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Cedar Ridge’s Elizabeth Zarzar finished 3rd at the Big 8 Cross Country Championships last week at Chapel Hill High School. On a sultry 88-degree day, Zarzar navigated the course in 19:50, 31 seconds behind conference champion Katherine Dokholyan of Chapel Hill. The Red Wolves had a strong meet, with Julie Averette finishing 9th with a time of 20:48 and Abby Averette coming in 14th with a time of 22:14.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week : Elizabeth Zarzar

Elizabeth finished first in last week’s meet at Cedar Ridge, where the Red Wolves competed against Orange, Southern Durham and Webb. On Wednesday, Elizabeth finished third in the Big 8 Championships.

The highest finisher for the Orange Boys Cross Country team at the Big 8 Cross Country Championships was Andrew Sollars, who finished 14th. Sollars finished with a time of 19:02, just ahead of teammate Sam Rasinske. The Panthers finished 3rd in the conference with 79 points, behind conference champion Chapel Hill and runner-up Cedar Ridge.

Orange’s Andrew Sollars Talks 14th Place Finish at Big 8 Conference Championships

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Our Orange Panther of the Week is cross country runner Adalyn Fleming, who finsihed highest among the Panthers cross country runners last Wednesday at the Big 8 Conference Championships. Fleming came in eleventh overall with a time of 21:05. Orange finished 2nd in the girls meet with 64 points, behind only conference champion Chapel Hill. Also finishing in the top 15for Orange was Ava Heffernan (13th) at 22:13 and Juliana Lester (15th) at 22:15.

Orange Panther of the Week: Adalyn Fleming

Orange’s Adalyn Fleming was the highest finisher for Orange at the Big 8 Conference Championship meet on Wednesday, finishing 11th in her final run at Orange. She finished 2nd at last week’s meet at Cedar Ridge.

Narrowly missing out on a home playoff match, the Orange volleyball team will open the 3A state playoffs on Wednesday at Cleveland in Clayton.

The Panthers are seeded 10th after finishing 11-9, 8-4 in the Big 8 Conference. Orange finished tied for 2nd in the league with Webb, but earned the tiebreaker after sweeping the Warriors during the regular season.

Tomorrow’s match starts at 6.

Cleveland finished 14-6 overall, 8-2 in the Two Rivers Conference. The Rams ended up in 2nd place, one game behind conference champion Triton.

Orange and Cleveland had no common opponents.

If Orange wins, they may have a rematch against Chapel Hill. The winner of Orange/Cleveland takes on 2nd seeded Chapel Hill or 15th seeded Northern Nash.

Chapel Hill swept the regular season from the Panthers this season.

As for other Big 8 teams, Oxford Webb earned a 10-seed. The Warriors faced Morehead in Eden. Northern Vance is a 13-seed and will face Southwestern Randolph.

On this edition of Prep Sports Tonight, we talk with five seniors from the Orange Volleyball team: Jordan Lloyd, Mileah Shriner, Macy Hughes, Julia Lovingood and Eva Porter. The Panthers clinched the 2nd spot in the Big 8 conference after a win on senior night against Webb on Tuesday. Also joining us is Ian Elliott, who clinched his 2nd straight Big 8 Conference Cross Country individual championship on Wednesday at Chapel Hill High.

It was a senior night to remember at Jim King Gymnasium.

Jordan Lloyd, Macy Hughes, Mileah Shriner, Eva Porter and Julia Lovingood played their final matches at home, which is noteworthy in itself. Porter and Lloyd have played together since 5th grade inside diminutive White Cross gym, where Lloyd’s father Joel coached the team.

Then there was the opponent, the race for playoff positioning and finishing the regular season strong. Orange faced Webb, who was a game ahead of OHS for 2nd place. However, the Panthers defeated the Warriors 3-1 in Oxford on September 22nd. A win for Orange would clinch 2nd place in the league.

And the Panthers got it, though they sure may everyone one of the parents sweat it out until the very end.

After roaring out to a 2-0 lead, the Panthers dropped the following two sets 25-15 and 25-16. In the 5th, Bailey Lucas had two aces as Orange bolted out to a 12-6 lead and held on to win 15-11.

With the win, the Panthers clinch 2nd place in the Big 8, finishing the regular season 11-9, 8-4 in the Big 8. Chapel Hill captured the conference championship with an 11-1 mark, losing only to Cedar Ridge two weeks ago.

In her final match in Hillsborough, Lloyd finished with two aces, 13 kills, 32 digs and an ace. Hughes had two aces, ten kills, one block and four digs. Porter had nine kills and twelve digs. Lovingood registered six kills and two digs. Shriner, with her father Bobby and brother Nicholas in the crowd, had an ace, seven kills, three blocks and four digs.

Like many other fall sports, Orange will now sit and wait for the playoff field, which was thrown into disarray after the North Carolina High School Athletic Association delayed each fall sport by one week due to heavy flooding in eastern North Carolina because of Hurricane Matthew. The playoff brackets won’t be announced until next Tuesday.

Our Orange Panthers of the Week this week are Ashley Tilley and Natalie Darveaux. Last week during the Big 8 Tennis Tournament at Orange High Tennis Courts, Tilley and Darveaux finished 4th in the Big 8 Doubles Tournament, qualifying for the 3A Mideast Regionals this Friday at Burlington Tennis Stadium.

Orange Panthers of the Week: Ashley Tilley and Natalie Darveaux

Tilley and Darveaux qualified for the 3A Regional doubles tournament this weekend in Burlington after finishing 4th in the Big 8 Tournament last week.

Rodriguez scored two goals while Davis added to his team lead with another goal, but Orange lost to Southern Durham 5-4 on Wednesday night at Panthers Soccer Park.

Jamar Davis and Alfredo Rodriguez discuss the loss to Southern Durham in home finale

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A regular season that started with promise for the Orange boys soccer team will end with the Panthers missing the state playoffs.

On Monday night, the Panthers postseason fate was sealed after a 4-1 loss to Chapel Hill. In the process, the Tigers clinched the Big 8 Conference championship for the fourth consecutive season.

The loss that wounded the Panthers’ chances came the previous Wednesday, when Southern Durham rallied from a 3-2 halftime deficit to defeat Orange 5-4. The Spartans’s Luis Vidal scored off a corner kick with 9:43 remaining moments after Orange’s Alfredo Rodriguez tied the game. Vidal, a punter for Southern’s football team, finished with four goals. Rodriguez notched two goals for Orange, while Jamar Davis and Malcolm Phillips also scored.

Orange roared out of August 4-1 after beating Graham, Northern Durham, Bartlett Yancey and Wake Forest by a combined score of 25-5. Aside from a forfeit victory over Northern Vance, the Panthers have lost seven straight, three by one goal.

The Panthers are now 6-9-1 this season, 2-6-1 in the Big 8. They travel to Northwood tonight.