Cedar Ridge Track and Field

Before school started in August, Naomi Dyreng laid out her objective for her senior year.

She had already won a conference championship in women’s cross country, plus several regional championships in track and field. Her goal for 2024 was to spread toe joy of running to her team in hopes of greater success as  a whole.

“I want to make Cedar Ridge a place where people can really learn how to love running,” Dyreng said back in August. “I want to be able to communicate what I’ve learned from my success to the new people we have coming up. I’m focus on that more than winning this race of that race.”

By that measure, Dyreng has already accomplished her mission.

On Wednesday, Cedar Ridge won the women’s cross country team championship at Lake Cammack Course in Burlington. Dyreng repeated as the Central Conference individual champion, finishing first with a time of 20:15.40. Orange’s Reilly Jermyn, a freshman, came in second at 20:38.60.

Dyreng’s first place finish was enough to give Cedar Ridge 31 points. Orange, with its best showing since the Central Conference was formed in 2021, finished second with 50 points.

Dyreng has spent the past week adding on to her legacy at Cedar Ridge. Last Saturday, Dyreng set the school record at the North Carolina Runners Elite Cross Country Invitational at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville, which also hosts the state championship each November. Dyreng finished at 18:58.57, eighth overall against some of the top runners in the state.

In addition to two conference championships in cross country, Dyreng has also won three conference championships in outdoor track & field (two in the 3,200 meters, one in the 1,600 meters in 2023). She has captured three regional championships in outdoor track and field, winning the 1,600 and 3,200 meters in 2023 at Franklinton High School. Last year, she won the 3,200 meters at UNC Pembroke, along with a runner-up finish in the 1,600. She has qualified for the state championships three times, finished 7th in the 1,600 meters as a sophomore in 2023. Later that day at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, she came in 8th in the 3,200 meters.

While Orange had three of the top five finishers, Cedar Ridge placed runners 6-through-9 to take the conference title. All four were underclassmen. Sophomore Gracie Whitaker came in sixth (23:01.63) while freshman Ila Diaz earned 7th pace (23:16.78). Elaina Sobus, a freshman, crossed the finish line 8th (23:23.34). Kate Finnegan, a sophomore who plays basketball in the winter and soccer in the spring, came in 9th (23:29.96).

Cedar Ridge senior Anna Peterson finished 11th at 24:08.36.

Jermyn, the younger sister of Orange’s Myles Jermyn, led the best individual finish by a female Orange runner in five years. Of the top five finishers, three were Orange freshman. Finishing behind Jermyn were Ava Bishop, who came in fourth at 21:36.32. Another Panther 9th grader, Kinsey Ross, came in fifth at 22:06.07.

Ava Childress of Walter Williams was the only non-Hillsborough runner in the top five, crossing the finish line in third place at 21:30.85.

Orange senior Caroline Cathey finished 15th (24:40.49). Cedar Ridge senior Serena Summers earned a 23rd place finish (26:56.12). Another Orange underclassman, sophomore Mia Blake, came in 25th at 27:06.67.

Orange and Cedar Ridge each qualified as a team for the Mideast Regionals, which will be held in Louisburg on October 26.

Walter Williams, the defending conference champions, came in third with 65 points. Western Alamance was fourth at 96 points while Southern Alamance was fifth. Person had several individual runners compete, as well.

With the title, Cedar Ridge already has more Central Conference championships this academic year than all of 2023-24. The volleyball team shared the conference title with Orange last week.

Last year, Cedar Ridge’s wrestling team won the school’s only conference regular season title. (The volleyball team won the conference tournament championship)

After being the best competitor for the Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team last fall, Naomi Dyreng has become joined a group of impressive Red Wolves to win a regional championship in track and field.

On Friday, Dyreng won three championships at the 3A Mideast Regionals at Franklinton High School. Dyreng claimed the individual title in the 1,600 meters in 5:24.35, beating out Central Carolina Conference rival Catherine Parker of Eastern Alamance, who came in second at 5:27.48.

In the 3,200 meters, there were two Red Wolves who finished in the top three. Dyreng finished first at 12:01.11, six seconds ahead of Natalia Serre of Carrboro. Cedar Ridge’s Abigail Klaitman finished 3rd at 12:13.46.

Klaitman, another sophomore, also finished  fourth in the 1,600 meters at 5:35.47.

Dyreng and Klaitman both qualified for the 3A State Championships, which will be held on Friday at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro.

In addition, Cedar Ridge’s 4×800 relay team, which is comprised of Dyreng, Klaitman, Serena Summers and Eliza Klaitman, pulled away with a strong anchor leg to win the regional title. The Red Wolves finished at 10:25.02. Union Pines finished 2nd at 10:39.02.

Cedar Ridge junior Typhany Cheek also qualified for the state championships in the long jump. Cheek had a leap of 16 feet, 3.50 inches, good enough for a third-place finish. Shamari Allen of Durham School of the Arts took the gold medal at 17-feet, three-inches.

Orange sophomore Iyauna Justice earned a spot in the state championships in the shot put. Justice finished fourth in regionals with a toss of 34-feet, seven inches. It will be Justice’s first appearance at the state championships.

In November, Dyreng finished 23rd in the 3A State Cross Country Championships at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville. She finished 2nd in the Central Carolina Conference Cross Country Championships at Lake Cammack Cross Country Course in Burlington. Her regional championships are the first she has ever won in cross country. In her freshman year, Dyreng played tennis but opted to focus on cross country and long distance running for her sophomore season.

Dyreng and the 4×800 relay team will attempt to bring Cedar Ridge another individual state championship in track and field. Last May, senior Caroline Fowlkes won the 3A State Championship in the pole vault in thrilling fashion. Fowlkes took the gold medal after a jump-off against West Carteret’s Alyssa Cooley when each competitor failed to clear 11-feet. Fowlkes is now on the Appalachian State track & field team.

There were other regional competitors for Orange and Cedar Ridge in the 3A Mideast Regionals. Dyreshia Farrish finished 12th in the 100 meter hurdle preliminaries  with a time of 18.72 seconds.

Summers finished 8th in the 3,200 meters at 13:23.42. Eliza Klaitman, a freshman, finished ninth in the 1,600 meters at 6:15.03.

In the 800 meter finals, Orange sophomore Sophia Schultz finished seventh at 2:40.71.

There have been eight female state champions in track & field for Cedar Ridge. The last Red Wolf female to win a state title in a running competition was Lindsay Fuller, who won three gold medals at the 2A State Championships in 2009. Fuller won the the 100 meter dash at 12.44 seconds. She also claimed the 4×100 meter relay championships and the 4×200 meter relay in 2009.

Overall for her career, Fuller won five state championships for Cedar Ridge. She won the 100 meter dash state championship three times. As a sophomore, she won in 2007 at 12.27 seconds. The following year, Fuller finished first crossing the finish line at 12.44 seconds.

In 2003, Cedar Ridge’s Italie Murphy became the first female athlete from a Hillsborough high school to win a state championship. She won the 400 meters in the 2A State Championships. It was the first of three consecutive state championships for Murphy in the event.

Orange has never had a state champion in women’s track and field.

Men’s Soccer: Orange 3, Northwood 2: Most likely, it was the Orange men’s soccer team’s final trip to Pittsboro for a conference game against Northwood. And the Panthers made it a trip worth remembering as they continue to march towards the state playoffs for the first time since 2017.

Just days after Emmanuel Mil Cruz scored in the final minute for the game-winning goal against Chapel Hill, Orange scored two goals in the final five minutes to stun Northwood 3-2 at Chargers Soccer Field on Monday night. It was the Panthers’ third straight win.

This time the hero was senior Dylan Silverman. With 1:09 remaining, Silverman took a pass from Bryan Membreno and fire a heatseeking missile from 23 yards away that went over the head of the Chargers goalkeeper and caught the roof of the net, setting off a wild celebration along the Orange sideline. It was Silverman’s first game-winning goal of the season and his second of the year. His previous goal came against Western Alamance on September 7.

Orange (10-8, 6-4 in the Central Carolina Conference) has won four in a row. They are now ranked #19 in the 3A East Region.

With 3:10 remaining, the Panthers evened the game off a corner kick sent in by Mil Cruz. The ball landed at the far post. Tyler Mann, the leading scorer on the team, dug the ball free from a Chargers defender and rolled it over the goal line from point-blank range. It was Mann’s tenth goal of the season and his 25th point.

Orange got the opening goal off a pass from Enzo Bruhns, who took a pass from Mann and sent it across with a side foot shot from 17 yards away. The Panthers completed a season sweep of the Chargers for the first time since the two teams became conference rivals in 2012.

Men’s Cross Country: In the final race before the Central Carolina Conference championship meet, Cedar Ridge’s Roman Morrell won his third race of the season at Red Wolves Cross Country course on October 11. Morrell, in his final cross country race at Cedar Ridge, finished first at 18:34.87 in a tri-meet with Orange and Person.

Red Wolves took the top three spots in the standings. Finishing in second was freshman Ryan Matthews, who crossed the finish line at 18:47.30. In third place was Henry Alexander (18:50.02).

Orange junior Gabriel Schmid finished fourth at 19:03.80. Cedar Ridge’s Edgar Ibarra came in fifth.

The Panthers’ Riley Potter came in sixth, while Don Wheelis was seventh.

Cedar Ridge finished with 19 points. Orange was second with 42 points.

Women’s Cross Country: Cedar Ridge’s Abigail Klaitman earned her first career first-place finish in Cedar Ridge’s meet on October 11 against Orange and Person. Klaitman, a sophomore, finished the 5,000 meter course at 22:40.71.

Red Wolves runners finished in the top four spots to help Cedar Ridge easily take the overall team victory. The Red Wolves finished with 17 points. Orange came in with 50 points while Person had 62.

4After Klaitman, senior Sarah Fenwick finished second at 23:41.02. Red Wolves freshman Payton Decker came in third at 24:29.30. Cedar Ridge sophomore Serena Summers crossed the finish line fourth at 24:56.30. Kaitlyn Horn was seventh at 26:01.96. Selene Galla and Sydney Lund finished ninth and tenth, respectively, for the Red Wolves.

Orange’s top finisher was Kayla Mehl, who came in eighth at 26:19.55. Kassi Scarantino, Sophia Schultz, Grace Pell, Caroline Cathey and Margaret Hales all finished in the top 15 for the Panthers.

The Central Carolina Conference men’s and women’s championship meet will take place on Wednesday at Lake Cammack Cross Country Course in Burlington.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is track & field runner Sarah Tucker. Last month, Sarah graduated from Cedar Ridge after running track for four years. In 2020, during her sophomore outdoor season, she qualified for the 3A State Championships in the 800 meters in a trio-meet against Chapel Hill and Orange with a time of 2:29.4. Unfortunately, later that day, the COVID outbreak took place and by the end of that week, the high school sports season was shut down. On January 28, 2000, Tucker finished first in the 1,000 meters during the indoor track season at the Eastern Alamance Polar Bear #3 with a time of 3:24.60, beating 13 other competitors from seven other schools. Tucker continued to compete in track and field during her final two years at Cedar Ridge in indoor and outdoor track & field. The following spring, Tucker won the 400 meter dash in a tri-meet against Southern Durham and Orange at Red Wolves Stadium. After the indoor season was largely canceled during her junior season, Tucker returned to the indoor team last December. She finished 2nd at the Eastern Alamance Polar Bear #2 meet in the 1000 meters with a time of 3:40.93. Next month, Tucker will pack her bags and leave for Boone, where she will attend Appalachian State University. She plans to be at Kidd Brewer Stadium on Labor Day weekend for the Mountaineers much-anticipated matchup against North Carolina. 

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior runner William Berger. Last month, Berger ended his career with the Red Wolves as a three-sport athlete. This season, he ran indoor and outdoor track. He started his career as a baseball pitcher, where he played alongside his older brother, Phillip Berger. Will was also a quarterback on the football team. In Cedar Ridge’s opening home outdoor track & field meet this season at Red Wolves Stadium, Berger won the 400 meter dash against ten other competitors against Northwood and Western Alamance. Berger also spent the winter competing in the 500 meter dash for Cedar Ridge indoor track. As a junior, Berger appeared in eight games for the Cedar Ridge baseball team. Two weeks ago, Berger graduated from Cedar Ridge at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill. He aims to continue his track & field career at Wofford University in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he will start taking classes in August. 

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior pole vaulter Caroline Fowlkes. On May 20, Fowlkes won the 3A State Championship inside Truist Stadium at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro. Fowlkes won the state championship in a jump-off against West Carteret’s Alyssa Cooley after they both failed to clear 11-feet. In the final jump of her Cedar Ridge career, Fowlkes cleared 10’6’ to earn the state title. She became the first Cedar Ridge track & field athlete to win a state championship since 2015. She is the first 3A State Champion in school history. Fowlkes had a dominant spring. She finished first in all nine events she competed in. At the Central Carolina Conference Championships at the John Kirby Sports Complex in Mebane, Fowlkes reached her personal best at 11’6”, over three-and-a-half feet better than the runner-up. Fowlkes is a member of Cedar Ridge’s International Baccalaureate Program and has a 4.0 grade-point-average. She also completed as a high jumper this season. Fowlkes also competed in cross country at Cedar Ridge. After she graduates on Friday, Fowlkes will prepare to start at Appalachian State this August. 

Marvin Jones: Jones, a former track & field star at Cedar Ridge, recorded his career personal best in the high jump during his final meet with North Carolina Central University. It happened in the NCAA East Regionals at Indiana University. Along the way, he narrowly missed becoming the first North Carolina Central Eagle to qualify for the Division I National Track & Field Championships (Central transitioned to Division I in 2011). Jones finished 13th with a jump of 2.15 meters, or 7.05 feet, tying him with six other competitors. He missed qualifying for the national championships due to a tie breaking procedure as he cleared the height on his third attempt as opposed to his first or second. Jones finished the season with seven top-five finishes. He won the gold medal at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships on May 25, after capturing the championship of the MEAC Indoor Championships in February. Jones is the first North Carolina Central Eagle to earn three gold medals since Central went to Division I. He also won the 2021 MEAC Outdoor Championship. This season, Jones also finished first at the Penn Relays and at the Aggie Classic at North Carolina A&T State University.

Jamar Davis: Davis, a former Orange High star in three sports, finished his outdoor track & field season with N.C. State at the East Regionals in Bloomington, IN last week. Davis finished 30th in the long jump at 7.23 (23′ 8.75″) meters. On May 12, Davis finished 7th at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship at Duke University in Durham. Davis’ best leap was 7.63 meters.

Joey Berini: The East Carolina baseball team won the American Athletic Conference Tournament at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Florida. The Pirates finished undefeated over four games. ECU defeated Houston 6-1 in the AAC Championship game on Sunday. Berini entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the sixth hitter and drew a walk. In the semifinals on Saturday, the Pirates defeated Tulane 8-5. Berini had an RBI single in the fourth inning, driving in Josh Moylan. In the second round, East Carolina rolled past Cincinnati 15-5 in seven innings. Berini entered the game in the fifth inning and played shortstop for the final two-plus frames. He went 0-for-1 at the plate. East Carolina will enter the NCAA Tournament having won 16 games in a row. On Monday, the Pirates received a #8 national seed. They will host the Greenville Regional at Clark-LeClair Stadium starting on Friday. East Carolina will open against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion Coppin State on Friday afternoon at 1 PM. Also in ECU’s region is #2 seed Virginia, who will face Coastal Carolina on Friday night. In addition, Berini is on the roster of the Holly Springs Salamanders of the Coastal Plain League, a wooden-bat summer league. Last season, Berini played for the Asheboro Copperheads of the CPL.

Kate Burgess: The University of North Carolina women’s rowing team ended its season at the ACC Championships in Clemson, SC on Saturday. Burgess was on the Second Four team that finished second racing against Boston College. They finished with a time of 7:56.848. Burgess raced with Lara King, Sarah Redden, Hanna Davis and Julia Louw.

Jaden Hurdle: After finishing her sophomore season at Patrick & Henry Community College, Hurdle was named to the National Junior College Athletic Association East Region first-team. Hurdle, a first baseman, hit .376 over 43 games. She led the Patriots with ten home runs. She was second on the team with 37 RBIs. Hurdle also led the team with 37 runs and four triples. Hurdle graduated from Patrick & Henry in May and will play with Catawba College in Salisbury starting next season.

It wouldn’t appear to be the most dramatic conclusion to a state championship, but it would be enough to get first place.

At least that’s what Caroline Fowlkes thought on Friday morning after she and West Carteret’s Alyssa Cooley both failed to clear 11-feet in the pole vault. Earlier on Friday morning in the 3A State Track & Field Championships at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, Fowlkes successfully sailed over the bar at 10-feet-6 inches in her first attempt. It took Cooley two attempts to get over 10’6″. Since Fowlkes only needed one turn to get over, she figured that was enough for her to take the state championship.

Except it wasn’t that simple.

Shortly after the final failed attempts at 11-feet, a North Carolina High School Athletic Association informed Fowlkes and Cooley that they would engage in a jump-off to decide the state champion.

A jump-off?

Fowlkes had never competed in a jump-off. Heck, she had never even heard of a jump-off.

“It was one of the more nerve-racking meets I’ve ever been in,” Fowlkes said.

Suddenly, things got dramatic.

Fowlkes wasn’t going to let a technicality stop her from a state championship that she was the top-seed in. First, Fowlkes and Cooley each had one attempt at eleven-feet, which neither cleared. Then the height was lowered to 10-feet, 9-inches. Neither cleared that either.

At 10-feet, six-inches, Cooley scratched. It was Fowlkes’ turn, and in the final jump of her Cedar Ridge career, she planted a 12′ 7″, 160-pound pole deep into the pit and sailed over the bar with two inches to spare.

Just like that, Fowlkes became Cedar Ridge’s first individual state champion in track and field in seven years.

“I was so nervous,” said Sasha Morphis, head women’s track and field coach at Cedar Ridge. “When both girls scratched their final jump, we didn’t know how they planned to handle the result. We were on our toes the entire time. I never lost faith in her but I was absolutely nervous. I wanted it so bad for her.”

After word spread of her victory, Fowlkes received a congratulatory text message from Phoenix Smith, a longtime teammate and fellow senior who was unable to compete this spring after she suffered a torn ACL last December.

“I really miss seeing Phoenix at practice,” Fowlkes said. “I wish she could have been at the state championships competing with our team.”

Fowlkes completed her state championship a week after winning the Mideast Regional title at Franklinton High School. She is the first Red Wolf to win an individual state championship in track & field since Kacia Vines won in the long jump in 2015, the last of her two state titles.

Fowlkes is only the second Red Wolf in history to win a state championship at the 3A level. The other five female state champions were in the 2A ranks, along with six male state champions.

“She has been an amazing athlete,” Morphis said. “No matter what you ask her to do, she will do it. She never complains and is one of the most dedicated athletes I’ve ever coached. Working with her has been amazing and I will miss coaching her.”

The progressive heavy metal band Dream Theater’s 24-minute epic “Octavarium” concludes with the theme that “Everything ends where it began.” And so it is with Fowlkes, who last competed at North Carolina A&T on May 17, 2019 as a freshman in the state championships. She reached ten feet, good enough for ninth place.

Between then and Friday, there’s been a pandemic that killed her 2020 outdoor season, struggles with new equipment that led to her failing to qualify for the state championships last year and academic demands that led to her considering sitting out this season.

Fowlkes didn’t compete during Cedar Ridge’s indoor season this winter. With a 4.0 grade point average and a member of the International Baccalaureate Program, Fowlkes has been accepted at Appalachian State University. Under the IBP program doctrine, students take almost all of their exams during their senior year. To alleviate the pressure in the classroom, the possibility of skipping this outdoor season did cross Fowlkes’ mind.

Last year, two accomplished Cedar Ridge runners who were members of a school record relay team opted to focus on academics in lieu of their final track season.

“I was pretty concerned about school and my exams this year,” Fowlkes said. “I wondered if I would have enough time for practice, especially in the spring semester. But it ended up being all right. It was good to have something to do after school after studying for exams.”

Fowlkes finished her exams last week just in time to focus on the state championships.

It turned out to be a wise move. Fowlkes won all nine meets she competed in this year. At the Orange County Championships inside Culton-Peerman Stadium at Chapel Hill High School, Fowlkes finished first at 10’6″. At the Central Carolina Conference Championships in Mebane, she set a personal best at 11’6″, over three-and-a-half feet better than the runner-up.

The previous year, Fowlkes finished with no height at the Mideast Regionals at Southern Lee High School. The main problem was adjusting to a new pole. Pole vaulters are required to weigh-in before competitions. After Fowlkes reached a certain weight, she was required to adjust to a 145-pound pole, which was too small for her taste.

“This year, I was prepared,” Fowlkes said. “I jumped with a 165-pound pole, which was perfect for me. The weight of the pole is how much it takes to bend that pole. If I’m jumping on a 160-or-165-pound pole, I just have to be every fast and extra strong to bend it.”

Fowlkes also competed in the high jump this year. She continued to compete with the Cedar Ridge cross country team last fall.

Fowlkes’ father, Thomas, was a pole vaulter at the University of South Alabama. Her mother, Jenna, was a pole vaulter at the University of Florida.

Caroline would like to continue her pole vault career at Appalachian State, but says the school hasn’t reached out to her yet.

For now, Fowlkes will prepare for graduation next month after winning a state championship in the most unorthodox of ways. In her case, everything truly did end the way it began.

Caroline Fowlkes started her Cedar Ridge career by qualifying for the state championships in pole vaulting.

This week, she will end it there.

On Friday, Fowlkes earned her first regional championship, easily taking first place in the pole vault. In the 3A Mideast Track & Field Regional Championship at Franklinton High School, Fowlkes cleared eleven feet, outdistancing her nearest competitor by three feet.

Fowlkes has pole vaulting in her genes. Her mother competed at the University of Florida. Her father was a pole vaulter at the University of South Alabama in Mobile.

At Franklinton, Fowlkes added to her trophy case in what’s been her most successful outdoor season. Last month, she won the Central Carolina Conference championship with a personal best of 11-feet, six-inches at the John Kirby Sports Complex at Eastern Alamance High School in Mebane.

As a freshman in 2019, Fowlkes qualified for the state championships and finished ninth after she cleared ten feet.

In all eight events that Fowlkes has competed in this season, she has finished in first place. She has also competed in the high jump and finished in first place in a dual meet against Orange at Auman Stadium on April 20.

Fowlkes will have plenty of company during the 3A State Outdoor Track and Field Championships at North Carolina A&T State University on Friday.

For the second year in a row, Orange’s Spenser Hampton has captured a regional championship. In what turned out to be a 1-2 finish among Orange Panthers, Hampton won the 3,200 meters with a time of 9:51.41, narrowly holding off his teammate Gabriel Schmid, who clocked in at 9:52.98.

Cedar Ridge’s Roman Morrell finished sixth at 10:33.59. Morrell also finished fifth in the 800 meters at 2:01.06.

Hampton also finished 2nd in the 1,600 meters, an event he won in the 2021 Mideast Regional Championships at Southern Lee High School in Sanford. This year, Hampton came in at 4:33.05, only behind Carrboro’s Quinn Baker. Schmid also qualified for the state championships in the 1,600 with a third-place finish.

In continued a strong season for Orange’s long-distance running. Last fall, Hampton and Schmid were the top two runners for Orange’s cross county team that won the Mideast Regional championship and finished 3rd in the state.

Last June, Hampton won the Mideast Regional Championship in the 1,600 meters. At the state championships, Hampton finished 2nd in the 3,2000 meters.

Orange had three men’s relay teams qualify for the state championships.

Hampton and Schmid joined Ethan Horton and Nick Pell in setting a new school record in the 4×800 relay. Hampton, Schmid, Horton and Pell finished at 8:15.56. Northwood was the only team to finish ahead of Orange. The Chargers crossed the finish line at 8:14.78.

Orange’s 4×100 relay team came in fourth place at 43.67 seconds. The 4×200 team also wound up fourth at 1:31.79.

The Orange men’s track & field team finished in second place with 73.5 points, behind only Southern Nash. It was the best regional for an Orange men’s track & field team since they became a 3A team in 2012.

Orange senior Devin Goss came in 2nd in the 300 meter hurdles. Goss, who will make his first appearance in the state championships, finished at 42.08 seconds. Cape Fear’s Yazeare Pearsall came in first at 41.45 seconds.

Jeffrey Faulkner, Orange’s top sprinter, qualified for the state championships for the first time. In the 400 meter dash, Faulkner finished at 50.80 seconds. Clifton Davis of Walter Williams claimed the regional championship at 49.90. Faulker finished sixth in the 200 meter dash.

In women’s track and field, Orange’s Grace Pell finished tied for third in the high jump at 4-feet, 10-inches.