Orange Track and Field

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is freshman cross country runner Reilly Jermyn. This season, Jermyn finished 2nd in the Central Conference cross country championships at Lake Cammack Course in Burlington. It propelled the Orange women’s team to a runner-up finish as the Lady Panthers qualified for the Mideast Regionals as a team. At regionals, Jermyn finished 4th overall in Louisburg. In the entire event, Orange had the only two freshmen to finish in the top ten: Jermyn and Ava Bishop. It helped Orange finish third as a team and they qualified for the state championships. Jermyn finished 10th, automatically earning a spot on the 3A All-State team. Jermyn comes from a running family. Her older brother, Myles, helped the Orange men’s team win the 3A State Championship at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex last month. Her father, Kevin, is the cross country coach at Duke University. Following a successful cross country season, Reilly has focused on her winter sport: swimming. Earlier this month, Jermyn qualified for the Central Regionals in the 200 yard medley relay, joined Piper White, Ainsley Rasinske and Zoe Jones. They turned a time of 2:04.92 in its first meet of the season. Individually, Jermyn qualified for regionals in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:39.95. She also qualified for the 400 yard freestyle relay.

Orange Panther of the Week: Reilly Jermyn

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is freshman cross country runner Reilly Jermyn. This season, Jermyn finished 2nd in the Central Conference cross country championships at Lake Cammack Course in Burlington. It propelled the Orange women’s team to a runner-up finish as the Lady Panthers qualified for the Mideast Regionals as a team.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior cross country runner Lucas Van Mater. Last month, Van Mater was a part of the ninth state championship team in Orange High School history. Van Mater finished 8th overall in the 3A State Championships at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville, earning him a spot all the All-State team. His teammate, Myles Jermyn, finished sixth as Orange won its first state championship in men’s cross country with 63 points. North Lincoln finished in second place with 96. In his running career at Orange, Van Mater has been a part of three Central Conference champions and two Mideast Regional champions. This year, Van Mater finished 2nd overall in the conference championship race by only .53 seconds behind Jermyn. Van Mater is the third person in his family to compete at Orange. His older sister, Katelyn, played tennis, basketball and soccer. His older brother, Josh, also ran cross country. After winning the state champion, Van Mater has already started on his next chapter. He’s running indoor track this winter and has already qualified for the state championships in the 3,200 meters after he ran a 9:29.04 at the Fleet Feet Dash for Doodie at Reagan High School in Greensboro on November 16. The attached interview was taped hours after the Orange men’s cross country team won the state championship at a Chipotle in Burlington.

Orange Panther of the Week: Lucas Van Mater w/ 2024 3A State Men’s Championship Cross Country team

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior cross country runner Lucas Van Mater. Last month, Van Mater was a part of the ninth state championship team in Orange High School history. Van Mater finished 8th overall in the 3A State Championships at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville, earning him a spot all the All-State team.

It started with a good plan.

Shortly after winning the Mideast Regional Championship on October 26, Orange cross country coach Brian Schneidewind combed through the results and times from the other results from across the state. He presciently concluded that his team’s top challenger in the state championships would be North Lincoln.

“They have a phenomenal program,” Schneidewind said. “They have been running consistently great times. I told my wife on Saturday that our goal is to beat North Lincoln. If we finish third, I could handle that. But if beat them, I thought we could take it.”

Orange’s runners either improved or maintained their times from the regionals to a road that ended in solid gold.

After winning the Mideast Regional championship three of the past four years, Orange emerged from Kernersville with its first North Carolina High School Athletic Association Cross Country 3A State Championship in school history on Saturday. The Panthers finished with 63 points to pace 21 other teams at the Ivey Redmond Sports Complex. North Lincoln came in second place at 96 points.

It is the eighth state championship in Orange athletics history and the first since the Orange softball team won the 2017 3A crown by sweeping Piedmont in a best-of-three series at N.C. State. The last Orange men’s team to win a state championship was the 2012 wrestling squad, who defeated Southwestern Randolph 34-30 under legendary head coach Bobby Shriner.

In 2023, Orange finished second in the team standings behind Croatan. In 2022 and 2023, Orange’s Gabriel Schmid won the 3A State Individual championship, the second Panther runner to ever win a state crown.

It was two juniors that led the pack for Orange. Myles Jermyn, the son of Duke cross country coach Kevin Jermyn, finished sixth at 15:56.06. Right behind Jermyn was his teammate, Lucas Van Mater, who came in eighth at 16:04.59.

While Orange’s two juniors led the pack, it was the senior co-Captains that paved the way to a championship. In his final race as a Panther, Peter Musser shaved a minute off his personal record. Musser, who was seeded 100th, wound up finishing 31st at 17:06.06.

“We wouldn’t have won if it wasn’t for him,” said senior Aiden Viola. “A handful of people are always going to have a rougher race because they’ll feel pressure, or there will be a larger group on your back or the course will be kind of rough. We had enough guys pull through and place ahead of where they were supposed to be placed.”

Another senior co-Captain, Cyrus Neal saved his best for last. Neal scored nine points with a time of 16:29. Orange junior Nolan Hufner finished 153rd at 19:41.73.

“This was four years in the making,” Musser said as he wore his state championship medal around his neck. “Last year was in the back of our minds. I’m just so glad that I could help out the team. I’m so glad I get this final victory for the team. This is one final hurrah for us.”

It was truly a team championship. To keep his runners updated about their status, members of Orange women’s cross country team were stationed throughout the 3.1-mile course. So were junior varsity runners Benji Loter and Cayden Beneville. They all counted the places between the Orange runners and the North Lincoln runners, as well as updated them on their times.

“They played a very pivotal role in locating the North Lincoln runners,” Schneidewind said. “Throughout these massive packs of runners that were traveling around and telling them where they were. It’s a cool things of how our program operates. I put it to the runners how they wanted to communicate. If our girls had messed up and started checking their phones instead of paying attention, we wouldn’t have won.”

In a field of 172 runners from around the state on a warm November day, Jermyn and Van Mater made the All-State team. Neal missed earning a spot on the all-state squad by nine seconds. Orange’s race was the last of eight state championship races, counting the women’s events.

“Our coach had a very detailed plan for what we were all supposed to do,” Musser said. “We all did our job. He broke everything

Grant Schmid, the younger brother of Gabriel Schmid, finished 23rd.

“It was pretty nerve wracking,” Schmid said. “It’s not like another easy meet. It’s definitely competition. If even one of us had not done our job, we wouldn’t have won today. But everybody did their job and did even better than what they were supposed to.”

Cedar Ridge senior Nathan Walters finished 41st as the Red Wolves finished tenth overall in the team standings. In 2023, the Red Wolves had just one runner qualify for the state championships. This year, they qualified as a team. Junior John Ngunjiri came in 46th (17:22.89). Henry Alexander finished 53rd (17:25.75) while junior Ryan Matthews finished 78th (17:55.79).

After years of celebrating Gabriel Schmid as an individual champion, the entire squad can celebrate a state championship as a team.

“This is the culmination of four years of hard work for me, Aiden and Peter,” Neal said. “Three years for the rest of the guys.”

For the first time ever, Hillsborough’s two 3A high schools finished in the top two spots in the Mideast Regional Men’s Cross Country championships.

Orange continued its dominance, winning its third regional championship in four years at Owens Recreation Park in Louisburg last Saturday. Buoyed by a 2nd place finish from junior Myles Jermyn and a third place finish from Lucas Van Mater, the Panthers finished with 42 points.

Cedar Ridge, which came in seventh last year, rocketed to a runner-up finish behind strong performances from juniors Henry Alexander and John Ngunjiri. Last year, the only Red Wolf to qualify for the state championships was Ryan Matthews. This year, they qualified as a team.

Orange won four Central Conference championships and three regional titles under head coach Brian Schneidewind. The Panthers earned their latest title despite the graduation of Gabriel Schmid, a two-time 3A Individual State champion who led the Panthers to a runner-up finish in the 3A State Championships last November in Kernersville. Orange also lost Alden Cathey, an All-Regional defenseman on Orange’s lacrosse team.

“Even though they graduated, I don’t think all of our great runners have left,”  Schneidewind. “I try to remind the runners today that it was specifically the class of 2022 with Nick Pell and Ethan Horton and Spencer Hampton that had took that big step in terms of work ethic. They instilled the mindset that running outside of practice needs to become the norm, which has continued to be embraced by this group. That’s a huge part about any success that we have.”

Jermyn, who won the individual conference championship, finished 2nd individually in the regional with a time of 15:46.06. Van Mater came in third at 16:04.66.

“Both our guys and girls teams have phenomenal human beings,” Schneidewind said. “One of the ways that they’re great individuals is their work ethic and willingness to go after a goal for intrinsic reasons rather than all the hoopla that’s probably not going to come with running. So their desire to set goals, academically or athletically, is another huge part of what’s been happening.”

Ethan Rich of Western Harnett, who finished 2nd in the region last year behind Jermyn, wound up winning the individual regional championship at 15:25.56.

“Myles and Lucas are the gym rats, so to speak,” Schneidewind said. “They’re not only getting in the miles outside of practice, but doing all the supplemental stuff. The little things to avoid injury.”

Orange finished with four of the top nine runners. Sophomore Grant Schmid, Gabrier’s younger brother, finished seventh (17:05.78). Senior Cyrus Neal, who was voted a co-Captain, came in ninth at 17:10.38. Another senior co-Captain for Orange, Peter Musser, finished 22nd at 18:20.88.

Van Mater, whose sister Katelyn was a three-sport athlete at Orange before graduating in 2023, is in his third year on the varsity cross country team. He also runs track & field in the spring.

“Another area where I’m crazy lucky in what I do is that these families set a great foundation of hard work,” Schneidewind said. “They set a balance of academic, athletics and helping the community. Lucas’ sister played a large part in his development and his older brother (Josh) ran cross country, as well. That’s the case of many of the parents of many of our athletes.”

In the women’s regionals, Orange freshman Reilly Jermyn finished fourth overall, which propelled the Lady Panthers to a third-place finish. Myles and Reilly Jermyn are the children of Duke University  cross country coach Kevin Jermyn.

“I’ve never been around someone who knows as much about running as Kevin does,” said Schneidewind. “I told Reilly this last week. As good of a coach as Kevin is, and he’s a very good collegiate coach, but he’s even better as a father. I’m incredibly impressed with his ability to put being a father over being a coach. He think of his children as people before he thinks of them as athletes.”

Orange freshman Ava Bishop finished 10th in the women’s race as Orange qualified as a team for the state championships, which will be contested today (Saturday) at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville.

Cedar Ridge had four runners finish in the top 17 out of a field of 117 participants. Alexander came in 8th overall at 17:07. 53. Ngunjiri finished 10th at 17:11.22. Senior Nathan Walters crossed the finish line 14th at 17:18.53. Ryan Matthews came in 17th at 17:44.59.

“Our top four have all made huge jumps in terms of fitness,” said Cedar Ridge cross country coach Jared Buddington. “Especially with John.”

Last year, Ngunjiri struggled with shin pain most of the year and raced just once. After a strong indoor track & field season, his shin problems returned last spring, sidelining him from the outdoor track season.

“He really hasn’t had the opportunity to race since last winter,” Buddington said. “This year, he ran a personal best of 18:15 in his first race. He’s run 16:48 this year, which is the top time on the team. He’s stepped up.”

Last year, Walters started the season running around the 22-minute range in the 5K. By the end of the year, he brought that down to the 18:57. This year, he’s gotten the time down to 16:58 in just his second year of running.

“He wasn’t a runner coming into the program,” Buddington said. “He’s just stuck with it. He really likes the community and being around like-minded people. He really be his true self when he’s around the team. It brings out his true personality.”

The Orange men’s cross country team hasn’t won championships over the past four years.

They’ve collected them.

Though they lost two-time 3A State Individual champion Gabriel Schmid to graduation, Orange has remained in top form this fall. On Wednesday, they captured its fourth consecutive Central Conference championship at Lake Cammack Course in Burlington.

For the third straight year, Orange had the individual conference champion, as well.

Junior Myles Jermyn was the leader as the Panthers placed the three runners to win the team championship with 25 points. Cedar Ridge had a strong showing, finishing runner-up with 44 points. Red Wolf junior Henry Alexander came in fourth overall at 17:25.84. Hillsborough runners comprised five of the six placers.

Jermyn, who finished second behind Schmid last year at the conference championships, led the pack with a time of 17:10.65. He narrowly beat his teammate, junior Lucas Van Mater, who came in at 17:11.18.

Since the formation of the Central Conference in 2021, Orange has won four conference and two Mideast Regional championships. Last November, the Panthers finished 2nd in the 3A State Championships behind only Croatan.

Jermyn, whose father Kevin is the cross country coach at Duke University, earned his first conference title. In September, Jermyn finished first in a tri-meet with Cedar Ridge and Western Alamance with a time of 17:32.00. He has now run on three Central Conference championship teams in three years.

Earlier this month, Van Mater inches out Jermyn on the same course by fourth-tenths-of-a-second in a conference meet that Orange captured.

Grant Scmid, a sophomore and the younger brother of Gabriel, finished third at 17:24.37. Overall, the Panthers had five of the top ten finishers, showing off their experience and depth. Senior Cryus Neal came in 9th (18:23.72) while Peter Musser finished 10th (18:56.02).

Easton Freeman of Walter Williams, who came in fifth (17:38.24), was the only non-Hillsborough runner in the top five.

Cedar Ridge had its best showing ever in the Central Conference championships, putting three runners in the top eleven finishers. In addition to Alexander, junior John Ngunjiri Jr finished sixth (17:42.45). Senior Nathan Walters finished 8th (18:01.85) while sophomore Callum Hinson finished 11th (19:08.83).

Orange finished with 25 points. Cedar Ridge finished 2nd with 44 points. Walter Williams, who had a runner-up finish in 2023, came in third with 75 points. Southern Alamance was fourth with 97 points and Western Alamance registered 115 points.

Orange’s Aidan Viola finished 21st (20:07.28).

Cedar Ridge sophomore Landin Tillet came in 15th (19:26.14) while Red Wolf Michael O’Melia finished 16th (19:36.88) O’Melia also wrestles for head coach Scott Metcalf during the winter.

Cedar Ridge senior Elie Ndahiriwe finished 19th in a field of 41 runners. Ndahiriwe finished with a time of 20:01.43.

Orange and Cedar Ridge both qualified as team for the Mideast Regionals. That will be held at Franklinton High School on October 26.

Over the past three years, Orange has claimed the regional championship in 2021 and 2023. In 2022, Orange finished second behind Durham School of the Arts.

Orange head cross country coach Brian Schneidewind maintained a championship form despite losing several strong runners from the 2023 conference championship team. In addition to Schmid, the Panthers lost Alden Cathey, who finished 5th in the conference championships in 2023. Cathey would go on to win Orange’s first regional championship in men’s lacrosse and now attends Arcadia University in Pennsylvania, where he will likely be a long-stick defenseman.

Gabriel Schmid is currently on a Mormon mission. Once that ends, he will run at N.C. State University. Schmid is one of two runners in Orange High history to win an individual state championship in cross country. The other, Bradsher Wilkins, also won back-to-back state championships in 1997 and 1998. Wilkins was the only Panther to win a state championship at the 4A level.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is men’s cross country runner Myles Jermyn. On September 10, Orange won its first meet of the season against Cedar Ridge and Western Alamance at Orange High School. Jermyn finished first at 17:32.00. Last season, Jermyn was a part of the Orange men’s cross country team that finished at Mideast Regional champions. In the 3A State Championships, they came in second place, only behind Croatan. Jermyn, a junior, has run on two Central Conference championship teams. In the Mideast Regionals last October, Jermyn finished eighth in the region as the Panthers won the team championship by 22 points over Northern Nash. Jermyn finished second in the conference championship last year at Lake Cammack Course in Burlington. Myles’ father, Kevin, is the men’s and women’s cross country coach at Duke University. His younger sister, Reilly, has started running for the Orange women’s team and finished 2nd in the opening conference meet two weeks ago. Last spring, Myles finished third in the 1,600 meters during the Mideast Regional Outdoor Track & Field championships at UNC Pembroke. He finished second in the region at 3,200 meters. During the 3A State Championships at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, Jermyn finished 10th in both the 1,600 and 3,200 meters.

Orange Panther of the Week: Myles Jermyn

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is men’s cross country runner Myles Jermyn. On September 10, Orange won its first meet of the season against Cedar Ridge and Western Alamance at Orange High School. Jermyn finished first at 17:32.00. Last season, Jermyn was a part of the Orange men’s cross country team that finished at Mideast Regional champions.

Over the past three years, the Orange men’s track & field team has been anchored by its long distance runners.

In 2021, it was Spencer Hampton, The past two years, it was Gabriel Schmid.

Now, it’s Myles Jermyn.

On May 1, Jermyn won three individual championships and a relay event during the Central Conference Track & Field Championships at the John Kirby Sports Complex at Eastern Alamance High School in Mebane.

Orange claimed the men’s conference championship with 181.2 points. Cedar Ridge finished second with 96.3 points.

Behind the running of seniors Bree Harris and Adelyn Alvis, the Orange women’s track and field team also claimed the conference title, finishing with 150 points.

Once again, Cedar Ridge’s Naomi Dyreng had a strong performance for the Red Wolves. Dyreng won two conference crowns in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. Dyreng won three Mideast Regional championships, in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters last year at Franklinton High School. Dyreng has also qualified for the 3A State Cross Country championships the past two years.

Jermyn helped Orange win six men’s conference championships. Jermyn won the 800 meters in a tight race where the top three competitors were separated by only just .38 of a second. Jermyn edged teammate Cyrus Neal to the finish line with a time of 2:03.55. Neal came in at 2:03.83. Henri Lanzoni of Walter Williams finished third at 2:03.93.

Jermyn had another close race with a teammate in the 1,600 meters. Jermyn edged Lucas Van Mater for first place at 4:38.10. Van Mater finished second only two-tenths-of-a-second behind Jermyn. In the 3,200 meters, Jermyn took first place, Van Mater finished second and Nathan Walters of Cedar Ridge came in third.

The Orange men won two relay events. Jermyn, Van Mater, Neal and Dallas Johnson earned first place in the 4×800 meter relay, timing out at 8:40.69.

Orange also claimed the 4×200 meter relay. Merveille Ndayiringiye, Malykahi Justice, Kingston Purefoy-Farrington and Jackson Patrick finished first at 1:32.88.

Orange senior Aedan Sampey finished first in the pole vault, clearing 12-feet-six inches. Sampey’s teammate, Kyse Devore, tied for second by clearing eleven feet. Cedar Ridge’s Ender Buchanan also cleared 11-feet.

Senior Jaylan Sorrells finished second in the discus and third in the shot put. He registered a distance of 122-feet, four-inches in the discus. In the shot put, he finished with a distance of 40-feet, 9-inches.

The Orange women won nine individual championships. Sophomore Adelyn Alvis won the only win once in a running event and another in a field event. Alvis captured the 400 meter dash at 1:02.64. She also captured the long jump at 16-feet-six inches. Typhany Cheek of Cedar Ridge finished second in the long jump at 16-feet-3.50 inches.

Cheek would take first place in the triple jump at 32-feet-11.50 inches.

Alvis also came in second in the 800 meters, only behind Ava Childress of Walter Williams.

The Cedar Ridge women’s relay team of Payton Castro, Chloe Bowers, Danielle Gala and Annora Leaf won the women’s 4×100 relay. They finished at 52.48 seconds.

Orange senior Bree Harris finished first in both hurdle events. She won the 100 meters at 17.43 seconds, then captured the 300 meters in 48.76 seconds.

Orange’s 4×200 relay team of Harris, Gianni Burnette, Asia Whitsett and Kayla Willey came in first at 4:23.29. Cedar Ridge’s Molly Alverson, Dyreng, Rebecca Fullwood and Leaf came in second.

Orange senior Grace Pell earned first place in the high jump at five feet. Pell finished second in the triple jump at 31-feet-four inches.

Orange had the top three placers in the pole vault. Lily Howard finished first at eight-feet. Clara Fowlkes finished second while Pell came in third.

Junior Iyauna Justice captured the conference championship in the shot put with a throw of 33-feet-9 inches.

The 3A State Championships are set for Saturday at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro.

Over the past three years, Gabriel Schmid has become the most accomplished runner in Orange High history. On Wednesday afternoon, Schmid formally signed his letter of intent to run for the N.C. State men’s cross country team, which has won 16 Atlantic Coast Conference championships and nine Southeast Regional championships. Schmid is just the second runner in school history to win a state championship in cross country. He has two individual state championships, winning the 2022 title as a junior and once again in November as a senior. Unlike the summer of 2022, Schmid didn’t have the ability to train last summer because of a foot injury. Nonetheless, he helped the Orange men’s cross country team win the Central Conference championship and the 3A Mideast Regional championship. It was the second regional team title that Schmid helped Orange win. In addition to cross country, Schmid has won four 3A Mideast Regional championships in outdoor track & field in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. Last year, he won the 3,200 meters state championship at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro. Schmid also competed in the Foot Locker National Championships in San Diego last month. The ceremony to honor Schmid starts his final chapter with the Panthers. He will compete this indoor season for the Orange Track and Field team. He will then enroll at N.C. State in the spring. Gabriel’s mother, Gretchen, was on hand for the ceremony on Wednesday, as was his brother Grant.

Orange cross country runner Gabriel Schmid signs with N.C. State

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This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior men’s cross country runner Myles Jermyn. This season, the Orange men’s cross country team won the 3A Mideast Regional championship for the second time in three years. They finished 2nd in the 3A State Championships. Jermyn Wass a major reason for the Panthers success. He finished eight in the Mideast Regional championship at Owens Rec Park in Louisburg on October 28. At the State Championship meet in Kernersville, Jermyn finished 27th to help the Panthers finish with 93 points, second only to Croatan. Jermyn finished second in the Central Conference championship meet at Lake Cammma Course in Burlington on October 18 with a time of 17:37.41. He finished second to his teammate Gabriel Schmid, who won the 3A State Championship. Jermyn’s runner-up finish helped Orange win the Central Conference championship for the third straight year. Last week, Jermyn started his indoor track & field season by finishing second in the 3,200 meters at the East Chapel Hill Polar Bear #2 at Dave Thaden Stadium. He has already qualified for the state championships in the 3,200 meters with a time of 9:56.35. Jermyn’s father, Kevin, is the head cross country coach at Elon University. Myles will have plenty to look forward to as he continues the indoor track & field season this winter.

Orange Panther of the Week: Myles Jermyn

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