Orange High School

GREENSBORO–Taking a step away from Central Conference meets, Orange High swimmers Katie Belle Sikes and Luke Roman set school records during one of the largest regular season competitions just before Christmas.

Sikes set two school records at the event inside the Greensboro Aquatic Center that included 547 other swimmers from 25 schools, most of which were private schools and 4A institutions. Sikes won the championship of the 200 yard individual medley, setting the new event record of 2:06.43. Sikes also shattered the school record, which had been on the books since 2011.

Sikes shattered the meet record by a full three seconds. It was previously held by Mckenzie Campbell of Greensboro Page, who completed the event in 2:09.76. Campbell would go on to swim at Georgia Tech, where she qualified for the NCAA Championships twice in the 200 butterfly, along with the 200 individual medley and the 400 individual medley.

Sikes also set the school record for the 500 yard freestyle, an event she only occasionally competes in during the regular season. She finished at 5:11.02, breaking her own mark set last year at the Orange County Sportsplex. Overall, Sikes finished second behind Clarke Neace of Charlotte Providence Day, which competes in the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association. Neace touched the wall at 5:02.06. Like Sikes, Neace has committed to swim with the Georgia Bulldogs starting next August.

In the men’s ranks, junior Luke Roman established a new school record in the 500 yard freestyle. Roman won the event at 4:47.39. Vaughn Muir of Southwest Guilford finished second at 4:51.52. Roman has qualified for the 3A state championships in each of his first two years. Last February, Roman finished 7th in the 500 at the 3A State Championships. Roman also finished 4th in the NCHSAA Championships in the 200 yard freestyle.

Roman automatically qualified for the Central Regionals in the 500 freestyle, which will be held at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on February 3. In addition, Orange junior Alex Andre also qualified for regionals in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:08.49. The benchmark for the 500 yard freestyle by the NCHSAA is 6:15.99. Last year, Andre finished 3rd in the state in the 500 at 5:05.20.

Orange freshman Jason Spey also earned a trip to regionals at 5:45.47.

Roman also earned a trip to regionals in the 200 individual medley at 2:05.21, a personal best. Bence Burton of Ronald Reagan High School won the event at 1:52.42. Nick Baczara of Orange qualified for regionals at 2:16.42.

Baczara earned a trip to regionals in the 100 yard butterfly at 1:00.54.

Andre also qualified for regionals in the 200 yard freestyle when he touched the wall at 1:54.54, good enough for seventh place. Muir finished first at 1:46.73.

Once again, the Orange women’s swimming 200 yard freestyle relay team of Sikes, Riley White, Piper White and Ainsley Rasinske qualified for the regional championships. They finished at 1:44.63, good enough for second place. Grimsley’s Gracie Hunt, Maeren McGonigal, Anna Davidson and Ellie Hunt finished first for the event at 1:42.76.

Last year, Sikes, White Rasinske and White won the 3A 200 freestyle state championship. They became the first Orange swimming relay team to ever win a state crown.

Piper White and Riley White each qualified individually for the 200 freestyle. Riley finished 5th (2:03.01) while Piper came in 17th (2:13.00).

Riley White also earned a trip to regionals in the 100 butterfly with a new personal best of 1:02.69, good enough for fifth overall. Brooke Bourn of Northern Guilford came in first.

Piper White qualified in the 500 yard freestyle at 6:01.82, 14th overall. It was a new personal best.

In the 100 freestyle, Rasinske earned a trip to regionals with a time of 1:02.41. It’s the first time that Rasinske has qualified for regionals in the event.

In addition to Sikes, Orange junior Zoe Jones also earned a spot in regionals in the 200 individual medley. She established a new personal best of 2:34.82.

The Orange men’s 400 yard freestyle relay team of Roman, Andre, Baczara and Ayden Twiddy qualified for regionals with a time of 3:46.59, finishing 13th.

In the overall men’s team standings, Orange finished 13th overall, which was highest among any other 3A school. Reagan High won the men’s team championship.

The Orange women’s team finished 10th overall at 169 points. Grimsley finished first with 407 points.

Payton Wilson: On Sunday, Wilson officially announced he will not play in the Pop-Tart Bowl for #19 N.C. State against Kansas State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando on Thursday. In a statement, Wilson said he would be in attendance for the contest but will rest to prepare for the NFL Draft combine in February. Wilson’s announcement concludes five years at N.C. State which started when he enrolled in January 2018, three months after his last football game at Orange High against Cedar Ridge. In his freshman season in 2019, Wilson led N.C. State in tackles even though he came off the bench in all but one game. He had 14 tackles against North Carolina, which tied the team-high for the season. During the pandemic season of 2020, Wilson was a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer. He became the first N.C. State player to lead the ACC in tackles per game since 2000, averaging 10.8. He ranked fourth in FBS in overall tackles. He also led N.C. State with eleven tackles for loss per game. After Wilson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against Mississippi State in 2021, Wilson ranked 15th in the ACC in tackles per game. This year may have been the greatest season by any N.C. State defensive player ever. Wilson won the Chuck Bednarik Award for the Best Defensive Player in the country as well as the Dick Butkus Award for the best linebacker. Wilson was also the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. He ranked fifth in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 138 tackles and led the ACC with 17.5 tackles for loss. He also notched six sacks, ten pass break-ups, two fumble recoveries and three interceptions, returning one for a touchdown.

Trenton Gill: The former Cedar Ridge punter helped the Chicago Bears defeat the Arizona Cardinals 27-16 on Christmas Eve at Solider Field. Gill had five punts for an average of 52 yards. His longest was a whopping 76 yards. Two were downed inside the 20-yard line. One went for a touchback. Gill is 24th in the NFL averaging 45.9 yards per punt. He has had 16 punts downed inside the 20-yard line. The Bears are 6-9 and will face the Atlanta Falcons in its final home game of the season on New Year’s Eve.

Grace Young: Young has announced that she is transferring from UNC Asheville after one season with the Bulldogs. As a freshman at UNCA, Young played in 22 matches and 46 sets. She had 52 digs and five aces. Young was the libero for the Cedar Ridge Red Wolves for three seasons. As a junior, she was the defensive specialist for the 2021 3A State Championship team that defeated North Iredell 3-1 at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh. Young has three years of eligibility remaining.

Joey McMullin: After four games with Division III Methodist, McMullin announced he was retiring from basketball. McMullin, who is the last player from Orange High to score 1,000 career points, started two games for the Monarchs. In two seasons with Sandhills Community College, McMullin helped the Flyers to the NJCAAA Division III Tournament twice. In 2021-2022, McMullin was named the Region 10 Player of the Year. He was a two-time All-Region X Player. McMullin started his college career with Division III Bryn Athyn College in Philadelphia, where he left after the 2020-2021 season.

Emerson Talley: The Division II Lenoir-Rhyne women’s soccer team reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division II Tournament. In an incredible comeback, the Bears roared back from four goals down to tie Florida Tech at Rick Stottler Field in Melbourne, FL on December 3rd. But the Panthers scored the game-winning goal with three minutes left in regulation to win 5-4 in the national quarterfinal. Talley started and played 25 minutes. This season, Talley started in all 23 matches for the Bears. She played 1,433 minutes and had three assists. She had eight shots on goal. Last week, it was announced that Lenior-Rhyne head coach Dean Ward had resigned in order to become the new head coach at Xavier. Ward had been the head coach with the Bears for two seasons.

Braden Homsey: After a successful wrestling career with the Division III Ferrum Panthers, Homsey has started as an assistant coach with Ferrum. Currently, Ferrum is 3-2 after wins over Waynesburg, Emory & Henry and Fairmont State.

It doesn’t do enough justice to Katie Belle Sikes career to say she is the greatest swimmer in the history of Orange High School. She has accomplished many things that swimmers from neighboring schools with deeper pedigrees never reached individually. She is the only swimmer in school history to win a state swimming championship. In fact, she has won three individual state titles and a relay state championship with Riley White, Ainsley Rasinske and Piper White. Last year, she was named the Most Outstanding Swimmer of the 3A State Championships. In her freshman year, Sikes immediately served notice that she would be a force at the high school level when she won the Central Regional championship in the 50 yard freestyle. She finished second in the state. As a sophomore, she claimed her first state championship in the 50. Last year, she won the state championship in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle and earned automatic All-American status. In Orange’s first meet this season against Southern Alamance and Southeast Alamance, Sikes qualified for regionals in four different events. Last month, Sikes formally signed her letter of intent to swim at the University of Georgia, which has won seven NCAA Championships in women’s swimming. Sikes will continue her senior season at Orange in the Robert Sawyer Invitational  on Thursday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, where she won her first regional title.

Orange state champion swimmer Katie Belle Sikes discusses signing with Georgia Bulldogs

It doesn’t do enough justice to Katie Belle Sikes career to say she is the greatest swimmer in the history of Orange High School. She has accomplished many things that swimmers from neighboring schools with deeper pedigrees never reached individually. She is the only swimmer in school history to win a state swimming championship.

The Orange men’s basketball team was expecting an adventure when coveted forward Coleman Cloer made his season debut against Southern Alamance last week. It turned out to be a wilder night than anyone expected. The Panthers never led in regulation and trailed the Patriots by five points with :28 remaining in the fourth quarter. But Kai Wade came up with a crucial steal on an inbounds pass to put Orange within one point with 15 seconds remaining, and Cloer drained two free throws with :5.1 left to even the game 61-61 and eventually send it to overtime Wade drained a 23-foot 3-pointer for the opening field goal of regulation and the Panthers would go on to win 72-68 in its Central Conference opener. Cloer, a sophomore who has already received scholarship offers from N.C. State, Wake Forest, Mississippi State and Appalachian State, finished with 29 points to open the season after he missed Orange’s first eight games due to an ankle injury. Wade, another sophomore, finished with 17 points. Orange will start play in the John Wall Invitational next Thursday. Orange will open against former conference rival Northwood at Broughton High School. They will play three games over three days in the event in Raleigh before they start its 2024 calendar year. 

Orange basketball’s Coleman Cloer & Kai Wade discuss overtime win over S. Alamance

The Orange men’s basketball team was expecting an adventure when coveted forward Coleman Cloer made his season debut against Southern Alamance last week. It turned out to be a wilder night than anyone expected. The Panthers never led in regulation and trailed the Patriots by five points with :28 remaining in the fourth quarter.

He won a state championship in the last match that Bobby Shriner ever coached for Orange wrestling.

He was a midfielder for Orange men’s lacrosse, mainly focusing on face-offs.

Most of all, Payton Wilson did a little bit of everything for Orange High’s football team from the moment he made his debut in the 2014 3A State Playoffs against Corinth-Holders in Wendell. Wilson spent that year on the junior varsity. He got the call up to the varsity for the state playoffs, where he would play alongside his brother, Bryse, on defense.

He instantly made an impact.

Now, Wilson has become the most decorated college football player to ever come out of Hillsborough.

After a season where he led the Atlantic Coast Conference in tackles and tackles for loss with the N.C. State Wolfpack, Wilson has become just the fourth unanimous first-team All-American in Wolfpack history. Last week, Wilson was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, the only ACC player honored.

Two weeks ago at halftime of the N.C. State men’s basketball team’s win over Maryland-Eastern Shore at Reynolds Coliseum, Wilson was surprised by head coach Dave Doeren as the winner of the Dick Butkus Award for the nation’s top linebacker. Wilson was honored at halftime of the game for being nominated for the Butkus Award, unaware that he had actually already earned the honor until Doeren show up with the trophy moments later.

On December 8, Wilson won the Chuck Bednarik Award during ESPN’s College Football Awards Show at the Maxwell Football Club. The Bednarik Award is awarded annually to the nation’s best top defensive player.

He is the first player in N.C. State history to earn the Butkus Award and the Bednarik Award.

The ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Wilson led the ACC with 138 tackles in 2023, fifth in the Football Bowl Subdivision. He averaged 11.5 tackles per game for a Wolfpack team that finished 9-3, winning its final five games including victories over Clemson, Miami and North Carolina.

Wilson led the ACC with 17.5 tackles for loss. He also had six sacks, broke up ten passes, and pulled down three interceptions, returning one for a touchdown.

Wilson has likely played his final game for the Wolfpack. N.C. State, ranked #19 by the Associated Press, is slated to face Kansas State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Miami on December 28. However, Wilson is expected to opt out to focus on staying healthy for the NFL Draft in April.

Wilson won three straight conference championships during his stint at Orange in 2015, 2016 and 2017. As a junior in 2016, he got to focus primarily on defense under head coach Pat Moser and defensive coordinator Van Smith. It was arguably the greatest Orange football team in school history with the Wilsons sharing time at linebacker, along with defensive end Stone Edwards, who would go on to play at Vanderbilt before an ankle injury cut his career in Nashville short.

The Panthers became the first team since 1978 to finish undefeated in the regular season, roaring through its six Big 8 Conference games allowing just 13 points and one touchdown. Orange thumped Southern Durham 49-7 inside Spartans Stadium on September 23, 2017, a game where Wilson returned a punt for a touchdown. It ended a run of five straight wins by the Spartans over the Panthers, including two tight games in the state playoffs in a rivalry that defined that generation locally on the gridiron.

Southern Durham’s Kendall Hinton, who would go on to play at Wake Forest and with the Denver Broncos, was the Spartans’ starting quarterback.

In his senior year, Wilson was the starting linebacker, returned punts, was the placekicker, punter and eventually became the starting quarterback at midseason. He led Orange to its third straight Big 8 Conference title. Among the highlights of that year was the Panthers beating Hillside at Russell Blunt Stadium in Durham, which ended the Hornets 48-game conference winning streak. Wilson rushed for two touchdowns in the Panthers 31-20 victory.

GRAHAM–When Orange sophomore Coleman Cloer suffered an injured ankle in practice four days before the season-opener on November 13, the prevalent thinking was the Panthers’ pumpkin would turn into a stagecoach upon his return, just like in Cinderella.

Cloer returned just in time for the Central Carolina opener against Southern Alamance on Thursday night, but the stagecoach had a flat tire in the first half.

That didn’t keep some Christmas magic from being spread around for Orange in the clutch.

Orange (3-7, 1-0 in the Central Conference), which never led in regulation, erased a 60-55 deficit in the final 28 seconds to force overtime. The Panthers didn’t trail in the extra session and stunned the Patriots 72-68 in overtime to end a seven-game losing streak.

Cloer, who received Division I scholarship offers from N.C. State, Wake Forest, Mississippi State, Iowa and Appalachian State in the offseason, scored 29 points and grabbed eleven rebounds in his season debut. Orange point guard Kai Wade added 17.

Chris Epps paced Southern Alamance (1-4) with 16 points.

It appeared Orange would go into Christmas break with another disappointing loss when Cloer missed two free throws with :30.8 left. Southern’s Tyler Moore got the rebound but fell down and was called for traveling. Cloer drained two free throws after being fouled by Moore with :23.5 remaining. Moore became the third Patriot in regulation to foul out.

No Orange comeback would be complete without Wade stealing the ball on an inbounds pass. Sure enough, Wade picked the dribble away from Southern’s Jordan Moore and banked it in with :19.3 left to cut the Southern lead to 60-59.

Southern’s Evan Jacobson was fouled with :10.2 on the clock. He split a pair to make it 61-59. Cloer took the inbounds pass and roared to the basket like a teenager going for Taylor Swift tickets, drawing a blocking foul on Jordan Moore. Cloer made the two free throws with :5.8 left to even the game at 61-61, the first tie of the game.

Incredibly, Orange had a chance to win in regulation when Wade forced a held ball on Jacobson, but Epps stole the inbounds pass from three-quarters court as the buzzer sounded.

Orange center Ryan Honeycutt drained two free throws to open overtime after being fouled by Myles Darroch, giving the Panthers its first lead of the game with 3:42 remaining in overtime. After Moore missed for Southern, Cloer fed Wade, who drained a three-pointer from near the Burlington city limits, which left nearly everyone in Orange visiting standing in awe.

Orange guard Xandrell Pennix sank two free throws to increase Orange’s lead to 70-63 with 1:124 left, but the Patriots had some comeback moxie of its own. Reserve forward Myles Darrouch, who played only seven minutes, scored on a lay-in. With the score 71-66 with 48 seconds left, Moore streaked down the floor for a lay-in. Jacobson tied up Wade for a held-ball at midcoast. But Epps three-pointer to tie was short. Wade knocked down a free throw to finish it off.

Much of the night was frustrating for Orange. They shot just 3-of-22 from 3-point range, only 37% from the field overall. Just five Panthers scored. With 2:15 remaining in the second quarter, Southern led 31-17. A smaller Patriots team out rebounded Orange 24-14 in the first half, including 13 offensive boards.

Southern led 32-22 at halftime. The Panthers struggled to cut into the lead in the third quarter. It remained a 10-point deficit after Tyler Moore drilled a 3-pointer on a field from Jacobsen with 1:03 remaining in the frame, but Xandrell Pennix finished the quarter with four straight points to make it 47-41.

Even some of Orange’s highlight reel plays were swiftly answered by Southern. Wade hit Cloer on an ally-oop, which started after a steal by Freddy Sneed. Undeterred, Tyler Moore looped a pass to Epps, who scored on a sweeping lay-in to increase the Patriots lead to 56-50 with 4:18 left in regulation.

Orange will face Northwood to start the John Wall Invitational at Broughton High School in Raleigh on December 28. Tipoff will be at 3:30.

ORANGE 72, SOUTHERN ALAMANCE 68 OT

ORA–7     15    19   20   11-72

SAL–19    13    15    14    7-68

ORANGE: Xandrell Pennix 10, Kai Wade 17, Coleman Cloer 29, Ryan Honeycutt 8, Freddy Sneed 8.

SOUTHERN ALAMANCE: Liam Forrester 7, Jordan Moore 13, Evan Jacobson 5, Josiah Aiken 7, Tyler Moore 12, Myles Darroch 4, Chris Epps 16, Cooper Dodson 3, Kolby Kronbergs 1.

3-point goals: Orange 3 (Cloer 2, Wade), Southern Alamance 5 (J. Moore, Jacobson, T. Moore 2, Dodson)

Fouled Out: Orange (Sneed), Southern Alamance (Forrester, Aiken, T. Moore)

Rebounds: Orange 50 (Cloer 11), Southern Alamance 40 (Forrester 8).

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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Orange junior Braden Crawford captured his first Jim King/Orange Invitational on December 2nd. Crawford, a junior, pinned Tiaj Thao of Davie County in 1:02 in the championship match. Crawford entered the tournament as the #2 seed and opened with a pinfall victory over Jackie Crozier of East Chapel Hill in 3:16. In the semifinals, Crawford defeated Tremayne McNeely of Eastern Guilford 5-1. Following the championship at the Jim King, Crawford had a record of 7-0 with two pins. He went on to win three matches at the Cedar Ridge Quad at Cedar Ridge High School last week. Crawford pinned Nathan Vendura of Cedar Ridge. Crawford also won his match against Eastern Guilford via forfeit. Against Rosewood, Crawford defeated Brayden Holmes 6-1. Following a 2nd place finish at the Joe Via Memorial at South Stokes High School over the weekend in the 126 pound division, Crawford has a 12-1 record. Once again he faced McNeely, this time in the championship match. This time, McNeely captured the win in sudden victory 4-2. Crawford will continue his season against Person High School tonight in Roxboro in an important dual match. This is the youngest Orange wrestling team in years. Crawford, a junior, has found himself in a leadership role on a team that lost ten starters from last year.

Orange wrestler Braden Crawford discusses his 126 lb. championship at Jim King/Orange Invitational

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It’s just the second week of high school swimming season and it’s already been a busy one for Katie Belle Sikes.

Last week, in her opening meet of her senior season at Orange at the Orange County Sportsplex, Sikes qualified for regionals in the 50 yard freestyle, where she is the two-time defending 3A State Champion. She also qualified in the 100 yard freestyle, a state championship she won last year, as well. She also qualified for regionals with Riley White, Piper White and Ainsley Rasinske in the 4×50 medley relay and the 4×100 yard medley relay. Sikes, White, Rasinske and White won the 4×50 state championship last year, the first relay team in Orange High history to win a state championship.

Orange defeated Southeast Alamance and Southern Alamance to win their opening dual meets of the year.

This weekend, Sikes took her considerable talents to the Speedo World Junior Championships. Competing at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on the campus of Ohio State University, Sikes finished second in the 50 yard freestyle among the East Region at 21.95 seconds. Sikes competed for her club team, East Carolina Aquatics, coached by Claudio Battaglini.

Only Julie Mishler of Syracuse, Indiana, who has committed to swim at the University of Louisville, finished ahead of Sikes at 21.87 seconds.

Sikes time in the 50 freestyle was also faster than everyone in the West Region except one swimmer. The West Region championships were held in Westmont, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, over the weekend.

In addition to her silver medal, Sikes also competed in the 100 freestyle at the World Junior Championships. She finished fifth in the 100 freestyle at 48.93 seconds. Sikes was one of only two competitors to finish in the top five in both the 50 and 100 yard freestyle. Jillian Crooks of North Carolina won the 100 meters after finishing 4th in the 50 yard.

Sikes also competed in the 100 yard butterfly, where she finished 21st.

Last month, Sikes formally committed to compete at the University of Georgia, a school that has won seven national championships in women’s swimming. She is the first female swimmer to win a state championship in Orange High history.

As a freshman, she won the Central Regional championship in the 50 yard freestyle and finished second in the 2021 state championships, which were contested in the midst of a pandemic. She has won the 2022 and 2023 3A State Championship in the 50 yard freestyle.

Sikes made the move to East Carolina Aquatics, where Battaglini put more of an emphasis on high school swimming. It led to Sikes being named the Most Outstanding Female Swimmer of the 2023 3A State Championships, where she won two individual state championships, along with the relay state title.