Orange Track and Field

For someone who has run commonly over the past year, the Mideast Regionals at Southern Lee High School stood out for Spencer Hampton.

Not just because it was the hottest weather he’s ever competed in. But also because he claimed his first regional championship.

Hampton, a junior, finished first in the 1,600 meters to take the regional title in Sanford. He crossed the finish line with a time of 4:22.10, a full six seconds ahead of the runner-up, Northern Guilford’s Jack Dingman. Going into the race, Dingman was the only runner in the Mideast region to have a better time than Hampton during the regular season.

Instead, Hampton will go into Saturday’s 3A State Championships at Belk Track inside North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro with the top time regional time in North Carolina. Mount Tabor junior Will Soule captured the Midwest Regional Championship at 4:23.17.

“It was a bit of a surprise,” Hampton said. “Jack Dingman is a great runner, but he had an off day in the 1,600 meters. It was about 93-degrees when it was finally my turn to run. I tried to stay in the shade as long as I could until I had to run.”

Hampton is Orange’s first regional outdoor track and field champion since Jamar Davis, who captured three regional titles (in the 300 meter hurdles, the long jump and the triple jump) in 2018.

“The first half of the race, I was just trying to stay relaxed,” Hampton said. “As I got to around 700 meters remaining, everyone else just kind of dropped off and I managed to maintain energy on to the finish line.”

In addition to the 1,600 meters, Hampton also qualified for the 3A State Championships in the 3,200 meters. He finished 4th in the regionals at 9:54.16. Dingman captured the regional title at 9:35.52.

After Orange only had four representatives in one relay event during the 3A State Track & Field Championships in 2019, they will have ten different representatives in six events for the state championships this Saturday. That includes three separate relay teams.

Orange’s 4×200, 4×400 and 4×800 men’s relay teams all advanced to the state championships. The 4×400 team, consisting of senior Keanu Mims, junior Elijah Danley, senior Jeffrey Faulkner and junior Devin Goss, came in second at 3:32.77. Only Chapel Hill, at 3:29.46, was faster.

The 4×200 team, formed by Mims, Danley, Faulkner and Gesiah Drewery, finished 3rd at 1:32.55 in a close finish at the line. Chapel Hill beat out Orange by .13 seconds for second place. Southern Lee won the regional title at 1:30.98.

Orange finished fourth in the 4×800 men’s relay. The team of Hampton, junior Ethan Horton, junior Nicholas Pell and freshman Alden Cathey finished at 8:37.97.

The sole women’s state qualifier was Orange’s Erin Mink, who came in second in the pole vault as she cleared ten-feet. Northern Durham’s Bailey Tart finished first at 10-feet, six-inches. Cedar Ridge’s Phoenix Smith narrowly missed qualifying for the state championship after she cleared eight-feet, six inches, good enough for a fifth-place finish. Mink, who has competed at Orange since she was a freshman, will make her first state championship appearance.

Orange senior Kayla Brooks, in her final meet for the Lady Panthers, finished sixth in the region in the shot put. Brooks’ best throw was 28 feet, three-inches, one foot behind fourth place finisher Madison Ludlum of Gray’s Creek. Brooks, who is also a cheerleader for the Orange football team, plans to attend Baylor University in Waco, Texas later this summer. She is the daughter of former Orange football player Rod Jones.

Orange junior Samatha George finished 9th in the 300-meter hurdles at 55.33 seconds. Ava New qualified for regionals in the long jump. New and Mink both qualified for regionals in the triple jump.

A high school sports season prolonged by the pandemic has two Saturdays remaining for Hillsborough teams. For one Cedar Ridge wrestler, today will be the end of an established career.

Kady Watkins wasn’t the first female wrestler at Cedar Ridge, but she has been the most successful. When she started wrestling in middle school, there wasn’t a state women’s wrestling championship sanctioned by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. That changed during her sophomore season.

In 2019, the inaugural Women’s Wrestling Invitational brought 87 participants across eleven weight divisions. Last year, there were 182 wrestlers in 14 weight divisions, who competed at the Carolina Courts in Concord.

In 2019, Watkins became the first female wrestler from Hillsborough to compete for a state championship. A year later, she became the first female wrestler from Hillsborough to win a match in a state tournament when she won a 9-6 decision over Swansboro’s Madeline Coplen at 120 pounds. She finished 5th in the state.

This season, Watkins has been a co-Captain of a team that has already had one wrestler for qualify for next Saturday’s 3A State Tournament. Watkins has won eleven matches for Cedar Ridge this season. Today’s 3rd annual State Women’s Wrestling Invitational Tournament will be held at Kernersville Glenn High School.

Track and Field

Orange’s Spencer Hampton will have a full day today.

Hampton, a long distance runner for Orange, has qualified for three different events during the the 3A Mideast Regional Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Championships, scheduled for today at Southern Lee High School in Sanford.

Hampton, a junior, is in the regional final for the 1,600 meters. His fastest time of the season is 4:24.10. He has nine first place finishes in 2021. Hampton also qualified for the 3,200 meters and will join Alden Cathey, Ethan Horton and Nicholas Pell in the 4×800 relay. The Panthers’ relay team had the second fastest time in the region this year, behind only Big 8 Conference rival Chapel Hill.

Also in the 4×800 relay, Cedar Ridge’s team of Jay Cole, Levi Draughon, Roman Morrell and Harrison Park will be in the regional final field.

Orange will have another men’s relay team in the 4×200 event. Senior Keanu Mims, senior Jeffrey Faulkner, junior Elijah Danley and senior Gasiah Drewery had the second-fastest time in the region at 1:33.07. Mims is going for his second appearance in the state championships. In 2019, he was a part of Orange’s 4×400 relay team, which finished 10th in the 3A State Championships at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro.

Mims, Faulkner, Danley and Devin Goss also qualified in the 4×400 meter relay. Once again, Chapel Hill was the only school in the Mideast Region with a faster qualifying time this season.

Orange will have three competitors in the 800 meters. Cathey, Pell and Horton all have qualifying marks.

In the women’s 300-hurdles, Orange junior Samantha George will participate in her first regional championship meet. George, a starting guard for the Orange women’s basketball team, ran for a personal-best of 51.70 second in last week’s Big 8 Championships.

George will also be in the 4×400 women’s relay team for Orange. She will join Abby Hengsterman, Avery Hengsterman and Sophia Schultz.

Cedar Ridge will have two qualifiers in the pole vault. Caroline Fowlkes, who qualified for the state championships as a freshman in 2019, cleared 10-feet-six inches in a tri-meet against Southern Durham and Vance County on May 6. Fowlkes also qualified for the 2020 Indoor Track & Field pole vault. Accompanying Fowlkes in the pole vault will be junior teammate Phoenix Smith, who had a personal best of eight-feet, also on May 6.

Orange will also be represented in the women’s 4×200 relay. Freshman Samiya Baldwin, Samantha George, Taia Mitchell and Katheryn Scully qualified after a time of 1:53.73 during the East Chapel Hill Friday Night Lights event on June 4 at Dave Thaden Stadium.

Orange’s Ava New surpassed the regional standard in two different events. She qualified for the long jump with a personal best of 15-feet, four inches. New will also compete in the triple jump after a leap of 31-feet, 01.50 inches.

Orange’s Erin Mink will also be in the triple jump after a season-best 31-feet, nine-inches.

Orange senior Kayla Brooks, who was a cheerleader in football last spring, has qualified for the shot put. Her throw of 29-feet, ten-inches at East Chapel Hill Friday Night Lights was enough to qualify for her first regional competition.

With the summer unofficially here, Orange senior Ava New is still aiming to make the 3A Mideast Regionals in the long jump and the triple jump. Earlier this year, New finished 1st at a tri-meet with Southern Durham at Cedar Ridge in the long jump and the triple jump. New won the long jump with a leap of 14-feet, one-inch. In the triple jump, New had a new personal best of 28-feet, 7-inches. Against Vance County and Chapel Hill on May 13, New had her third first place finish of the year in the long jump at 15-feet, four inches. In a meet against East Chapel Hill on May 6, New came in second in the long jump at 14-feet, eight-inches. Ava finds herself quite busy away from the track. She’s a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the BETA Club, as well as the National Spanish Honors Club. In addition to all of that, she works at Neuvo Taco in Durham. The 3A Mideast Regionals are scheduled for June 19 at Southern Lee High School in Sanford.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior Kayla Brooks. On Thursday in her senior day meet at Auman Stadium, Brooks had two first place finishes against Northern Durham and Vance County. In the discuss, Brooks finished with a new personal best of 65 feet, one inch. In the shot put, Brooks had a throw of 29 feet, two inches. It was her third first place finish of the season. In the opening meet of the year against Cedar Ridge and Southern Durham on April 29, Brooks finished first in the shot put. Her throw of 29 feet, two inches was a new personal best for Brooks. Kayla comes from a family of Panthers. Her father was a football player under head coaches Greg Gentry and Tom Eanes. Kayla’s final meet happened inside the very stadium where her father played football. She is also a cheerleader who rooted on the Panthers during the chilly, early days of spring. When Kayla graduates next month, she plans on attending Baylor University in Waco, Texas. First, Kayla has more track meets to focus on, starting this Thursday at Northwood High in Pittsboro in a tri-meet that will also include Cedar Ridge. She aims to qualify for next month’s 3A Mideast Regionals at Southern Lee High School. Away from the athletic fields, Kayla has also spoken to freshman at Orange who have had difficulty making the transition from middle school to high school. As she moves forward, Kayla will continue to serve as a positive influence, be in the Tar Heel State or the Lone Star State.

It was another big day for Orange runner Spencer Hampton on Thursday. Competing against Vance County and Northern Durham, Hampton won the 1,600 meters and the 3,200 meters at Auman Stadium in the final home meet of the year. Hampton finished the 1,600 in 4:32.10, a full nine seconds ahead of runner-up Gabe Schmidt. In the 3,200 meters, Hampton finished at 10:25.50, over 40 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Hampton has six first-place finishes this season. On May 6, Hampton won the 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters against East Chapel Hill. In Orange’s season-opening track event against Southern Durham and Cedar Ridge on April 29, Hampton finished the 1,600 meters in 4:27.80, then completed the 3,200 meters in 10:27.50. Hampton has already qualified for the 3A Mideast Regional Championships in the 1,600 meters, which will be held at Southern Lee High School in Sanford on June 19. Hampton is aiming to qualify for the state championships, but first he has a meet coming up on Thursday at Northwood High in Pittsboro that will also include Cedar Ridge.

Orange junior Jeffrey Faulkner set his personal best in the 400 meters during the senior day meet at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough. Competing against Northern Durham and Vance County, Faulkner finished the 400 in 52.04 seconds. Later, Faulkner finished 3rd in the 200 meters at 24.84, finishing just behind teammate Gasiah Drewery, who came in second. Since track and field season has been extended this year, Faulkner is focused on qualifying for the 3A State Championships. First, he and the rest of his Orange teammates will have to qualify through the 3A Mideast Regionals. That will be held at Southern Lee High School in Sanford on June 19. The 3A State Championships will be held on June 26. Next week, Orange will compete in a meet at Northwood High School in Pittsboro.

Kayla Hodges: On Thursday afternoon, the Elon women’s soccer team surprised top-seeded Hofstra 1-0 in the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament in Towson, MD. Hodges, who was named the Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Week earlier this season, started for the Phoenix on defense. Claire Broderdop scored the game’s only goal in the 78th minute. It’s the first time that Elon ever defeated Hofstra. The Phoenix is now 5-3 and will face UNC Wilmington for the Colonial Athletic Association championship on Sunday afternoon.

Taylin Jean: The Division II Limestone women’s soccer team came to an end with a 1-0 loss to Queen’s University in the semifinals of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament last Thursday. Jean, a goalkeeper, didn’t play against the Royals. She earned the victory in net during Limestone’s final win of the season, a 2-1 win over Lincoln Memorial on April 5.

Jordan Rogers: The Division III William Peace women’s soccer team had its season end against Mary Baldwin on March 26. This season, Rogers started in all eight games for the Pacers. She played 443 minutes. Peace finished 3-5 overall, 2-4 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Bailey Lucas: The Meredith volleyball team’s season came to an end on Wednesday in the semifinals of the USA Southeast Division Tournament. Averett defeated the Avenging Angels 3-1 on scores of 26-24, 21-25, 25-23, 25-20 inside the Grant Center in Danville, VA. Lucas ended her junior season by starting the final game of the season. She compiled 16 assists, 15 digs and one kill. Lucas led the team with 314 assists this year. She was fourth in the squad with 108 digs. Meredith ends the year 9-5.

Mia Davidson: The Mississippi State softball team won both of its midweek games this week. The Bulldogs defeated Samford 8-5 in Birmingham, AL on Tuesday. Davidson went 1-for-4 with an RBI single in the 7th inning. On Wednesday, Mississippi State edged Southern Miss 3-2 in eight innings at Nusz Park in Starkville, MS. Davidson went 1-for-3 with a single in the 1st inning, and eventually scored.

Montana Davidson: Montana hit an RBI single in the fourth inning for Mississippi State against Samford. In the third inning, Montana scored in the third inning off an RBI single by Fa Leilua. She finished 1-for-2 with an RBI against Samford. Against Southern Miss, Montana went 0-for-2 with a walk. Mississippi State is 22-16 and will travel to Missouri this weekend searching for its first Southeastern Conference win of the season.

Brandon Andrews: The former Cedar Ridge pitcher made his debut for Jacksonville State last month. In one-thirds of an inning, Andrews gave up three runs off two hits as the Gamecocks lost to Kennesaw State 12-10 at Stillwell Stadium in Kennesaw, GA on March 24. After two seasons and 37 relief appearances at Nicholls State, Andrews transferred to Jacksonville State last summer. He redshirted last season with Nicholls State. Jacksonville State is 16-15, 7-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Gamecocks will travel to Eastern Kentucky this weekend.

Kate Burgess: Burgess, a former center for the Orange women’s basketball team and cross country runner, is now a member of the UNC rowing team. On March 27, UNC’s 1V4+ quad earned its first win of the season over UCF at Virginia’s South Fork River Reservoir in Charlottesville, VA. Burgess was in the 2V4 race, joined by freshman coxswain Isabelle McGimsey, along with Gigi Maroney, Nicole Van Liew and Claire Melgard. They finished the race in 8:10.9. UCF’s team finished in 8:05.7.

Jaylin Jones: The Division III Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team defeated Greensboro College 18-8 at Lefko Field in Misenheimer on Wednesday. Jones, who played football and lacrosse at Orange, had two ground balls for the Falcons. Pfeiffer improved to 8-1 overall, 6-0 in the USA South Athletic Conference. Pfeiffer will face Methodist in Fayetteville on Saturday.

She has placed higher in the state championships than any female swimmer from Orange High ever.

She’s the first freshman swimmer in school history, regardless of gender, to be Big 8 Conference Swimmer of the Year.

She competed at the University of Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium while still in middle school.

Katie Belle Sikes did extraordinary things her freshman year at Orange, even without enjoying the ordinary things that athletes at all schools take for granted.

Like consistently practicing with her teammates. Or going to an in-person class.

Sikes, who finished 2nd in the 50 Yard Freestyle in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3A State Swimming and Diving Championships on February 11 at Pullen Aquatic Center in Raleigh, was only able to attend a handful of practices this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The unfortunate part of a Covid year, rarely did the year round kids practice with the other swimmers because of reduced lane requirements,” said Orange swimming coach Ron Geib. “Over Christmas, she was the only year rounder that came to an optional practice. Usually they have plenty of swimming without adding.”

To keep the number of athletes practicing down in order to maintain safety guidelines, practice preference was given to those were weren’t year round swimmers, like Sikes is. Thus, she was only allowed to attend a handful of sessions since she swims at the Orange County Sportsplex six times a week, two hours a day.

“The practices I had with Coach Geib were very helpful,” Sikes said. “I look forward to working with him more I the future. He was so instrumental in getting a season organized this year, not just for Orange but also for Cedar Ridge.”

Regardless of sport, once a goal becomes so entrenched inside of an athlete, the facility they compete in often becomes a part of them. Sikes has been a mainstay of the Sportsplex since she was in the third grade.

She can be still found training at the Sportsplex’s pool with the Hillsborough Aquatic Club, her summer travel team.

Though she captured the 3A Central Regional Championship in the 50 Yard Freestyle at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on February 6, Sikes was surprised by her finish at the state championships.

“I went into it open minded because I’m a freshman,” Sikes said. “I was going against people a lot older than I was. Overall, I was really happy with my result.”

While Sikes formally started competing in swimming during elementary school, she was around the water in her earliest years. Her grandparents would treat her to a summer beach trip, usually Hilton Head or Atlantic Beach, every summer.

Sikes had a yearning to go into the deep end of the ocean, despite her parents’ concern. Though she loathed it, she was forced to wear a life jacket until her parents decided to loosen their rules.

“I think her family played to biggest role in helping her with poise,” Geib said. “They are great role models for their daughter. They instilled her work ethic. Swimmers work very hard at their craft. Many hours in a pool for a few second improvement If they are lucky. Katie works hard and holds herself accountable.”

There was one instance when Sikes was three years old that tested her parents’ patience.

“She has always been drawn to the water and fearless,” said Sikes’ mother, Kristin. “We will never forget the time when she marched herself off the diving board at her grandparents’ pool. She hoped right into the deep end by herself.”

The only problem was that Sikes couldn’t swim at the time. While a brief moment of panic set in for her parents, she immediately bobbed up from the water and tried to make it to her brother, who was standing at a nearby latter.

“Before her dad and I could jump in after her, she had made her way to her own safety,” Kristin said. “It’s probably around that time we started joking that she was part fish.”

She continued to swim competitively with the Hillsborough Aquatic Club throughout middle school.

“When she mentioned wanting to try summer swim with her friends we thought it would be good exercise and we could knock out swim lessons at the same time,” Kristin said. “Little did we know it would turn into year round, 6 days a week craziness!

When she was 12, she stepped onto a large stage during a national competition in the 50 yard freestyle at the University of Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium.

“Out of all the pools I’ve been to, that’s my favorite,” Sikes said. “I’ve been to Atlanta, Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, but there’s nothing like that.”

The only female aquatic athlete to win a state championship in Orange High history was Jennifer Rehm, who was a two-time 4A State Champion in 1-meter diving in 1999 and 2000.

As she focuses on a high school life that will hopefully be more ordinary her sophomore season, Sikes’ goals are clear.

“I want to win a state championship,” Sikes said while sitting inside the Sportsplex a week after the state championships. “It’s easier to achieve than the Olympics, but I’m going to have to work really, really hard to get a state championship. Fortunately, the distractions should be much less next winter than it was this year.”

She’s already accomplished more than almost any Orange female swimmer in history. But Sikes still has miles to travel before she finds what she’s looking for.