Vote for The Charlotte Observer Boys athlete of the Year
Here are the nominees for The Charlotte Observer’s boys athlete of the year.
This year, for the first time, the newspaper is honoring the top athletes of the entire school year.
These Observer Athletes Of The Year awards will honor the top athletes in Mecklenburg County. The athletes or teams had to be nominated by their schools; no others were included.
Schools were asked to send nominees in eight categories: boys and girls athlete, boys and girls scholar-athlete, boys and girls coach, team and courage.
The Observer will release its selections later this month, but we are also going to have a Reader’s Choice award in each category. So there will be two rounds of winners.
▪ Below, you can read about the nominees for the boys athlete of the year.
▪ Click here to see the girls athlete of the year nominees and vote in that poll.
▪ You can click here to vote in the other categories (coach of the year, team of the year, student-athletes of the year and the courage award).
Boys Athlete of the year Nominees
Blaise Atkinson, Lake Norman Charter: Heading to UNC on a track scholarship, Atkinson ran a personal-best 7.35 to finish fifth at the New Balance Nationals March 11-13. At the NCHSAA 3A outdoor state championships in May, Atkinson won the 110 and 300 hurdles.
Jeremiah Burch, Olympic: 4-year starter on the football team was a two-time all-conference pick. Burch was selected to the Shrine Bowl, Carolina Bowl and Queen City Senior Bowl rosters and won the first CMS Jimmie Lee Kirkpatrick award for a player in the district who displays talent both on the field and a passion for their community. The award comes with a $10,000 scholarship. Burch was also conference and regional champion in the shot put and discus in track. He finished third in the state in the shot put and was conference field athlete of the year.
Major Byrd, Myers Park: multi-sport star had 64 tackles, a sack, six QB hurries in football, where he was named SoMECK all-conference. In wrestling, he was 182-pound conference champion, and he was a varsity letterman on the Mustangs track team.
Jordan Crawford, North Mecklenburg: team MVP for a N.C. 4A regional finalist and was ranked among the state’s top 10 seniors. Crawford was a two-time all-district selection and made the N.C. Coaches Association all-state team. He’s signed with College of Charleston.
Connor Glosson, Providence Day: University of Tampa recruit for lacrosse was an all-state in football and lacrosse for the Chargers.
Daniel Haughton, Charlotte Latin: Three-year all-conference and all-state football star for the Hawks, who will play at Dartmouth next fall. Haughton was captain of the Hawks’ football and basketball teams, and was a member of the school’s Student Athlete Leadership Team.
Eli Jerzembeck, Providence: led Panthers to their first state championship in seven years. He finished the year 13-0 with an 0.41 ERA. He had 195 strikeouts, 14 walks and opponents hit just .125 against him. Was named MVP of the state championship series and helped his team to a top three national ranking. Jerzembeck was named Southwestern 4A and N.C. Coaches Association 4A all-state pitcher of the year.
Hudson Jones, Charlotte Christian: In his career, Jones won seven state championships. He was a four-time state wrestling champion, a four-time conference wrestling champion, and he was undefeated as a heavyweight his senior year, when he was ranked No. 8 nationally by Flowrestling. As a football player, he won three state titles during his first three years of high school. He was a two-time all-conference pick who was named all-state twice in football.
Jacob Newman, South Mecklenburg: Newman was named SoMECK football offensive player of the year, helping South Mecklenburg get a rare conference title. He ran for 1,816 yards, and had 282 yards receiving and 15 total touchdowns. He was also a starter on a state playoff basketball team, where he average eight points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals. Newman has signed with Johnson C. Smith to play football.
Dean Treanor, Hough: After finishing third in the 2021 state championships, Treanor won the N.C. 4A state diving championship in 2022.
Cade Tyson, Carmel Christian: Charlotte Observer player of the year and Mr. Basketball in North Carolina, the Belmont signee led the Cougars to a national ranking and a state title. He averaged 23 points, six rebounds this season and scored more than 2,000 points in his career.
Ryan Vestuti, Independence: first-team all-conference in lacrosse with 35 goals, 59 ground balls and one assist. He was named school offensive player of the year. The 3.9 GPA student was named team captain and MVP in golf where he averaged a score of 41 and qualified for regionals.
HOW TO VOTE: After reading about the nominees in each category, there is a authentication box where you will type YES into to prove you are a human. After clicking submit, the poll will appear and you can vote. To vote more than once, repeat the process.
Athlete of the year voting
▪ Note: The winner of the poll will be announced later this week
This story was originally published June 13, 2022 at 3:11 PM.
