Orange High School state qualifiers in fall sports earn recognition

PEPPER PIKE, Ohio – Five Orange High School student-athletes who qualified for state competition this fall were recognized by the Orange Board of Education Monday (Nov. 25).

Three of the five students attended the meeting and were introduced by OHS Athletic Director Tim Porter.

Freshman Genevieve Hayden earned state runner-up honors in singles competition at the OHSAA Division II girls tennis tournament in Wooster.

Genevieve lost to Amiya Bowles of Bexley High School, 6-4, 6-1, in the state championship match. It was the third straight Division II state singles title for Bowles.

The Orange girls tennis team, coached by Rich Bole, also had two other state qualifiers.

The doubles team of junior Lily Guiler and freshman Adele Tokmazeysky advanced to the state quarterfinals, where they lost to a team from Circleville Logan Elm High School. Lily and Adele were unable to attend the meeting.

Senior Brandon Gent finished 11th at the OHSAA Division II state boys cross country meet in the Columbus suburb of Obetz to earn All-Ohio honors. His time was 15:40.72.

Brandon also finished third at the regional meet at Boardman High School in 16:12.74, leading the Lions to a 10th-place finish overall. He also won the district title with a time of 15:52.06.

Orange head cross country coach Rachel Frutkin noted that Brandon, a two-time state qualifier, also earned Academic All-Ohio honors, which are awarded to athletes who have achieved an unweighted grade-point average of 3.5 or higher.

“I’ve had the pleasure of coaching Brandon for the last four years,” Frutkin said. “He worked very hard this year, and he definitely deserved his spot (on the All-Ohio team).

“He is definitely one of the most coachable athletes I’ve ever had.”

The Orange girls cross country team finished 11th at the regional meet and won the Chagrin Valley Conference championship.

In girls golf, sophomore Anuja Patel finished eighth at the OHSAA Division II state tournament at Akron Firestone Country Club with rounds of 76 and 82.

Anuja qualified for the state meet by winning the district tournament at Good Park Golf Course in Akron with a score of 70, including five birdies.

Cody Kovach is the OHS girls golf coach.

Superintendent Lynn Campbell thanked the state qualifiers for representing the Orange Schools so well.

“We’ve been so fortunate to have state-level performing athletes almost every season,” he said. “I know it’s not an easy task.

“What you do to get at that level is truly remarkable.”

Coach of the Year honors

Porter noted Orange had a very successful fall sports season overall.

Three Lions coaches earned CVC Coach of the Year honors: Rob Senor in football, Frutkin in cross country and Bole in girls tennis.

The varsity football team compiled a 7-3 regular-season record and advanced to the OHSAA Division IV playoffs, where it lost to Northwest, 36-30, in the first round.

The OHS volleyball team won the Maple Heights Tournament and raised more than $3,000 at its annual Pink game, a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness. All proceeds went to support the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the Pablove Foundation and the American Cancer Society.

Another highlight was the boys soccer team’s 3-2 upset of Howland, the 2022 state champion which was ranked No. 3 in the state in Division III, at Howland. Orange scored two goals in final 10 minutes to pull out the win.

Athletes also excel in classroom

Porter noted this year, the OHS athletic department started compiling a “scorecard” to evaluate its athletic programs.

“One element we’re looking at is the academic piece,” he said. “We look at team’s out-of-season GPA (grade-point average) and in-season GPA.”

Porter said for the fall sports season, all of Orange’s teams had an in-season GPA of 3.5 or better, which is deemed “accomplished.”

“This is one of my proudest moments as an athletic director,” he said. “To me, that’s more impressive than anything we’ve done on or off the field.”

Campbell said Porter and his department embarked on this scorecard “as a way to step back and look at the big picture for our programs.”

“The pillars of the scorecard are academic performance, communication, impactful community involvement and continuing athletic excellence,” Campbell said.

“If we can get the highest marks in all of those four pillars for all three seasons, that will really say something.”