Local Sports, Sports

Orange designation in Monongalia County means high school teams may practice again

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — For the first time since Sept. 4, when Monongalia County went from orange to red designation due to COVID-19, high school teams, including Morgantown, University, Clay-Battelle and Trinity, are able to practice.

On Thursday morning, announced by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, the number of daily cases per 100,000 on a seven day rolling average for Mon County was 23.27 as of Wednesday, just below the red designation of 25.

Under orange, no games are permitted, but teams can do conditioning and practice, as well as sports specific drills. There are no live scrimmaging or face-to-face drills. Schools and teams were given the all clear to begin practice Thursday evening — current sports include football, boys’ and girls’ soccer, volleyball, cross-country and golf.

With the introduction of the gold classification this week, Mon County is closer to games and matches returning than under the previous system. Before, a county had to be under 10 cases (yellow) on the rolling average, but now can be just under 15 to play under gold.

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