Vote for The Charlotte Observer girls HS athlete of the week (03.31.23)

Jay Edwards, Langston Wertz Jr.
·6 min read

Here are this week’s nominees for The Charlotte Observer girls high school athlete of the week.

Readers can vote as often as they want for their favorite. The poll closes Friday.

Vote now. Vote often.

NOTE: Poll results may NOT be shown all week. This is normal.

This week’s Nominees

Betsy Eatmon, East Lincoln Softball: The Mustangs’ senior catcher went 4-for-5 with a double, a home run and three RBI in a 19-1 win at West Iredell, March 21.

Eatmon also had a single and a home run and three more RBI in a 9-1 victory at Stuart Cramer March 23.

Eatmon had a single in a 12-3 loss to Fred T. Foard March 24.

Eatmon is batting .652 with three doubles, five home runs and 16 RBI for East Lincoln (6-1) this season.

Morgan Flowe, Hough Softball: The Huskies’ junior pitched a perfect game with 12 strikeouts to lead Hough to a 10-0 win over previously unbeaten, Mallard Creek March 24.

Flowe also had three strikeouts in four innings of work on the mound, while going 1-for-2 at the plate in an 8-7 loss at Independence March 23.

Flowe is 4-2 on the mound with 34 strikeouts in 27.1 innings of work on the mound with a 4.61 earned-run average (ERA) for Hough (6-2) this season.

Riley Griffin, Union Academy Softball: The Cardinals’ junior went 3-for-4 with three singles, two RBI, one run and four stolen bases in an 8-1 win over Gray Stone Day March 20.

The next day, Griffin went 3-for-5 at the plate with two doubles, two RBI, a run and a stolen base in a 14-1 victory at Gray Stone Day.

Griffin went 4-for-4 with two singles, a double, a triple, five RBI and two runs in a 12-0 win over Covenant Day.

Union Academy is 10-0 this season.

Grace Hall, Mooresville Lacrosse: The Blue Devils’ senior midfielder had 13 goals in three games this week.

Mooresville (4-2) won 11-10 at South Iredell, March 21, beat Community School of Davidson, 17-14, March 22, and lost 13-12 to Lake Norman Charter March 24.

Hall is a Virginia State University commit.

Aniya Hawkins, Mountain Island Charter Track: The Raptors’ sophomore ran a school-record in winning both the 100-meter hurdles (15.77) and the 300-meter hurdles (49.32) at Concord March 23.

Hawkins also helped the 4 X 100-meter relay to a school record time (49.37) and victory at the same meet.

Abbie Hege, East Lincoln Soccer: The Mustangs’ junior forward had two goals in the first 10 minutes of the game to lead East Lincoln to an 8-0 win at West Iredell March 21.

Hege also had the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Fred T. Foard March 22.

Hege has five goals for East Lincoln (5-3) this season.

Natalie Johnson, Independence Softball: The Patriots’ sophomore catcher went 8-for-11 at the plate with a triple, four home runs and seven RBI as Independence went 3-0 this week.

Hough (6-4) won at Providence (11-5, March 20), beat East Mecklenburg (10-0, March 21) and beat Hough (8-7, March 23).

Johnson is batting .513 with three triples, five home runs and 12 RBI this season.

Zaniya Dione Littlejohn, West Charlotte Track: The Lions’ junior won the 100-meter dash in 12.78 at Hough, March 22.

Littlejohn also ran a 1:01.35 to win the 400-meter dash and anchored the 4 X 400-relay team to victory at the same meet.

Rachel Lyons, Providence Day Softball: The Chargers’ freshman pitcher had 14 strikeouts to lead Providence Day to a 3-1 win at North Raleigh Christian in eight innings, March 24.

Lyons is 2-2 on the mound with 53 strikeouts in 39 innings of work on the mound for Providence Day (4-3) this season.

Anna McGowan, Marvin Ridge Softball: The Mavericks’ junior went 4-for-4 with a grand slam home run, a three-run home run, two singles, 10 RBI and three runs scored in a 16-3 win over Ardrey Kell March 23.

The next day, McGowan was 3-for-4 at the plate with two singles, a double, a RBI and a run scored in a 12-2 win over Sun Valley.

McGowan was also 0-for-1 at the plate with four walks and a RBI in a 10-3 victory at Cuthbertson March 21.

McGowan is batting .375 with three home runs, four doubles and 20 RBI for Marvin Ridge (9-1) this season.

Abigail McKinney, South Iredell Soccer: The Vikings’ senior goalkeeper had seven games in a 2-0 win over Lake Norman March 23.

McKinney also helped South Iredell to a 9-0, shutout win at A.L. Brown.

South Iredell is 2-2-1 overall this season.

Kendall Robinson, Lake Norman Softball: The Wildcats’ senior outfielder went 4-for-4 with two RBI and one run in a 9-1 win at Cox Mill March 21.

Robinson was also 3-for-3 with six RBI and a run scored in a 13-3 victory at South Iredell March 24.

Robinson is batting .533 with nine RBI for Lake Norman (5-3) this season.

Kim Rudea, Palisades Soccer: The Pumas’ sophomore scored two goals to lead Palisades to a 5-0 win at Berry to earn their first victory in program history March 21.

Rudea followed that up with a hat trick (three goals) in a 9-0 victory at Harding March 24.

Palisades is 2-7 overall this season.

Julia Schattner, Cannon School Lacrosse: The Cougars’ sophomore midfielder had two goals, including the game-winner, won 70 percent of faceoffs in a 10-9, double overtime win at Lake Norman Charter March 22.

Cannon School (2-3) also lost to Lake Norman 17-6 March 24.

Megan Towery, North Gaston Softball: The Wildcats’ went 2-for-4 with a home run, a RBI and two runs scored, while also striking out three batters in four innings on the mound in a 4-3 win over Kings Mountain March 21.

Towery also went 1-for-2 with a double and two runs scored in a 14-1 victory over Ashbrook March 24.

Towery is batting .619 with three home runs and eight RBI for North Gaston (5-2) this season.

** Information published today includes statistics through Mar 25.

If you want to nominate an athlete?: Athletes of the week highlights high school players with outstanding performances. The goal is to recognize all athletes in all sports, both the most accomplished and the underrated or underappreciated players. If you want to suggest someone to be included in the Athletes of the week column, send email to Jay Edwards at edwardswork23@gmail.com. Please include the athletes’ name, school, class and applicable game performance statistics. Coaches must be willing to verify information.

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