Demiter, Auldredge honored by East Burke as athletes of the year

East Burke High School at its spring awards banquet on campus on May 18 announced that Luke Demiter was the 2025-26 recipient of the Alex Guigou Award as its senior-class male athlete of the year, while Jordan Auldredge won the Ray Childers Award as EBHS’ senior female athlete of the year.

Demiter played basketball this past winter and participated in outdoor track and field in the spring, while Auldredge was a member of the cheerleading squad at EBHS in addition to being a member of the Lady Cavaliers’ indoor and outdoor track teams.

Demiter averaged a career-best 9.4 points per game on the hardwood (third on team, 11th among all Burke County boys players) while leading all county players in rebounding for a second consecutive season.

His 9.0 rebounds per game as a senior were more than one rebound clear of second place in the county after he averaged 7.2 rpg as a junior.

Demiter also ranked fifth in the county this past winter at 2.8 assists per game and added 19 blocks (second on team) while also shooting nearly 52% from the field and 65% from the free-throw line.

He was named to both the All-Western Piedmont 3A/4A Conference team and to the All-Burke County team as a second-team selection.

East Burke boys basketball head coach Jerome Ramsey praised both Demiter’s work ethic and positive attitude.

“He led us rebounding, just had a constant motor that I felt like pumped life into our team and kept the guys around him working hard as well,” Ramsey said. “And it’s hard not to (work hard) when you see how hard Luke is going.

“He was asked to do a little bit of everything for us and proved himself capable in each of those roles. He brought the ball up some for us, was a good passer, could score, and he stayed bought into what we wanted to do as a team defensively.”

Demiter scored in double figures 10 times in a 13-game span starting at the turn of the calendar year, with his season-highs of 18 points and 16 rebounds (along with three assists) coming in a home win over R-S Central in February on Senior Night.

In all, he scored 14 or more points seven times this past winter and grabbed double-digit rebounds in 12 games, including three games with 13-plus boards.

Demiter’s play helped lift the Cavaliers to 10 conference wins, their highest total since 2015-16, and EB made back-to-back NCHSAA state playoff appearances his junior and senior seasons, also accomplishing that feat for the first time in a decade.

“Luke is maybe the kind of person whose work isn’t behind the scenes necessarily,” Ramsey added, “but maybe he’s not the person who draws the most attention and praise and recognition, so it’s great seeing him work hard and earn this award. He deserves it.”

Demiter also participated in outdoor track the last two years, mainly in the high jump event, where he medaled twice, including winning the county title (5’11”) last spring as a junior.

Auldredge, meanwhile, started her senior sports seasons with a bang, helping EB claim its first-ever NCHSAA cheerleading state title in the Medium Varsity Non Tumbling DII division at the 23rd annual Cheerleading Invitational on Jan. 9 at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center in Concord.

She announced last month that she will cheer at Lenoir-Rhyne University starting this fall.

“Jordan has been a dedicated member of our cheerleading program for four years and has left a lasting impact on our team,” said Sabrina Baker, EBHS cheer coach. “During the 2025-26 season, she was honored as (our team’s) cheerleader of the year and played a key role in helping our competition team bring home our first state championship.

“Jordan is an exceptional athlete, student, and leader who can always be found on the sidelines with a smile on her face, giving her all through every cheer. As a coach, it has been an honor to watch Jordan grow and develop into the strong, confident, and independent young woman she is today.”

About a month after the EB cheer state title, Auldredge was making news at the state level again, this time as she placed second in the girls pole vault (8’6”) to earn a silver medal at the NCHSAA 4A indoor track state championship meet at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem on Feb. 12.

Her effort helped the Lady Cavs to a 10th-place finish as a team at the meet as her height in the event was an inch off her career personal-best.

Then in the outdoor season, Auldredge won the pole vault event twice and finished second three more times — including at the WPC championship meet at EBHS in late April and the 4A West Regional at UNC Asheville on May 8.

She also captured both one third- and one fourth-place finish in the event at larger meets this spring and placed ninth at the outdoor state meet at N.C. A&T University’s Marcus T. Johnson Track on May 13.

Auldredge, who also ran the 100, 200, and 400 meters during her EBHS track career, capped her senior season by being named to the All-WPC girls outdoor track team.