South Mecklenburg softball player is Observer spring sports girls player of the year
South Mecklenburg High softball player Emily Hill is the 2020 Charlotte Observer spring sports girls player of the year.
This year, the newspaper didn’t name all-star teams in individual sports like baseball, softball and track. The coronavirus pandemic ended their seasons just after they got started.
Instead, we asked schools to nominate players who were stars in the classroom and stars in their communities. Some of the stories from the boys and girls candidates we got back were inspiring.
We named a girls spring sports team, which you will see below, and asked readers to vote for the player of the year winner.
Hill won a tight race with North Iredell’s Heidi Jenkins. Hill got nearly 36 percent of the vote. Jenkins got nearly 31 percent. Providence star Ella Mainwaring Foster was third.
This season, Hill — a Maryville (Tenn.) College recruit hit .421 in five games with two home runs and 13 RBI. For her career, she hit .533. She also is on South’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and helped start the chapter. She is a peer tutor, a faith formation teacher at St. Matthews Church and a softball camp counselor.
Here is the remainder of the 2020 All-Observer girls spring sports team:
AVERY RABON
BUTLER
Senior
Softball
Notable: Co-captain had an .800 batting average, .882 on-base percentage and a 1,000 fielding percentage in Butler’s 4-0 season. She has a 4.32 GPA and is co-captain of Butler’s Dream Team that fights against drug abuse and promotes drug awareness. She’s a National Honor Society member and Club Leader for Butler’s Teens for Christ and she’s a member of the student-led and Retirement Buddy Club, which she founded. In April, she helped cater a meal and spent distanced time with residents at One7 Ministries, a refugee and immigrant ministry that provides food, shelter and jobs for families new to the U.S. who are in need of assistance.
Further, Avery helped keep the fires going at home, after her mom was diagnosed with COVID-19 . Here is the family’s story from an Atrium Health Blog.
MORGAN FIJALKOWSKI
CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC
Junior
Track and field
Notable: Ranked No. 1 in the state for the 300 hurdles and finished sixth in the state finals last season. Finished third in the Southeastern Youth Indoor championship 60-meter indoor finals. Fijalkowski has a 3.98 GPA and is in her school’s National Honor Society and the National Latin Honor Society. She was an athlete representative on a start-up committee for a 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization, Heart of the Clawstle Inc. Its purpose is to empower young athletes through the positive mental and physical benefits of competitive cheer by offering scholarships to athletes in need of financial assistance in North Carolina. She also did a blanket/sleeping bag collection for Watchman of the streets (a group that develops relationships with “tent communities” both to offer help for physical needs and spiritual support).
CLARKSON GRAHAM
CHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY
Senior
Track
Notable: Clarkson Graham is the vice president of the Country Day RunningWorks Club, a group that uses sport to support and empower individuals and families to break cycles of abuse, abandonment, neglect, poverty and homelessness. She has volunteered upward of 150 hours for that organization through her high school years. After a stellar senior indoor season this winter that included qualifying for the New Balance Indoor Nationals Championship Elite division in the 4x800 relay, she started the spring season with a 2:24 800-meter leg on the distance medley relay, a 58.4 in the open 400 meters, and a personal-best 26.5 in the 200 meters. She will be joining the Women’s Track & Field team at Wake Forest University in the fall.
CAMERON HARRIS
GASTON DAY
Senior
Soccer
Notable: All-Conference 2019; this season, she only allowed four goals in three games and posted one shutout. The final play of her career was blocking a penalty kick to defeat the defending 2A state champion. Harris has a 4.49 GPA and will attend UNC-Chapel Hill. She’s a Junior Marshall, ranked top four in her class. She won the Silver Medal on the national Spanish exam, and won a 2020 Scholastic Art and Writing Award Silver Key in poetry. Harris has done international mission trips in Fiji and Costa Rica and volunteered at Catherine’s House, a local women’s and children’s shelter, since 2013.
HEIDI JENKINS
NORTH IREDELL
Sophomore
Track
Notable: Jenkins threw the shot put and discus in her team’s only meet. She was also planning to participate in the 800-meter run, the 400 and long jump. She has a 3.6 GPA in honors classes. Jenkins is involved in her church and volunteers with Collide Kids and other mission projects in the community. She volunteers her time with IC Stars Volleyball Club and NIHS Volleyball team in the summer at youth camps. In addition, she volunteers with the special needs children at NIHS, Special Olympics and The Joy Prom. She volunteers to help feed the Veterans in our community. Heidi also volunteered her time with FCA to make and hand out goodie bags last month to her senior classmates that were on the track team. Heidi is also involved in Crosby Scholars.
HAILEY SEYMOUR
PORTER RIDGE
Senior
Girls Lacrosse
Notable: Scored six goals in four games this season and has a 4.2 GPA. She’s a member of her school’s student council and is also a cheerleader. She started a girls lacrosse club at her middle school to introduce younger girls to the sport and help them learn the basics. She also has volunteered at Food For Families, packing meals for families who may not be able to afford them.
ELLA MAINWARING FOSTER
PROVIDENCE
Senior
Track
Notable: Yale University recruit is ranked No. 7 in a class of 459 with a 4.54 GPA. She is a member of Providence’s National Honor Society for Math and French. Ella is also a member of National Society for High School Scholars. School Clubs: Echo Foundation, Junior Board, Model UN, Sources of Strength and Multicultural Club. In track she was an indoor state champion in the 500 meters the past two seasons and was the 400-meter outdoor champion in 2019.
MORGAN HART
PROVIDENCE DAY
Junior
Girls Soccer
Notable: Co-captain has 45 goals, 47 assists in 36 games. She was a 2020 Gatorade Player of the Year nominee. Academically, she’s national magna cum laude, a member of her school’s National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society. Hart, who has a 4.3 GPA, a 1,510 SAT and a 34 ACT, is also a national merit commended scholar. She volunteers with Soccer for Success, as a leader of the after-school program to provide soccer instruction to elementary school kids. She’s a member of Camp SOAR, which provides instruction and enthusiasm for sport to athletes and is a Sunday Soap Server, which provides food and conversation for the homeless
SAVANNAH BROOKS
UNION ACADEMY
Junior
Softball
Notable: Brooks hit .786 as a sophomore with eight home runs, 41 RBI and 25 stolen bases while making one error. She has a 4.32 GPA, and is a member of the NCHSAA Scholar Athlete, National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society and Senior Beta Club. As a junior, Brooks has already met her required community service hours for graduation having a total to date of over 140 hours. Brooks has volunteered with the Union Academy recreational sports program by operating the clock and scoreboard during home games for over 170 participants in the county. She is also an active member and current president for the Junior Civitan organization volunteering her time with various organizations such as the Pregnancy Help Center, Turning Point (an organization for battered women and children), Special Olympics, serving meals at the Union County Community Shelter as well as a participant for the last two years with the United Way Day of Caring. Brooks has continued to volunteer during the COVID-19 pandemic by serving meals to the homeless through the Union County community shelter on a weekly basis.
