Student athletes at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are eligible for free sports screenings as part of Heart of a Champion Day June 4.

Screenings will include electrocardiograms and echocardiograms to check for heart conditions that could potentially cause sudden death.

The program is the brainchild of Dr. Herb Stern, a pediatric cardiologist formerly with Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute. He led the first screening day in 2006.

Stern's concern was that typical athletic screenings don't detect a rare condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which can cause sudden death. It is often an inherited condition that causes thickening of the heart, and usually shows no symptoms until it kills.

The abnormality can be spotted with electrocardiograms, readings of the heart's electrical activity, and echocardiograms, tests that use sound waves to provide a live picture of the beating heart. But those tests cost about $1,500 per person and are not routinely offered because of the expense and the low likelihood of finding a serious problem.

In Charlotte, the free testing is available because dozens of doctors, nurses and technicians volunteer their time, and equipment manufacturers provide testing devices for free.

This year's screening program was expanded to include Fort Mill High School and Nation Ford High School on May 14. Union County schools were added in 2010.

Last year, more than 1,200 CMS and Union County student-athletes participated, and 80 were found to have medical conditions that required follow-up. Conditions included heart irregularities, elevated blood pressure, post-concussion syndrome, uncontrolled asthma, overuse injuries and vision problems. No athlete screened in the program has been found to have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

CMS students will be screened June 4 at Carolinas College of Health Sciences, 1200 Blythe Blvd., on the Carolinas Medical Center campus.

Students in Union and Anson counties in North Carolina, and Chesterfield County in South Carolina, will be screened June 11 at Union West Medical Plaza, 6030 W. Highway 74, Indian Trail.

Rising 10th- 11th- and 12th-graders may register at www.heartofachampionday.org. Click on the "Students" tab at the top of the page. CMS students may register through May 27; Union County registration runs through June 6.

Yoga marathon set for June 4

Yoga devotees and newcomers are invited to Freedom Park from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 4 for a Charlotte Yoga Marathon.

It benefits Louie's Kids, a Charleston-based nonprofit that fights childhood obesity.

After a recent article about Louie's Kids in Runners World, founder Louis Yuhasz said he received an enthusiastic response from Charlotte readers. So he's starting a Louie's Kids Run Buddies program this fall in Charlotte.

Register for the Charlotte Yoga Marathon at www.louieskids.org/charlotte. Participants will raise funds through pledges for each minute of yoga or each Sun Salutation. For details, go to www.louieskids.org.