This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is freshman swimmer Wren Brand. Last week, Brand won the Big 7 Conference championship in the 50 yard freestyle at the Orange County SportsPlex in Hillsborough. Brand finished with a time of 25.54 seconds, a full two seconds ahead of the runner-up. Brand also earned the silver medal in the 100 yard butterfly, finishing at 1:o2.40. This season, Brand qualified for regionals in various events. On January 8, she won the 200 yard individual medley in a tri-meet against Orange and Woods Charter, finishing first at 2:24.77. Later that night, she earned a spot in regionals in the 100 yard backstroke, finishing first at 1:08.57. Brand also qualified for regionals in the 100 backstroke on December 15, finishing first at 56.03 seconds. Remarkably, Brand has only been a competitive swimmer for two years. In addition to her individual effort, Brand swam the anchor leg for Cedar Ridge’s 400 freestyle relay team, which broke the school record on Wednesday night. Brand, Margaret Payton, Eden Pollard and Natalie Kunz teamed to finish at 4:05.36, which broke the old mark of 4:07.29. Brand has immediately made a sensation for the Cedar Ridge women’s swimming team and is aiming for a spot in the 5A State Championships. Brand will compete in her first 5A Eastern Regional championship meet at the Triangle Aquatic Complex in Cary this Friday.
