Photo by Adelyn Alvis
Last year, the Orange women’s track and field team fell just eight points short of winning the Mideast Regional Championship.
This year, behind strong performances from junior Adelyn Alvis and pole vaulter Caroline Fowlkes, the Lady Panthers earned the elusive crown.
Last Friday at UNC Pembroke, the Lady Panthers finished with 99 points to win the regional championship. E.E. Smith came in second place with 94 points.
Orange’s 4×800 relay team of Kayla Willey, Reilly Jermyn, Ava Bishop and Kinsey Ross won the regional championship with a time of 10:17.74, easily outdistancing Union Pines, which came in at 10:36.87. To make it more impressive, Jermyn, Bishop and Ross are all freshman.
The 3A State Outdoor Track and Field Championships will take place inside Truist Stadium at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro on Friday.
Alvis, a three-sport athlete who regularly starts for the Orange women’s tennis team during the fall, won the regional championship in the long jump. Alvis’ top leap of 18-feet, 4-inches paced the field of 30 competitors. Franklinton freshman Telia Fisher was runner-up at 17-feet, 9-inches.
Alvis also qualified for the state championships in the 100 meter hurdle and the 800 meters. Alvis earned a 2nd place finish in the 800 at 2:23.14. Zoe Dorsey of Terry Sanford earned the regional title at 2:20.29.
In the 100 hurdles, Alvis also finished 2nd at 15.75 seconds. Southern Durham’s Samone Arrington finished first at 14.75 seconds.
In February, Alvis finished 4th in the 500 meters at the State Indoor Track Championships inside the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem. In the same meet, she came in fifth in the long jump.
Individually, Jermyn finished runner-up in both the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. Jermyn registered a time of 11:38.76 in the 3,200 meters. Georgy Helmers of E.E. Smith won the regional title at 10:46.36. In the 1,600 meters, Jermyn finished at 5:14.45. Helmers of E.E. Smith also finished first in the 1,600 at 4:57.16.
In November, Jermyn finished 10th in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3A State Cross Country championships at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex. She is the daughter of Duke University cross country coach Kevin Jermyn. Her older brother, Myles, is a member of Orange’s 3A State Championship men’s cross country team.
In her final regional championship meet, Cedar Ridge senior Naomi Dyreng finished 3rd in the 3,200 meters, earning a spot in the state championships for the fourth consecutive season. Dyreng came in at 11:46.22.
Dyreng also came in 3rd in the 1,600 meters at 5:15.34.
Dyreng was the two-time defending 3,200 meter regional champion. She has won three regional championships in her career. In 2023, Dyreng claimed the regional titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters at Franklinton High School.
Bishop also earned a spot in the state championships in the 3,200 meters (4th place finish at 12:08.14) and the 1,600 meters (4th place, 5:35.78).
Orange sophomore Clara Fowlkes finished 2nd in the pole vault. Fowlkes earned her first trip to the state championships by clearing nine feet. Elizabeth Surface, a freshman from Durham School of the Arts, edged Fowlkes for the regional title by clearing ten feet. Orange junior Kierstyn Pate tied for third with a successful attempt of eight feet, six inches.
Fowlkes also qualified for the state championships in a running event. In the 4×200 relay, Fowlkes teamed with Asia Whitsett, Kaleeya Fearrington and Gianni Burnette to come in fourth at 1:47.42. Terry Sanford’s relay team finished first at 1:43.28.
Whitsett also individually qualified for the 400 meters. Whitsett, a sophomore, finished 4th at 1:01.43, edging Gianna Hanson of Fayetteville 71st by .34-of-a-second to earn a spot in Greensboro.
Willey narrowly missed reaching the state championships in the 800 meters. She finished in fifth place at 2:32.35. Elizabeth McKinzey of E.E. Smith finished fourth at 2:30.39.
Cedar Ridge’s Ila Diaz finished 7th in the 3,200 meters. Another Red Wolf runner, senior Abigail Klaitman, finished in eighth place (13:28.70).
