McDonald's All-American nominees announced

Cannon School's Jarrell Eddie is one of 36 nominees from North Carolina for the 2010 boys' McDonald's All-American game.

The game is a showcase of the best high school players from around the country.

View the full list of nominees at www.mcdonaldsallamerican.com/2010_Nominees.pdf.

Mount Pleasant girls' basketball helps Samaritan's Feet

The Mount Pleasant girls' basketball team is helping the Samaritan's Feet organization by collecting donations of money and shoes at their Jan. 9 game against Jay M. Robinson.

During the game, Mount Pleasant coaches will also go barefoot in support of the children in need.

Samaritan's Feet raises money and collects new shoes for needy children around the world.

300 million people wake up each morning without a pair of shoes to protect their feet from injury and disease.

"The goal of Samaritan’s Feet is to provide shoes to...these individuals in the next 10 years by teaching them a biblical story of faith, hope, and love, demonstrating those truths in touching them by washing their feet, and treating them to a new pair of shoes and socks," said the orgainzation's Web site.

Contact head coach Courtney Johnson at courtney.johnson@cabarrus.k12.nc.us for more information.

Observations from the pool deck: 3A Western Swimming Regionals

Darren Kataja, a junior on the Jay M. Robinson High School swim team, competed in two events at the 3A Western Regional swim meet on Saturday. He took time out of his day to share his experiences and impressions of the meet.

10:20 a.m.: Today is the day. The culmination of a full season of hard work. The spectacle beheld by throngs of interested viewers. The goal for many, a dream for some, but a competition for all. Oh, and after it’s over we can all watch the Super Bowl.

In about an hour and 40 minutes, the best swimmers of the 3A Western region will converge on Huntersville Aquatic Center to compete in one of the most important events of the season: regionals. The field is made only of those swimmers who have recorded an automatic standard or a very high consideration standard at some point throughout the season, making for a competitive meet.

The top twelve finishers in each event will proceed to the state meet, which is Friday in Raleigh. My team, the Jay M. Robinson Bulldogs, is lucky enough to have a high number of individual entries and relays seeded near the top.

My two events today are the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard backstroke. I’m the twelfth seed in the butterfly, so that’s my focus for the day.

11:15 a.m.: The pool area is crowded with parents and teams from all over the western half of North Carolina. Half of the teams are warming up now, but the rest of us are patiently and nervously waiting our turn. Almost everyone is listening to their iPods, getting pumped up.

Our coach, Beverly Kopelic, just made a speech encouraging us to “make our mark” on regionals. That is exactly what we intend to do.

11:50 a.m.: Warm-ups just ended and we are ready to swim. The pool feels fast today (yes, good swimmers can tell the difference between fast water and slow water) and my heart rate is just as fast as it should be. The purpose of warming up is to get adjusted to the pool conditions and to test out your body’s systems.

In my experience, I have felt terrible in warm-ups many times and turned out great swims, and vice versa. Every swimmer takes a different approach to warming up, and it is important to establish a routine that makes the swimmer feel the most comfortable about the coming events.

12:15 p.m.: High school meets always begin with one of the most entertaining events: the 200-yard medley relay. Four swimmers from each qualifying team compete with each swimmer doing 50 yards of a different stroke. The order is backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle. The freestyle leg never fails to be nail biting.

The Bulldog girls' relay, consisting of Alex Kirk, Meghan Masius, Katy Gilbert and Julia Greer, was the fifth seed in the event. Each girl swam well and they managed to finish fourth, meaning expectations for states are high.

The boys relay, made up of Griffin Fiedler, Chad Heiser, Rene Brown, and Forrest Cannon, carried the top seed in to the event. The team from Charlotte Catholic had their targets set on the Bulldog boys, but with a powerful breaststroke leg by Heiser and a gutsy freestyle leg by Cannon, they managed to hold off Catholic and become regional champions.

“I was nervous to the point where I couldn’t even shake,” said Cannon, a senior and captain. “Compared to last year, though, when we were fighting for the eighth spot (in 4A Regionals), this race was nice.”

1:20 p.m.: There are generally two types of swimmers on high school teams: those who swim year-round on competition teams and those whose swim season is confined to high school. It takes a strong mix of both types to create a team deep enough to be successful. Our team this year was definitely able to take advantage of a perfect mixture. It certainly is a part of the reason why the boys and girls handily won the South Piedmont Conference.

2:15 p.m.: OK, so I’m a little bit mad. I just got out of the water after my 100-butterfly race, which, if you recall, I was seeded twelfth and projected to qualify for states. I swam my best time of the season so far, faster even than what I swam only two weeks ago. With limited practice time due to the recent snow, that is definitely an accomplishment.

However, everyone else swam faster, too, and I ended up finishing 15th. Such is the cruelty of swimming. Success and failure in the sport is only partially under the control of the individual swimmer. Everything depends on the ability, mind state, training regimen and adrenaline of the opposing swimmers. The race against the clock is only part of it; you also have to race against people who have spent the whole week hearing from coaches about how “that kid Darren Kataja is only such-and-such tenths of a second ahead of you….”

There is definitely something left to be desired after my best swim of the year, but for me it will be a tasty sandwich instead of states.

Maybe I can calm myself down during these long 500-freestyle races.

3:45 p.m.: Well, the spectacle has come and gone. Charlotte Catholic High School won the meet according to the points, but the real winners are definitely those whose hard work pushed them through into a qualifying spot for states. The Bulldogs will be well represented next Friday in Raleigh, and that’s what the months of practicing is all about.

I’d love to keep going on but I’ve got to get out of here and get my homework done before the Super Bowl (the other spectacle that happens to share the day with regionals). I wonder if Drew Brees could beat me in the 100-yard butterfly….

Western Regional 3A swim meet results

Charlotte Catholic School swept the 3A Western Regional swim meet on Sunday.

Several South Piedmont Conference schools also competed in the meet, with Jay M. Robinson leading the way. The Bulldog girls' team finished fourth while the boys finished, third, giving them a fourth place finish in the combined score.

Cox Mill finished eighth in the combined score, with Hickory Ridge ninth, Concord 11th, Northwest Cabarrus 15th, Mount Pleasant tied for 17th, A.L. Brown in 20th and Central Cabarrus in 29th.

Swimmers who finished in the top-12 in their event will compete in the state meet this weekend.

Representing the SPC at states are:

Girls' 200-yard medley relay:

4. Robinson (Alex Kirk, Meghan Masius, Katy Gilbert and Julia Greer).

8. Concord (Katie Barefoot, Meridith Moore, Lucy Suddreth and Annabeth Bethune).

11. Cox Mill (Erin Wells, Taylor Rothermel, Ashley MacCoy and Bethy Beard).

Boys' 200-yard medley relay:

1. Robinson (Griffin Fielder, Chad Heiser, Rene Brown and Forrest Cannon).

3. Hickory Ridge (Ryan Steigerwalt, Adam Mulchi, Zack Lambert and Matt Icard).

6. Cox Mill (Nick Cannon, Preston Roycroft, Ethan Garrison and Clay Perry).

11. A.L. Brown (Davied Sanchez, Jackson Boone, Corey Klepper and Cole Harris).

12. Mount Pleasant (Spencer Kiessling, Michael Dilks, Kody Rice and Devon Jarman).

Girls' 200-yard freestyle:

6. Hunter Rogers (Robinson).

11. Bethy Beard (Cox Mill).

Boys' 200-yard freestyle:

2. Chad Heiser (Robinson).

7. Michael Dilks (Mount Pleasant).

9. Nick Cannon (Cox Mill).

10. Rene Brown (Robinson).

12. Brian Todd (Robinson).

Girls' 200-yard IM:

5. Addison White (Robinson).

Boys' 200-yard IM:

4. Preston Roycroft (Cox Mill).

6. Cole Harris (Brown).

11. Griffin Fiedler (Robinson).

Girls' 50-yard freestyle:

6. Julia Greer (Robinson).

10. Bethy Beard (Cox Mill).

12. Annabeth Bethune (Concord).

Boys' 50-yard freestyle:

4. Matt Icard (Hickory Ridge).

6. Ethan Garrison (Cox Mill).

7. Adam Mulchi (Hickory Ridge).

9. Forrest Cannon (Robinson).

10. Devon Jarman (Mount Pleasant).

Girls' 100-yard butterfly:

9. Katy Gilbert (Robinson).

11. Taylor Greene (Northwest Cabarrus).

12. Megan Maglione (Robinson).

Boys' 100-yard butterfly:

2. Rene Brown (Robinson).

8. Austin Rohrer (Concord).

12. Greg Leeman (Concord).

Girls' 100-yard freestyle:

4. Julia Greer (Robinson).

12. Erin Wells (Cox Mill).

Boys' 100-yard freestyle:

2. Zack Lambert (Hickory Ridge).

3. Ethan Garrison (Cox Mill).

7. Matt Icard (Hickory Ridge).

8. Adam Mulchi (Hickory Ridge).

Girls' 500-yard freestyle:

4. Hunter Rogers (Robinson).

Boys' 500-yard freestyle:

5. Austin Rohrer (Concord).

Girls' 200-yard freestyle relay:

4. Robinson (Addison White, Alex Kirk, Hunter Rogers and Julia Greer).

8. Concord (Mary Blackwelder, Brianna Clark, Lucy Suddreth and Annabeth Bethune).

9. Hickory Ridge (Jesseeca Nguyen, Nora Shafer, Anna Zinkann and Kristin Mulchi).

Boys' 200-yard freestyle relay:

2. Hickory Ridge (Zack Lambert, Ben Mack, Adam Mulchi and Matt Icard).

6. Mount Pleasant (Kody Rice, Spencer Kiessling, Devon Jarman and Michael Dilks).

8. Northwest Cabarrus (Jeff Gilley, Collin Waldrop, Sam Miller and Brian Gilley).

10. Concord (Aaron Kuhn, Myers Jones, Rob Suddreth and Austin Rohrer).

12. Robinson (Ryan Buddendeck, CJ Herron, Brian Todd and Forrest Cannon).

Girls' 100-yard backstroke:

12. Alex Kirk (Robinson).

Boys' 100-yard backstroke:

1. Zack Lambert (Hickory Ridge).

2. Davied Sanchez (Brown).

3. Jeff Gilley (Northwest Cabarrus).

5. Nick Cannon (Cox Mill).

6. Griffin Fiedler (Robinson).

7. Cole Harris (Brown).

8. Ryan Steigerwalt (Hickory Ridge).

Girls' 100-yard breaststroke:

9. Addison White (Robinson).

12. Meghan Masius (Robinson).

Boys' 100-yard breaststroke:

3. Chad Heiser (Robinson).

4. Preston Roycroft (Cox Mill).

9. Michael Dilks (Mount Pleasant).

Girls' 400-yard freestyle relay:

4. Robinson (Jessica Gomez, Katy Gilbert, Hunter Rogers and Addison White).

6. Concord (Mary Blackwelder, Brianna Clark, Lucy Suddreth and Annabeth Bethune).

7. Cox Mill (Erin Wells, Ashley MacCoy, Amanda Carter and Bethy Beard).

12. Northwest Cabarrus (Leslie Oman, Hilary Overcash, Nicole Soltis and Taylor Greene).

Boys' 400-yard freestyle relay:

3. Robinson (Rene Brown, Griffin Fiedler, Brian Todd and Chad Heiser).

4. Cox Mill (Nick Cannon, Kyle Cicenia, Preston Roycroft and Ethan Garrison).

9. Northwest Cabarrus (Jeff Gilley, Collin Waldrop, Sam Miller and Brian Gilley).

11. Concord (Rob Suddreth, Myers Jones, Greg Leeman and Austin Rohrer).

More basketball scheduling changes...

This weather is seriously messing up some scheduling. Here's the latest for a couple area schools.

Central Cabarrus at Concord Robinson, moved to tonight.
Cox Mill at Central Cabarrus: Moved up to Thursday to avoid potential weather situation Friday.

Friday basketball games rescheduled

Due to early arriving snow, many of Friday's basketball games in the area were postponed. Here's a list of postponed games in the Cabarrus area and their rescheduled date.

Concord at Central Cabarrus, ppd, Feb. 10.
Hickory Ridge at Mount Pleasant (varsity only), ppd, Wednesday 4 p.m.
A.L. Brown at Cox Mill, ppd, TBD.
Cox Mill at South Rowan, which was scheduled for Monday was moved to Feb. 8.

The Brown at Cox Mill game was rescheduled for today, but with Cabarrus County Schools out today, the game will be rescheduled again. The schools have not yet announced a new date.

Northwest Cabarrus and Jay M. Robinson played a day early on Thursday. The Northwest boys won 73-56 and the Robinson girls won 60-36.

All-South Piedmont Conference swim teams

Chad Heiser and Julia Greer of Jay M. Robinson won the South Piedmont Conference swimmers of the year award after the Bulldogs swept the conference meet.

Northwest Cabarrus' Bob Ringer won the SPC coach of the year.

Jay M. Robinson, Northwest Cabarrus, Hickory Ridge, Central Cabarrus, A.L. Brown, Concord and Mount Pleasant will compete in the Western Regional meet on Saturday. The top 12 teams move on to the state meet.

Here is a full list of the all-SPC teams.

Men

Chad Heiser (JM Robinson)

Brian Gilley (Northwest Cabarrus)
Zack Lambert (Hickory Ridge)

Jeff Gilley (Northwest Cabarrus)
Ethan Garrison (Cox Mill)

Cole Harris (AL Brown)
Rene Brown (JM Robinson)

Nick Cannon (Cox Mill)
Adam Mulchi (Hickory Ridge)

Ryan Steigerwalt (Hickory Ridge)
Davied Sanchez (AL Brown)

Kody Rice (Mount Pleasant)
Matt Icard (Hickory Ridge)

Greg Leeman (Concord)
Preston Roycroft (Cox Mill)

Darren Kataja (JM Robinson)
Austin Rohrer (Concord)

Rob Suddreth (Concord)
Griffin Fiedler (JM Robinson)

Devin Jarmon (Mount Pleasant)
Brian Todd (JM Robinson)

Michael Dalton (JM Robinson)
Michael Dilks (Mount Pleasant)

Ryan Buddendeck (JM Robinson)

Women

Julia Greer (JM Robinson)

Haley Walker (Mount Pleasant)
Hunter Rogers (JM Robinson)

Erin Wells (Cox Mill)
Addison White (JM Robinson)

Kristen Mulchi (Hickory Ridge)
Beathy Beard (Cox Mill)

Olivia McCloskey (Hickory Ridge)
Alex Kirk (JM Robinson)

Maria Buck (JM Robinson)
Katy Gilbert (JM Robinson)

Grace Koontz (JM Robinson)
Lucy Suddreth (Concord)

Taylor Carroll (JM Robinson)
Taylor Greene (Northwest Cabarrus)

Brianna Clark (Concord)
Meghan Masius (JM Robinson)

Sydney Kopelic (JM Robinson)
Megan Maglione (JM Robinson)

Leslie Oman (Northwest Cabarrus)
Annabeth Bethune (Concord)

Nora Shafer (Hickory Ridge)
Jessica Gomez (JM Robinson)

Mary Blackwelder (Concord)