Following the most active January for winter weather in years, Orange County Schools are finally set to resume in-person classes on Thursday, albeit with a 2-hour delay.
In the meantime, a long list of winter sports postponed over the past two weeks have been rescheduled.
On Tuesday, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association released schedule adjustments due to the inclement weather.
Cedar Ridge wrestling has rescheduled the opening two rounds of the 5A State Dual Team Playoffs for next Wednesday at Red Wolves Gymnasium. The Red Wolves, the Big 7 Conference champions, earned the #3 seed and will face Atkins High out of Winston-Salem in the opening round. Orange will also compete in the Cedar Ridge quadrant against Currituck County. The two winning teams will meet in the second round later that night.
The state quarterfinals will be held sometime between February 16-18 at a location to be determined. The State Championship is now set for Novant Fieldhouse in Greensboro on February 22, a rare North Carolina high school event that will be held contested on a Sunday.
The 5A East Women’s Wrestling Regional championships, scheduled for February 6th and 7th, have been rescheduled for February 10-12. The 5A Eastern Women’s Regionals will be held at Southeast Alamance High in Haw River.
The 5A State Men’s and Women’s Swimming State Championships, originally set for Friday morning at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary, have been rescheduled, as well. The 5A State Championships will be held on Friday, February 13 in Cary, starting at 8AM.
In some events, the state championship lineup will look similar to the recent Big 7 Championships held at the Orange County SportsPlex two weeks ago. Orange senior Piper White has the second-highest time in the 200 yard freestyle in the 5A ranks this season at 2:02.58, behind only Peyton Stegman of South Brunswick. White will also be in the championship meet of the 50 yard freestyle.
Cedar Ridge freshman Wren Brand has the second-fastest recorded time in the 100 yard butterfly at 1:01.60, trailing only Seaforth senior Sydney Burleigh.
The basketball schedule will resume on Thursday with two weeks remaining in the regular season for both Orange and Cedar Ridge.
The Orange men’s and women’s teams will each play three games over the next three nights, starting with a crucial road trip to South Granville on Thursday night. The Orange women are currently in a three-way tie with South Granville and Seaforth for first place in the Big 7 Conference. Orange defeated South Granville 70-54 on January 9 in Hillsborough.
In the men’s standings, South Granville and Orange are tied for second place at 5-2. There’s a tie for first place between J.F. Webb and Seaforth, who each have one loss.
On Friday night, the Orange men’s and women’s teams will host its senior night against Durham School of the Arts in Hillsborough. Tipoff for the women’s game will be at 6PM with a senior night ceremony to be held between the men’s and women’s games.
On Saturday, Orange will have a short turnaround to host Carrboro in Hillsborough. The triple header will start with the junior varsity men’s game at 11AM.
The Cedar Ridge men’s and women’s basketball teams will return to action on Friday night at Carrboro. The women’s game will start at 6:30 with the men’s game to follow. On Saturday, the Red Wolves will travel to Seaforth, where the women’s game will start at 2.
Next week, Cedar Ridge will have four games in span of five days, starting with a home date against Carrboro on Monday night. The Red Wolves will have four straight home games to wrap up the regular season against Durham School of the Arts (Tuesday), J.F. Webb (Thursday) and South Granville (Friday).
The 5A State Indoor Track and Field Championships have been rescheduled for Wednesday, February 18 at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem.
