Month: February 2023

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore swimmer Sophia Stinnett. This weekend, Stinnett qualified for the state championships in two separate events at the Central Regionals at the Greensboro AquatIc Center. In the 200 yard freestyle, Stinnett finished fourth with a time of 2:02.84. Later in the day, Stinnett finished with the bronze medal in the 500 yard freestyle. She touched the wall at 5:26.76. Last week at the Central Carolina Conference championships, Stinnett won the gold medal for the second year in a row in the 200 yard freestyle. She captured the conference crown with a time of 2:05.05. She also came away with two silver medals. She finished second in the 500 yard freestyle and the 400 yard freestyle relay, where she teamed with Quinn McCrimmon, Abbygale Pearce and Hala Zafar. Last year, Stinnett made All-Central Carolina Conference as a freshman. She teamed with Olivia Aitkin, McCrimmon and Pearce to set the school record in the 400 yard freestyle relay with a mark of 4:14.69. This Saturday, Stinnett will compete in the 3A State Swimming Championships at the Cary Aquatic Center.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Sophia Stinnett

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The spring sports season has started at some schools across the southeast. Next weekend, it will gets underway for the vast majority of colleges. There are many former Orange and Cedar Ridge athletes who will take the field or have already started their college careers.

Lauren Jackson: Jackson immediately made an impact for the Lenoir-Rhyne softball team. In just her second game, Jackson delivered the On Saturday, Jackson delivered the game-winning hit as the Bears defeated Lee University 9-8 in seven innings at Butler Field in Cleveland, TN. With two out in the seventh inning, Jackson stroked a bases-loaded single to centerfield to bring in Abbey Nixon and Julia Mardigian, which proved to be the game-winning runs. On the day, Jackson went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. In the fourth inning, Jackson had an RBI when she grounded out to the pitcher Natalie Pruitt. The Bears swept the doubleheader against the Flames. In the opener, Jackson entered the game as a reserve in the sixth inning. Lenoir-Rhyne won the opening game 8-0.

Tori Dalehite: The UNC Greensboro softball team is picked to finish second in the Southern Conference this spring. Dalehite, the 2019 Big 8 Conference Hitter of the Year, returns for her junior season with the Spartans. Last season, Dalehite hit .162 in 29 games. She had three RBIs. In her freshman year, the Spartans won the Southern Conference championship and reached the NCAA Tournament Regional in Athens, where Dalehite faced her favorite school growing up, Duke. The Spartans start its season in Fort Myers, FL in the Florida Gulf Coast Kickoff Classic. The Spartans will face Long Island on Friday morning, then face Binghamton later that day. UNCG will also face Florida Gulf Coast and Southern Illinois.

Takia Nichols: The all-time leading home run hitter in Cedar Ridge history will start her college career on Friday in the Charleston Southern Kickoff Tournament hosted in Charleston, South Carolina. The Eagles will open with Siena on Friday morning, then face Monmouth. Nichols had 32 home runs and 109 RBIs in her Cedar Ridge career, which included the 2019 Big 8 Conference Championship. Nichols is also the first-ever member of the Hillsboroughsports.com 4-Timers Club, winning Athlete of the Week four times in four years. Since then, she has been joined in the club by Cedar Ridge volleyball outside hitter Cameron Lloyd and wrestler Fernando Martinez.

Mary Moss Wirt: The Elon softball team will kick off its season against Southern Indiana in the Elon Softball Classic on Friday morning. The round-robin event will also include Winthrop and Morgan State. Wirt played third base, second base and shortstop during her time at Orange. She was a starter on the 2021 Big 8 Conference championship squad that went undefeated during a season abbreviated because of the COVID-19 pandemic. At Elon, Wirt is penciled in as a catcher, a position she never played at Orange. In 52 games at Orange, Wirt hit .309 with 30 RBIs.

Olivia Aitkin: The Division III Amherst Mammoths will start its season later than most college teams. Amherst begins on March 12 against Bethel University. Aitkin, a former All-Conference performer in softball and golf, played centerfield for Cedar Ridge. In 48 career games, she hit .423 with 53 RBIs and 14 doubles. She was a member of Cedar Ridge’s 2019 Big 8 Conference championship team.

Ava Lowry: The Division III North Carolina Wesleyan softball team starts its season on February 25 with a doubleheader at Mary Washington at Fredricksburgh, VA. In four years at Cedar Ridge, Lowry played shortstop. In 57 games, she hit .455 with four home runs and 50 RBIs. She played alongside Nichols, who was at third base, for much of her middle school and high school career.

Grace Andrews: Andrews will begin her third season at Catawba Valley Community College this week. She was supposed to begin this weekend, but a series against the Belmont Abbey junior varsity team, but the doubleheader was canceled. For the first time in her college career, Andrews will get some reps at catcher. In 45  games last season with the Red Hawks, Andrews has an .301 average.

During an interview on New Year’s Day, Katie Belle Sikes said one of her remaining goals in her high school career was to break the state record in the 50-yard freestyle.

Just over a month later, she’s done it.

On Friday afternoon, Sikes finished with a time of 22.88 seconds, winning the 50 meter freestyle and beating the 3A state record of 22.92 seconds held by Nora McCullagh of Charlotte Catholic set in 2013. Sikes also automatically earned All-American status. The National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association lists 23.17 seconds as the automatic All-American benchmark. Last year, Sikes earned All-American consideration at the 3A State Championships.

Sikes came away with two individual championships at the 3A Central Regional Swimming Championships, held at the Greensboro AquatIc Center across from the Greensboro Coliseum. For the second straight year, Sikes won the 100 yard freestyle gold medal, finishing at 50.99 seconds. Asheboro’s Megan Becker came in second at 53.87 seconds. Piper White of Orange qualified for the 3A State Championships in the 100 by finishing sixth.

For the first time, Sikes won a regional championship in a relay event. She teamed with Piper White, Riley White and Ainsley Rasinske to finish 1st in the 200 yard freestyle relay at 1:44.50. It was a school record. Sikes, White, White and Rasinske also advanced to the state championships in the 200 yard medley relay with a second place finish. They recorded a time of 1:56.43, just .12-of-a-second behind the Durham School of the Arts’ team of Alexis Krzyzaniak, Claire Ramsey, Jordan Marley and Megan Healey.

Overall, Sikes has now won six regional championships at Orange. Sikes, a junior, won the 50 yard freestyle in her freshman year. Last year, she captured the 50 and 100 yard freestyle.

Sikes, the first female swimmer from Orange High to win a state championship, will look to repeat during the 3A State Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary on Saturday.

Sikes committed to swim at the University of Georgia in October. Last week, Sikes was named the Central Carolina Conference Swimmer of the Year after she won four gold medals at the CCC Championships at the Orange County Sportsplex. She now has five individual school records.

Sikes qualified for all eight individual events for regionals, but was only allowed to compete in two of them.

Overall, the Orange women’s squad finished fourth, its best-ever showing in the team standings. Orange came away with 202 points. Carrboro won the team regional championship with 338 points.

The Cedar Ridge women’s team finished 10th with 99 points.

Cedar Ridge sophomore Sophia Stinnett qualified for the state championships in the 200 yard freestyle and the 500 yard freestyle. Stinnett came in fourth at 2:02.84 in the 200. Northwood’s Abigail Emrich, who won the CCC Championship last week, came away with the 200 freestyle regional title at 1:56.58. In the 500 freestyle, Stinnett finished third at 5:26.76 seconds. Avery Shuping of Carrboro took the regional title.

Another Cedar Ridge sophomore, Quinn McCrimmon, earned a spot in the state championships in the 200 yard individual medley. McCrimmon finished third after she touched the wall at 2:23.61. Carrboro’s Maya Lambert took 1st place at 2:09.75.

Cedar Ridge’s 400 yard freestyle relay team also qualified for the State Championships. McCrimmon, Stinnett, Hala Zafar and Abbygale Pearce finished fourth at 4:11.57. Northwood’s Bianca Perez, Holly Thesing, Lauren Emrich and Abigail Emrich took the regional title at 3:53.12.

Orange’s Riley White qualified for the state championships in four events. In addition to the two relay races, she finished second in the 100 yard butterfly at 59.71 seconds. White had the lead after 50 yards, but Labmbert beat her for first place at 58.16 seconds.

In the 100 yard backstroke, White finished with the bronze medal at 1:01.65. Jordan Marley of the Durham School of the Arts finished first at 1:00.29.

Just a day after National Women in Sports Day, Cedar Ridge junior Amiyah Ware set a mark that will likely live on for decades.

Unless she breaks it herself. Again.

Ware scored 54 points for Cedar Ridge in a 69-64 loss to Western Alamance at Coach Erma Adams Court in Elon. She broke a series of records and milestones. For starters, she shattered her own school record, which she set in her first game in a Cedar Ridge uniform when she scored 37 points against East Chapel Hill on December 6 at Wildcats Gymnasium. Ware tied her own record last month against Eastern Alamance in Hillsborough.

She also broke the county record, regardless of gender, that had stood since 1978. Orange High’s Ronnie McAdoo held the previous Orange County record when he scored 53 points in a 92-76 win over Southern Durham on January 24, 1978. McAdoo, who went on to play at Old Dominion, accomplished the feat without the benefit of a 3-point line, which was introduced in North Carolina High School basketball in 1988.

No player from Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill or Carrboro High has ever surpassed 50 points in a game in recorded history.

Ware’s total is the 10th-highest ever recorded in a women’s game, according to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association record book. She surpassed the 53 points compiled by Wendy Palmer, who played at Person High School, against Northern Durham in 1991. After Palmer graduated from Person, she went on to play at Virginia and eventually in the Women’s National Basketball Association, starting with the Utah Starzz, for eleven seasons.

The all-time women’s record in North Carolina is held by Clinton’s Mikayla Boykin, who scored 63 points for Clinton against Pender County in 2017. Boykin, now with the Charlotte 49ers, holds the top-two spots on the all-time single-game list. She scored 62 points against Triton in 2016.

“It was inhuman, honestly,” said Cedar Ridge women’s coach Megan Skouby. “She played her butt off tonight, scoring 54 points out of 64 total points. She has absolutely been a game changer for us. She leads the floor. She’s our point guard. Teams have to concentrate so much on her. And when she’s on, she is just unstoppable.”

It’s the most points scored in a women’s game since Charlotte Sherrill tallied 56 for Blue Ridge High School against Nantahala in 2021.

Ware has changed the fate of the Cedar Ridge women’s team after she transferred from the Burlington School last summer. She tore the ACL in her right knee last spring, which led to her missing the opening six games of this season. The Red Wolves lost each of their first six games, but nearly won her in her debut at East Chapel Hill.

On December 9, Ware scored 19 points as the Red Wolves defeated Person 50-27 in Roxboro, which ended Cedar Ridge’s 39-game conference losing streak. It was Cedar Ridge’s first conference win since February 8, 2019.

Since then, Ware has scored over 20 points in nine consecutive games. She had 34 points against Eastern Alamance on Tuesday night, her final home game of the season.

Cedar Ridge will end its regular season this week. They will wrap up Central Carolina Conference regular season play at Walter Williams in Burlington on Tuesday night. The Red Wolves will face Durham School of the Arts at Paul Sykes Gymnasium on Wednesday night. Cedar Ridge will start play in the CCC Tournament on February 13.

“I saw some real growth from our team against Western Alamance,” Skouby said. “Not just from Amiyah, but our defense looked really good. We were very aggressive. We’ve definitely gotten better as the year has gone on. They just have to continue that and hopefully. If we played like we did tonight against some of these other teams, we wouldn’t be where we are now. Let’s just put it that way.”

PITTSBORO–It is February and by the end of this month, the Northwood men’s basketball team hope to secure a trip 14 miles up the road to play at Carmichael Arena for the 3A State Championship.

Six years ago, Northwood playing for a state title seemed like it was a million miles away. They were just another team looking up at Orange and Southern Durham slugging it out for first place for the Big 8 Conference Championship.

Now, the Chargers have not only secured its second straight Central Carolina Conference regular season championship, they’ve completely lapped the field.

Northwood (19-2, 10-0 in the CCC) went into Friday night’s game against Orange with the CCC title already intact with three games remaining in the regular season. The #1 ranked team among RPI in the 3A East Region, the Chargers never trailed in a 77-46 blowout of Orange on Senior Night at Chargers Gymnasium.

Junior Drake Powell, who has committed to play at UNC, led the Chargers with 23 points. Frederico Whitaker added 16 points as the Chargers won its 30th consecutive conference game.

Orange played without point guard Kai Wade, who had started the previous 22 games. Freshman Coleman Cloer paced the Panthers with 20 points, his eleventh 20-point game of his rookie season. Sophomore Xandrell Pennix added 12 from four 3-pointers.

Pennix’s three-pointer from the wing in the first quarter cut Northwood’s early lead to 8-6, but the Chargers reeled off eleven straight points to keep the lead in double-figures for the rest of the game. Northwood’s Jack Nicholson, one of three seniors honored on senior night, sank a 3-pointer to push the Chargers ahead 19-6, leading to an Orange timeout.

Without Wade, Orange struggled to generate offense. Their 46 points was the second-lowest total this year and fewest since they were held to 43 against Chapel Hill on November 22, the second game of the year.

This was Orange’s last regular season trip to Northwood as a conference opponent. Next season, the Chargers will drop down to 2A and join the Mid-Carolina Conference, which will have nine teams including the new Southeast Alamance.

Northwood is now guaranteed a bye into the Central Carolina Conference Tournament semifinals, which starts February 13.

The closest any CCC team has come to beating the Chargers this year came on January 13. Northwood defeated Eastern Alamance 47-31 in Pittsboro.

Orange’s next game will be against Eastern Alamance on Senior Night Friday night in Hillsborough. Seniors Darius Corbett, Isaiah Seymour, Thomas Loch and Cale Barreto will be honored. If Orange wins, they will secure third place in the CCC.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: NORTHWOOD 58, ORANGE 42

The Northwood women’s basketball team secured its fourth straight CCC regular season championship as they pulled away from Orange in Pittsboro.

Te’Keyah Bland, on her Senior Night, led the Chargers with 20 points as Northwood (18-4, 10-0) won its 38th conference conference game. The Chargers, the defending 3A State Champions, never trailed against Orange.

After the Chargers ran out to a 12 point lead, the Panthers fought back despite the absence of leading scorer Erin Jordan-Cornell, who missed the entire second quarter after she picked up her second foul. The Lady Panthers fought back to make it a five-point game after a lay-in by sophomore Evelyn George.

Bland helped the Chargers pull away with five straight points down the stretch, plus a three-pointer from Skylar Adams, who finished with 17 points.

Jordan-Cornell had eleven points for Orange to lead the Lady Panthers. Freshman Addie Atkins added eight points, including two 3-pointers in the second half.

The Chargers have beaten the Panthers nine straight times.

Northwood will receive a bye into the semifinals of the Central Carolina Conference Tournament, making another matchup against the Lady Panthers possible.

Orange (12-11, 5-6) will have its senior night game on Friday against Eastern Alamance. Seniors Erin Jordan-Cornell, Jada Reed, Nikayla Whitted and Katelyn Van Mater will be honored.

MEN’S BASKETBALL: NORTHWOOD 77, ORANGE 46

ORA–9    15     10     12-46

NOR–23     11    17   26-77

ORANGE: Xandrell Pennix 12, Coleman Cloer 20, Ryan Honeycutt 2, Malachi Poole 3, Ryan Moss 2, Freddy Sneed 4, Darius Corbett 3.

NORTHWOOD: Frederico Whitaker 16, Jack Nicholson 5, Kenan Parrish 11, Drake Powell 23, Max Frazier 8, Cam Fowler 5, Griffin Hobbs 6, Jake Leighton 3.

3-point goals: Orange 7 (Pennix 4, Cloer, Poole, Corbett) Northwood 4 (Whitaker 2, Nicholson, Powell).

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: NORTHWOOD 58, ORANGE 42

ORA–11    12    10   9-42

NOR–20   17    10   11-58

ORANGE: Jada Reed 6, Erin Jordan-Cornell 11, Addie Atkins 9, Evelyn George 7, Nikayla Whitted 3, Jada Reed 6, Katelyn Van Mater 4, Maura McMurtry 3.

NORTHWOOD: Natalia Whitaker 8, Te’Keyah Bland 20, Skylar Adams 17, Mikaylah Gover 2, Shaylah Glover 3, Alyla Roberts 4, Sarah Barbour 4.

3-point goals: Orange 4 (Atkins 2, Whitted, McMurtry); Northwood 3 (Bland, Adams, Roberts)

Fouled Out: Jordan-Cornell.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior wrestler Acoya Isley. This season, Isley is 34-2 with 23 pins, the highest pin percentage for the Panthers. In December, Isley won the 195-pound championship at the Eastern Alamance Eagle Invitational in Mebane. He followed that up with another win at the Quentin Crosby Invitational at Greensboro Dudley High School. In 2021, Isley won the 195-pound championship at the Jim King/Orange Invitational. He went undefeated against Central Carolina Conference opponents this year as Orange won the CCC regular season championship. In December, Isley finished 2nd at 195-pounds in the Tiger Holiday Classic, the highest finish of any Orange wrestler. Isley also played football the past two years. For reasons he has yet to figure out, Isley was given the name “Alabama’ by his teammates. On Wednesday night in his final two matches inside Panther Gymnasium, Isley scored pins in the State Dual Team wrestling playoffs. He pinned Swansboro’s Marcos Jimenez in 50 seconds. Against Union Pines, Isley pinned Dantrell Williams in 4:46. Isley will look to return to the state championships later this month. Next week, he will compete at the Mideast Regionals at Cedar Ridge High School.

Orange Panther of the Week: Acoya Isley

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior wrestler Acoya Isley. This season, Isley is 34-2 with 23 pins, the highest pin percentage for the Panthers. In December, Isley won the 195-pound championship at the Eastern Alamance Eagle Invitational in Mebane.

The hope around the Orange wrestling camp was that things would be different this year.

Last year in Cameron, Union Pines defeated Orange 49-24 to win the Eastern Regional championship in the 3A State Dual Team playoffs. It was no surprise that the two teams would meet again with the same stakes on the line a year later. The Panthers had ten starters back from last year’s team. Union Pines had nine.

But the result was the same. The Vikings depth proved to be too much for the Panthers.

Behind pins from Colton Collins, Nick Mascolino and Brock Sullivan, Union Pines won the 3A Eastern Regional Championship for the second straight year, outlasting Orange 37-30 at Panthers Gymnasium on Wednesday night. For the second straight year, the Vikings (27-1) will face Fred T. Foard for the 3A State Dual Team Championship at the Novant Health Fieldhouse in Greensboro on Saturday.

Orange (23-2) was denied its eleventh regional championship.

The Panthers may have been fazed by its opening match earlier in the night. Orange squeezed out a 38-30 win over Swansboro in the regional semifinals in a back-and-forth affair that come down to the last match. Orange’s Dillon Heffernan, in his final matches inside Panther Gymnasium, pinned Klint Rhude to ensure an Orange victory. Moments earlier, with the Panthers trailing 30-26 and its season on the line, Orange’s Talan Pearly pinned R.J. Caines in 55 seconds to vault the Panthers into the lead. It was the eighth and final lead change of the night.

While Orange was struggling in a fighting to the finish against the Pirates, Union Pines completed its business against First Flight quickly. The Vikings cruised 42-31 over the Nighthawks and waited about 40 minutes on the adjacent mat for Orange’s match to finish before the Eastern Regional final.

“They’re a great team,” Orange coach Spenser Poteat said as his team rolled up the mats afterwards.”I think they were just deeper than we were. I’ve seen them a couple of times this year and they’ve been stronger than we’ve been in tournaments. Hopefully, we can rebound from this and get ready for individuals.”

There were four individual rematches from last year’s regional Final. To start at 170 pounds, Brock Sullivan pinned Orange’s Andre Hill in 5:27. Last year, Sullivan prevailed via pinfall at 1:46. Sullivan was ahead 11-3 at the end of two periods before the pin.

At 195, Orange senior Acoya Isley pinned Dantrell Williams in 4:46 to cut the Union Pines lead to 12-6. Isley struggled to gain an opening in the match and got a late escape in the second period to even the score 2-2. The head official took about one minute between periods to clarify the score, which gave Isley a rest as he appeared to be winded late in the second period. Isley rode his strength to earn his 32nd win of the year in his final match at Orange High. Last year, Isley pinned Williams in 1:23.

At 220, Union Pines Colton Collins pinned Orange’s Elijah Acosta in 1:26. Collins was the aggressor from the start and kept Acosta backpedaling. In 2022, Collins defeated Acosta in 2:53.

The Vikings’ Keaton Crawford, at 113, got more bonus points when he scored a major decision over Adrian Sierra 12-2. Last year, Crawford pinned Sierra.

Before Isley’s victory, Nick Mascolino of Union Pines pinned Orange’s Jayden Medley in 1:35 to send the Vikings to a 12-0 lead.

At heavyweight, Orange’s Hugo Vazquez went the distance in an 8-2 win over Sincere Bonner. Vazquez led early after a takedown, but the Vikings’ fans loudly applauded Bonner after the loss since he didn’t give up any bonus points.

Union Pines broadened its lead in the lightweight classes. At 106, Aidan Enright defeated Logan Scarantino 8-2. Paired with Crawford’s decision over Sierra, the Vikings led 25-9.

At 120, Jayden Crawford of Union Pines held off Quadir Medley in 5-2. Medley nearly had a takedown in the opening period but the officials ruled he was out of the circle. After a scoreless first period, Crawford escaped and got a takedown with 52 seconds remaining in the 2nd.

In possibly the most thrilling individual match of the evening, Orange’s Braeden Crawford held on to beat Joe Lloyd 6-5. Lloyd clung to 5-4 lead when Crawford escaped and reversed with :12 remaining in the third period to get the two points, then held on for dear life to prevent Lloyd from escaping and earned the win.

Orange’s Jared Hutchins drew the Panthers closer when he pinned J.T. Erle in 1:39. It was Hutchins 26th win of the season.

Finnius McCafferty of Union Pines regained the momentum at 138 when he pinned Ben Musser in 2:38, increasing the Vikings’ lead to 34-18.

At 145, Orange’s Dillon Heffernan pinned Joe Vraback in 3:16. With two matches remaining, Houston Leeah defeated Orange’s Sam Crawford to 6-4, which ensured the Vikings’ 2nd straight regional title. Leeah trailed 2-0 after Crawford scored the opening takedown just 12 second in. Leeah scored a reversal late in the 2nd period to even things at 4-4, then gained a reversal to open the third period and scored two back points to ride out the win.

Orange’s final dual match win of the season over Swansboro to start the night was a memorable one. There were six lead changes in the first seven matches.

As was the case in opening round wins over Southern Nash and C.B. Aycock, Orange had Sam Crawford and Heffernan compete a weight class higher because of a slew of injuries at 160 pounds. The Pirates’ Theo Yager scored a major decision in a 9-0 win over Crawford.

Andre Hill needed only 53 seconds to pin James Smith at 170. Swansboro responded with Jason McEwen beating Medley in 1:50 to take the lead back 10-6. Isley, who won all four of his dual matches in the team playoffs, pinned Marcos Jimenez in 50 seconds.

At 220, Acosta led Brayden Cline 1-0 going into the third period. Acosta held on until the very end when Cline scored an escape with three seconds remaining to claim a stunning 2-1 win, sending the Pirates back into the lead 13-12.

At heavyweight, Vazquez won the only overtime match of the night when he gained the back of Hyuga Doreus of Swansboro with 3 seconds left, winning 5-3. That put Orange ahead 15-13.

Paul Vaught of Swansboro defeated Scarantino 7-2 at 106 pounds. Sierra pinned Seamus Sullivan in 1:26 to put Orange back ahead 21-16.

At 120, Ayden Goodman pinned Medley in 2:50. Swansboro’s Tyer Cowell defeated Braeden Crawford 12-3, sending Swansboro to a 26-21 lead with four matches left.

The emotional peak of the night was at 126 when Hutchins faced Aiden Russel. Early on, Russel got back points after a reversal to take a 7-1 lead. Russel led 9-2 when Hutchins started his comeback with a quick reversal in the second period. Russel was penalized a point for an illegal move in the third, Hutchins got an escape to even the match, then scored the pin to send the building into a frenzy. Orange was penalized a team point for excessive celebration, which kept the match tied 29-29.

Mason Cooper defeated Musser 10-0. With Swansboro leading 30-26, Pearly quickly pinned Caines in 55 seconds, followed by Heffernan’s victory at 152 over Rhode.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior swimmer Nikhil Agans. Last week, Agans won the Central Carolina Conference championship in the 200 yard freestyle. He claimed the gold medal with a time of 1:49.16. Agans also won the silver medal in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 23.49 seconds. Agans joined Jason Pattison, Willem Crittenden, and Phillip Cauwels to earn the bronze medal in the 400 yard freestyle relay. Agans had already qualified for the Central Regional Championships earlier in January. In a twi-meet against Orange and Walter Williams, Agans won the 100 yard freestyle with a qualifying time of 51.17 seconds. Agans also qualified for regionals in the 100 yard backstroke, coming in first with a time of 59.25 seconds. The 3A Central Regional Championships will be held on Friday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. Agans’ goal is to finish in the top six in any of the events where he’s qualified, which would earn a spot in the 3A State Championships in Cary. over the past two weeks, Agans has broken two school records. Agans is part of a talented Cedar Ridge swimming team that has performed well throughout the course of this season.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Nikhil Agans

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