Cross County: Runners from Orange and Cedar Ridge High School took the top four spots in Tuesday’s men’s cross country meet at Northwood High School in Pittsboro.
Orange junior Gabriel Schmid earned his second win of the season. Schmid, who started the season with a victory at the Early Bird Special at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, crossed the finish line in 1st place with a time of 17:25.24. As he finished the race, Schmid held up his right hand to show “Lyric” written on the front in honor of Cedar Ridge freshman Lyric Woods, whose body was discovered in western Orange County on Sunday.
Cedar Ridge senior Roman Morrell, who has two first-place finishes this season, came in 2nd at 18:20.86. Morrell already has two wins at the Northwood High course. He captured the Ronald Horton Cross Country Classic on August 27. Last week, he finished first in a quad meet with Walter Williams and Northwood.
Orange finished first in the men’s team standings with 26 points. Panthers junior Alden Cathey came in third at 18:36.65, a new personal best. Orange freshman Lucas Van Mater finished fourth at 18:46.62. Panthers sophomore Peter Musser came in eighth (19:12.95).
Cedar Ridge freshman Ryan Matthews finished 9th (19:16.82).
Orange had a string of sophomores and freshman take spots 10-13. Finishing tenth was sophomore Cyrus Neal (19:41.46); in 11th place was sophomore Aiden Viola (19:45.61). In 12th was freshman Myles Jemyn (19:55.83) and in 13th was freshman Nolan Hufner (20:07.76).
Cedar Ridge freshman Henry Alexander came in 14th at 20:50.74. The Red Wolves men’s team came in third with 63 points. Northwood finished second with 48 points.
In the women’s race, Orange junior Grace Pell finished in second place at 24:03.64. The Lady Panthers had three of the top seven finishers with junior Kassi Scarntino coming in sixth (24:57.04. Orange freshman Evelyn Gover came in 7th place (25:20.99) and Kyla Mehl finished 8th (25:31.05).
Cedar Ridge’s Serena Summers finished 9th and was the top placer for the Red Wolves. Red Wolves senior Sarah Fenwick came in 10th.
Eastern Alamance’s Catherine Parker won the overall race. The Eagles also captured the team race with 35 points, narrowly edging out Orange, who had 39 points. Cedar Ridge finished 3rd with 72 points.
Men’s Soccer: Orange 4, Person 0: The Orange men’s soccer team captured its second straight win on Monday night. The Panthers defeated Person inside Rockets Stadium.
Cooper Zinn scored the game-winning goal for the Panthers in the first half. It was the first goal of the season for Zinn. Bryan Membreno added another goal. Manny Mil Cruz and Angel Arroyo also scored for the Panthers, while Tyler Mann had an assist.
Senior goalkeeper Connor McMurtry earned the win in net. Finn Kelly played the entire second half as the Panther goalkeeper. The Panthers (3-5, 2-1 in the Central Carolina Conference) will host Northwood on Wednesday in Hillsborough.
Eastern Alamance 2, Cedar Ridge 0: Eastern Alamance improved to 5-3 after getting goals from Jamil Navarro Bilbao and Lamin Nyeekpee. It was the Eagles’ first Central Carolina Conference win of the year. Junior goalkeeper Roberto Pachecho earned the clean sheet.
In a pregame show of unity, Cedar Ridge and Eastern Alamance players formed a circle around midfield with their arms around each other’s shoulders for a moment of silence. The game was played hours after the bodies of Cedar Ridge freshman Lyric Woods and Eastern Alamance senior Devin Lark were discovered in western Orange County on Sunday afternoon.
Women’s Tennis: Orange 7, Eastern Alamance 0: The Orange women’s tennis team captured its sixth straight win with a victory over Eastern Alamance in Mebane on Monday.
Junior Erin Sollars had the only three set match of the day. Sollars won 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 10-3. Sophomore Shanon Sollars won at #2 singles 6-0, 6-0. Junior Makayla Davis captured her #3 singles match 6-0, 6-1. Senior Isabel Jones won 6-0, 6-0 at #4 singles. Senior Sydney Rogers, who kicked a 35-yard field goal in the final seconds of Orange’s football game against Western Alamance on Friday night, won at #5 singles 6-0, 6-0.
Senior Madelyn Horn won at #6 singles 6-0, 6-0. Horn teamed with Katelyn Van Mater to win the only doubles match 8-1.
Orange is 10-2 overall, 5-1 in the CCC. The Lady Panthers will travel to Western Alamance on Wednesday.