Friday took the O’Neal Falcons to the North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association state championship in Cary.

Both Falcon teams placed in the bottom quarter of finishers, boys 18th of 24 (452 points) and girls 15th of 19 (346 points), a modest position given the very young ages of both squads, according to Falcon coach Josh Roberts.

Junior Andy Smetana and freshman Josh Russell came in separated by two-10ths of a second in a driven and well-fought finish to the Falcons’ season.

Smetana finished 52nd in a time of 19:48.26, while Russell captured the 53rd slot in a time of 19:48.48. Other scorers for the Falcon boys were Kyle Flechsig (105th, 21:35.05), John Grimm (114th, 21:54.87) and Jesse Ingham (128th, 22:31.51).

Senior and Falcon captain Courtney Morrison took up the final charge for her girls’ team, keeping faith with the team ethic she has been building all season, said Roberts.

Hunter Atkinson, a freshman, was the top finisher for the Falcon girls. She finished 18th in a time of 21:50.60. Other Falcon scorers were Aleksandra Majka (70th, 24:30.50), Julia Huesa (73rd, 24:41.01) Cydney Baldwin (103rd, 26:53.22) and Megan Bloom (111th, 26:53.42).

Vikes Bounced from State Tennis

The four Union Pines girls’ tennis players that advanced to state competition were eliminated in the first round Friday at the Burlington Tennis Center.

Melissa Tally suffered a close 6-3, 7-6 (1) loss to Kaelan Forbes of Forestview in the first round of the 3-A singles competition. Mary Beth Jackson, also competing for the Vikes in the singles flight, fell 6-1, 6-4 to Alix Theodossiou of Asheville.

The state singles champion was Masey DeMoss of McMichael High, who defeated Sarah Jiang of Cox Mill 6-2, 6-2 in Saturday’s finals, also held at the Burlington Tennis Center.

The Vikings’ doubles duo of Laura Cameron and Elena D’Argenio were defeated by Claudia Steffey and Hope McIntosh of Ashebrook 6-2, 6-3.

The Weddington team of Emma Yates and Heidi Swope battled back to win the state doubles championship Saturday, defeating the Charlotte Catholic team of Grace Deering and Rachel Tomchin. Yates and Swope dropped the first set 6-4, but rallied to take the next two by 6-1, 6-3 scores to clinch the crown.

Pinehurst Rec Offers Cheerleading

Pinehurst Parks and Recreation Department is offering a youth cheerleading program for girls, ages 5-12. Age is determined as of Oct. 16, 2012.

This program is for girls to have fun while learning cheers and routines. Practices will be held on Wednesday evenings with games on Thursday evenings. First practice is Dec. 6 and the season will last until Feb. 21.

Registration ends Friday, Nov. 9 at 5 p.m.

Registration can be done in person at Village Hall or online at www.pinehurst rec.org.

The cost of the program is $30 for residents and $60 for nonresidents.

For more information, contact Dave White at (910) 295-2817 ext. 1273 or email dwhite@vopnc.org.