver Stasz Zitko, who became the first athlete in school history to win a regional championship. Zitko finished with a score of 372.10. On Friday morning, Zitko finished 3rd in the 3A State Championships at Koury Natatorium at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Orange’s men’s medley relay team won the regional championship, breaking the school record at a time of 1:40.44. Noah Jimison, Matthew Geib, Owen Rasinske and Cross Roman formed the team that edged the Chapel Hill team by .16 of a second.

Jimison set two school records in the 100 backstroke and the 200 individual medley, qualifying for the state championships in both events. Jimison finished 4th in the backstroke in 55.19 seconds, and came in 5th in the 200 at 2:01.85.

In addition to the relay teams, Geib qualified for the state championships in the 100 meter butterfly and the 100 breaststroke. Geib finished 2nd in the 100 fly at 52.29. He finished 4th in the breaststroke at 1:01.57. Both times were personal bests.

Bunner, the Big 8 Male Swimmer of the Year, finished 2nd in the 100 yard breaststroke at 1:00.20, just seven-tenths-of-a-second behind Chapel Hill’s Michael Volpe. Bunner also came in 4th in the 200 yard individual medley at 1:59.07.

Cedar Ridge’s 400 yard freestyle relay team of Bunner, Grant Fox, Gabriel Castaneda and John Garcia also qualified for the state championships with a sixth place finish.

Individually, Castaneda broke 1:00 in the 100 butterfly for the first time in his career.

Orange’s Ashley Behringer qualified in two individual events. She finished 7th in the 200 individual medley at 2:20.49, her best time of the season. Behringer came in eighth in the 100 meter butterfly at 1:01.88, another season best. She also swam on both relay teams that qualified for the state championships.

Behringer was joined by Calla Walker, Brooke Walker and Abby Dease on the Medley Relay team. Behringer, Dease, Calla Walker and Melissa Campbell qualified in the 400 yard freestyle relay team with a sixth place finish at 3:55.46.

The 3A State Championships will be held at the Cary Aquatic Center starting on Saturday morning. The preliminaries will be held Saturday morning. The Championship finals will be held later in the afternoon.

Brooke Walker finished 7th in the 100 breaststroike with a mark of 1:11.88, another personal best.

On the men’s side, Roman finished sixth in the 100 breaststroke at 1:05.44. Roman will also spend Saturday on Orange’s two relay teams.

Both of the teams that finished ahead of Orange in the men’s team standings were Big 8 Conference rivals. Chapel Hill won the 3A team championship with 375 points. East Chapel Hill finished 2nd at 334 points. Orange had 220 points.

On the women’s side, East Chapel Hill won the team regional championship with 356 points. Chapel Hill came in 2nd with 301 points. Orange had 147 points.

Cedar Ridge’s Olivia Aitkin broke six minutes in the 500 freestyle for the first time.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is sophomore diver Stasz Zitko. On Friday morning, Zitko finished 3rd in the NCHSAA 3A State Diving Championships at Koury Natatorium at UNC-Chapel Hill. Zitko ended up with 391 points. Last week, Zitko became the first diver from Orange High ever to win a regional championship. At the Greensboro Aquatic Center, Zitko compiled 372.10 points to win the 3A Central Regional Championship. Zitko is the only diver for the Orange Men’s Swimming and Diving team. While his swimming colleagues train at the Orange County Sportsplex in Hillsborough, Zitko works out at Duke University. He has qualified for the 3A State Championships in both of his years at Orange. His goal before the end of his career is to win a state championship and earn a diving scholarship to a major university.

The first burst of severe weather this winter wasn’t a snowstorm. It was thunderstorms and high winds, which has led the Cedar Ridge and Orange basketball teams to reschedule its final home games.

Cedar Ridge’s game against East Chapel Hill, originally scheduled for Friday night, was rescheduled for Monday night at 7. The Red Wolves’ women’s basketball team will play at East Chapel Hill on Monday night at 7.

The Orange men’s basketball team not only had to adjust its game against Chapel Hill on Friday, but also its final home game of the year against Southern Durham.

The Panthers’ men’s basketball team will face Chapel Hill on Monday night at home at 7:30. The Orange women’s basketball team travels to Chapel Hill on Monday night.

Originally, the Orange men had its senior night game scheduled against Southern Durham on Tuesday. Now, the game has been rescheduled for Wednesday night at 7:30. The Orange women will also travel to Southern Durham on Wednesday.

The Orange men will conclude its regular season with a road trip to Northern Durham at Poe Gymtorium next Thursday. The Orange women will have its senior night game against the Lady Knights next Thursday, which will be the final home game for Lady Panthers senior Grace Andrews.

The Big 8 Conference Tournament will start February 17. All four basketball teams will be on the road for their respective first round games.

Orange’s Senior Night game will be the final home game for seniors Joey McMullin and Tucker Miller. It will be an unusual ending to an awkward season for McMullin, in particular. On the opposite sideline will be Southern coach Greg Motley, who was McMullin’s coach for his first two seasons at Orange. Motley, who coached Orange for 20 years before resigning at the end of the 2017-18 season, still teaches Economics at Orange and even has several current Panther players as his students. McMullen was one of them earlier this year, as was Orange’s starting point guard J.J. Thompson.

Of the four local teams, the Orange women have the best chance to make the state playoffs, despite a rash of injuries and losing four starters from last year. The Lady Panthers nearly turned the Big 8 Conference standings over on its ear on Thursday night, carrying league leader Northwood to overtime. The Chargers came away with a 51-44 victory, but only after Orange missed two free throws with three seconds remaining with the score tied at 44-44.

The Lady Panthers are 10-9, 4-7 in the Big 8 Conference.

While the Cedar Ridge men held its senior night ceremonies against Orange on January 31, Monday’s game against East Chapel Hill will be the official final home game for Mekai Collins, K.J. Barnes, Andrew Altieri, Jai’kel Gibbs, Zach Holmes, Grayson Ramos and Cameron Hartley. With a win, the Red Wolves would have its first three-game winning streak since early December 2016.

The Cedar Ridge men will conclude its regular season with a road trip to Southern Durham on Thursday.

For the third time in four years, there’s a chance the same school could win both the Big 8 men’s and women’s regular season championships. In the men’s standings, Northwood is 10-1, one game ahead of Southern Durham and Vance County. The Chargers end the year with road trips to Northern Durham and East Chapel Hill before finishing with a home game against Vance County. The Chargers defeated the Vipers 72-55 on January 21. Northwood and Southern Durham split their season series.

After escaping against Orange, Northwood leads the Big 8 Conference with a 10-1 record. Southern Durham, who lost both games to the Chargers, is 9-2.

Orange swept both basketball races in 2016-17. Hillside did it last year.

Schedule for the final week of the regular season:

Cedar Ridge men:

Monday: vs. East Chapel Hill in Hillsborough at 7.

Tuesday: at Vance County

Thursday: at Southern Durham

Cedar Ridge women:

Monday: at East Chapel Hill

Tuesday: at Vance County

Thursday: at Southern Durham

Orange men:

Monday: vs. Chapel Hill at 7:30

Wednesday: vs. Southern Durham 7:30

Thursday: at Northern Durham 7:30

Orange women:

Monday: at Chapel Hill

Wednesday: at Southern Durham

Thursday: vs. Northern Durham