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This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior Alex Andre. On Friday night, Andre became a member of the first Orange men’s swimming relay team in school history to win a state championship. In the 400 yard freestyle relay, the final race of the 3A State Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary, Andre completed the opening 100 yard in 49.22, putting Orange in the lead and they would eventually take the championship. This season, Andre helped Orange win the Central Conference championship. He captured the 200 yard individual medley conference title for the second year in a row. Last week, Andre captured the 200 IM Regional Championship at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. It greatly helped Orange win the Central Regional championship for the first time in school. history. On Friday night, Andre finished 2nd in the 500 yard freestyle in the state championships. He finished third in the 200 yard individual medley in the state championships, finishing at 1:57.92. Over the past four years, Andre has been an invaluable part of the longest sustained success in Orange men’s swimming history. The daily morning workouts at the Orange County SportsPlex proved to be worth it in the end as Andre helped Orange finish 3rd in the team standings at the state championships. Andre’s name will live on for years to come in the record books.

(Editor’s note: the attached interview was recorded in 2024.)

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior swimmer Quinn McCrimmon. This winter, McCrimmon helped the Red Wolves win the Central Conference championship. Last month, McCrimmon won the conference title in the 200 yard freestyle in the tightest race of the meet, beating Elizabeth Merlette of Walter Williams by .18 of a second. When she was in elementary school, McCrimmon had no intention of being a swimmer. She had a neighbor recommend swimming to Quinn’s parents to deal with her exuberant personality. McCrimmon continued to develop through middle school and with her travel teams. On Friday night, McCrimmon ended her Cedar Ridge career by finishing 5th in the butterfly at the 3A State Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. In 2024, McCrimmon claimed the Central Conference championship in the 10o yard butterfly. She also teamed with Sophia Stinnett, Hala Zafar, and Sierra Godfrey to win the 400 yard freestyle relay conference championship. McCrimmon finished 2nd in the 100 butterfly during the Central Regional championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on February 1. McCrimmon’s leadership helped Cedar Ridge to its first conference championship as a 3A school this year. After she graduates in June, McCrimmon hopes to attend N.C. State, where she aims to continue swimming at the club level.

Entering the final week of the regular season, the Orange women’s basketball team is trying to finish in second place in the Central Conference. Last Friday, the Lady Panthers defeated Cedar Ridge 35-29. Evelyn George scored eleven points to lead Orange. Shannon Murphy had a crucial 3-pointer as Orange pulled away in the final minutes. Addie Atkins also knocked down a three-pointer as the Lady Panthers swept the season series from the Red Wolves. George was honored before the game against Walter Williams last month for scoring over 1,000 points. Last year, she grabbed her 500th rebound. Recently, she committed to play at Division III Guilford College. Next Friday, George, Murphy, Marshea Byrd, Bryce Jones, and  Rhiley Crabtree will be honored during Orange’s senior night ceremony. Orange is 14-8 after its win over Southern Alamance on Friday night. In that game, George earned her 24th career double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, along with six steals. Murphy added 13 points, including 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range. If Orange can win against Eastern Alamance, it will improve their chances of earning the #2 seed for the Central Conference Tournament. Orange will host the semifinals and championship games in the men’s and women’s tournaments. Western Alamance has claimed the regular season conference championship and will be the #1 seed.

The biggest test in swimming’s 500 yard freestyle is durability.

Speed is nice, but first you have to last.

Cedar Ridge’s Sophia Stinnett proved her endurance once again by winning the 500 yard freestyle in her final trip to the Central Regional championships. On Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, Stinnett won her third career regional championship, finishing at 5:24.22. In a race that was neck-and-neck most of the way, Stinnett repeated as the 500 regional champion by beating out Carrboro’s Avery Shuping, who touched the wall at 5:26.48.

While Katie Belle Sikes is now swimming at the University of Georgia, Orange junior Piper White managed to keep the 50 yard and 100 yard regional championships in the Panther family. After Sikes won four consecutive 50 yard freestyle regional championships, White plopped herself down inside throne that Sikes vacated.

White captured her first regional championship with a time of 25.04 seconds, beating Ledford’s Parker Ridge. Later, White won the 100 yard freestyle at 54.33 seconds, finishing ahead of Carrboro freshman Eva Dziuba.

After winning the Central Conference championship last week, Cedar Ridge finished 2nd in the regional team standings at 280 points. Carrboro, which has won five state championships in the last six years, captured another regional team championship with 441 points.

“I was really proud of Sophia,” said Cedar Ridge swimming coach Amanda Jones. “It was a really fun race to watch. Sophia pulled away in the final 150 yards. It was really exciting to see her pull away at the end.”

In the 100 yard backstroke, Stinnett finished 2nd in the tightest race of the day. Stinnett, the defending regional champions, fell three-hundreths-of-a-second shy of defending her title. Carrboro freshman Annabelle Gangloff finished first at 1:01.83, while Stinnett came in at 1:01.86.

Cedar Ridge’s 200 yard freestyle relay team of Stinnett, Quinn McCrimmon, Hala Zafar and Margaret Payton broke the school record in the 200 yard freestyle relay. Stinnett, McCrimmon, Zafar and Payton claimed the regional championship at 1:45.88. That shattered the previous mark, set last year, by five seconds.

Stinnett, McCrimmon, Payton and Natalie Kunz broke their own school record for the third time this season in the 200 yard medley relay, finishing at 1:57.66. That broke the previous record by 5.67 seconds. It was good enough for a second place finish behind Union Pines’ Ava Milkowich, Claire Weld, Rebecca Kangas and Nyah Tranel, who registered a 1:55.73. Cedar Ridge still qualified for the state championships.

It was the best showing by Cedar Ridge as a 3A team in the regional championships. Stinnett and McCrimmon, the senior co-Captains, took the reigns for a team that reached the top of the Central Conference this year.

“Sophia and Quinn are definitely leaders in their own regard,” Jones said. “I think they do a really good job behind the blocks getting their younger teammates really excited before we swim. The other two swimmers on the relay team, one is a freshman and the other is a sophomore. They do a good job making them comfortable enough to swim in such a high pressure situation.”

Orange’s relay team of Addison Moore, Ainsley Rasinske, Zoe Jones and Piper White finished 4th at 1:57.84.

Payton earned her first trip to the state championships in the 200 yard freestyle as she finished 2nd at 2:05.51. Carrboro’s Shuping earned the regional title at 2:03.77. Orange junior Ainsley Rasinske earned a trip to the state championships with a 4th place finish, touching the wall at 2:07.37.

McCrimmon qualified for the state championships in two events. She finished 2nd in the 100 yard butterfly at 1:00.92. Southern Alamance freshman Madisyn Upton finished first with a time of 57.00.

McCrimmon also came in third in the 200 yard individual medley at 2:20.24. Upton claimed her second regional title at 2:10.36, while Carrboro’s Gangloff came in second at 2:16.06.

Orange senior Lily Howard finished 5th in the Central Regional diving championships with 247.50 points. Western Alamance’s Michaela Bentley took the regional title at 364 points, beating the runner-up by 39 points.

Finally, Orange men’s basketball came home on Tuesday night.

For Freddy Sneed, it wasn’t just another home game. Along with his classmates Xandrell Pennix, Michael Clark and Ethan Ellis, it’s the start of a stretch run that started when they were freshmen, where times were hardly glamorous.

Following ten consecutive games on the road, Sneed scored a career-high 21 points as Orange defeated Walter Williams 72-54 at Panther Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Junior point guard Kai Wade added 21 points as the Panthers maintained its share of first place in the Central Conference, still tied in the loss column with Eastern Alamance.

Sneed played regularly with Pennix as freshmen in 2021-2022 on an Orange team that finished 8-17. Now, they’re gunning for a second straight Central Conference regular season championship.

It was Orange’s fourth wire-to-wire win in five games. As usual, the Panthers offense jump started its defense. The Panthers started the game on a 7-0 run, triggered by a 3-pointer from Wade. On the subsequent possession, Pennix poked the ball away from Williams’ Colby Elliott, then dumped the ball to Sneed for a breakaway lay-in.

Orange would increase the lead to 43-29 after two free throws by Wade in the second half, but the Bulldogs made a charge in the third quarter. Elliott drained three consecutive 3-pointers, followed by another shot from downtown by point guard Cavion Stokes. That reduced Orange’s lead to 47-41 with 1:11 remaining in the third quarter.

That would be the final 3-pointer for the Bulldogs. Wade made four free throws, followed by a 3-pointer from Clark from 26-feet, which he claimed was the deepest shot of his career. Orange would push its lead to 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Elliott led the Bulldogs with 28 points, the only Williams player in double figures.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior swimmer Sophia Stinnett. On Saturday, Stinnett won her third career Central Regional individual championship. For the second year in a row, Stinnett won the 500 yard freestyle at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. She finished at 5:24.22, beating out Avery Shuping of Carrboro. Also, Stinnett swam the anchor leg as Cedar Ridge won the regional championship in the 200 yard freestyle relay at 1:45.88. Stinnett closed with a final lap of 25.09 seconds as she teamed with Quinn McCrimmon, Hala Zafar and Margaret Payton to earn the championship. Last week, Stinnett won two individual titles at the Central Conference Championships at the Orange County SportsPlex in Hillsborough. Stinnett captured the 500 yard freestyle and the 100 yard backstroke. Cedar Ridge won the Central Conference Women’s Swimming Championship. Last year, Stinnett won her first regional championship in the 100 yard backstroke. She went on to finish third in the state championships in the backstroke. Earlier this academic year, Stinnett signed to swim at Le Moyne College, a Division I school in DeWitt Town, New York. On Friday, Stinnett will swim in her final meet at Cedar Ridge, returning to the 3A State Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. Regardless of the result, she will go down in history as one of the most accomplished swimmers in Hillsborough history. She will look to become the first Cedar Ridge female swimmer to win a state championship since 2014.

In its best season under third-year head coach Mike Jones, the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team built another point of pride in Graham.

Jack Kelsey earned his first career double-double with 16 points and eleven rebounds as the Red Wolves defeated Southern Alamance 52-43 in Graham on Tuesday night. It ended a ten-game Central Conference road losing streak for the Red Wolves, who improved to 6-13 overall, 1-6 in league play after the win.

It’s the most wins for Cedar Ridge since the 2022-2023 season, when they finished 6-16. Previous to Tuesday, Cedar Ridge’s last road win in the Central Conference was on February 3, 2023 in a 42-33 victory over Western Alamance in Elon.

A thin Red Wolf team that played just six players was enough to defeat a depleted Southern Alamance squad, which has lost starting guards Kaleb Kronbergs and Bo Day due to injuries. Cedar Ridge sophomore Jordan Jacobson added 16 points for the Red Wolves.

Micah Stone paced Southern Alamance (4-14, 1-6) with 16 points. Southern Alamance’s Riley Warren, who finished with eleven points and eight rebounds, gave the Patriots a 17-15 lead after he cashed in a lob from Stone. After Southern’s Brandyn Gonzalez nailed a 3-pointer off a pass from Eli Gilley, Cedar Ridge went on a 12-0 run. They held the Patriots scoreless in the final 4:47 of the first half.

Jacobson started the run with a 3-pointer off a skip pass from Wilborun. Wise got an offensive rebound off a miss and stuck it back in, which put the Red Wolves ahead for the rest of the night. Kelsey scored consecutive field goals, again off offensive rebounds. Jacobson ended the half in style with a 3-pointer to give Cedar Ridge a 31-23 lead at halftime.

The Red Wolves built a 12-point lead in the third quarter after Wilbourn found Kelsey for a lay-in, vaulting the Red Wolves ahead 37-25 with 5:03 remaining in the third quarter. Cedar Ridge outrebounded the Patriots 46-29, including 15 offensive rebounds. Kelsey, who is in his first year at the varsity level, finished with his most impressive line of the year. He came away with 16 points, eleven rebounds, four blocks and three steals.

The Patriots shot just 4-of-22 from the 3-point line and only 29% from the field overall.

Southern Alamance climbed with six early in the fourth quarter after guard Drayden Brewer scored on a lay-in. Cedar Ridge’s Kevin Etim scored off his own miss, which was followed by a crucial 3-pointer from Red Wolf sophomore Tripp Beasley. To end the game, Beasley sank two free throws.

Women’s basketball: Cedar Ridge 34, Southern Alamance 12: The Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team earned its first conference road win of the season with a dominant victory over the Patriots on Tuesday night in Graham. Cedar Ridge allowed only 12 points, the lowest total by an opponent this season.

Freshman Kassidy Tolliver led the Red Wolves with nine points and eight rebounds as Cedar Ridge improved to 6-9, 2-5 in the Central Conference. Both of Cedar Ridge’s conference wins have come against Southern Alamance.

Sarah Kathryn Manness led Southern Alamance with eight points. Manness scored all three of the Patriots field goals.

Manness gave Southern Alamance its only lead of the game when she scored in the opening minute off an offensive rebound. The Red Wolves went on  an 11-0 run, which started when sophomore Kate Finnegan split two free throws. Guard Ava Smith drained a jumper off a pass from freshman Kennedi Fearrington. Tolliver scored off a turnover to finish the first half.

Smith finished with a career-high eight points for Cedar Ridge. Finnegan finished with five points and four rebounds. Fearrington had four points as the Red Wolves started a string of three road games over the span of four days with a victory. Cedar Ridge built its lead to as large as 23 points in the second half.