Meet The Observer’s 2022-23 readers’ choice winners for girls high school sports
Today, we are introducing the winners of the 2022-23 Charlotte Observer-area readers’ choice awards for girls sports.
We are also announcing the winners of the athletic director and game of the year.
Schools in the newspaper’s coverage zone nominated players and coaches for the awards and readers were allowed to vote.
Note: The Observer will announce the winners of its annual awards later in June.
Mecklenburg County athlete of the year
Charlotte Latin’s Evie McMahan, a junior lacrosse player, led her team to the NCISAA state championship. The Hawks finished 19-5 and beat rival Providence Day 18-3 in the state finals. One of six players on her team to be named all-state, McMahan finished the season with 110 goals, 40 assists, 28 caused turnovers, 34 draw controls and 37 ground balls. She has committed to Virginia.
Regional athlete of the year
Lake Norman’s Kirsten Lewis-Williams, The Observer’s girls basketball player of the year, averaged 20.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.1 steals per game. She was named all-state, all-region and made the East-West and N.C./S.C. all-star games. The Buffalo commit was Iredell County player of the year.
Mecklenburg County team of the year
The North Mecklenburg girls basketball team finished 27-3 and reached the N.C. 4A Western Regional finals. The Vikings were Queen City 3A/4A regular-season champions after going 12-0 in league play
Mecklenburg County scholar-athlete of the year
Charlotte Christian softball star Anna Hinde has helped her team reach three consecutive NCISAA state championships, winning two. She has a 4.294 weighted GPA. On the field this season, she hit .627 with 10 doubles, 24 RBIs and six home runs. She had a .983 field average. She was the CISAA player of the year.
Regional scholar-athlete of the year
North Iredell’s Elleigh Williams plays softball and was a state qualifier in tennis. The senior star carries a 4.6034 GPA.
Regional team of the year
Lake Norman’s girls basketball team was nationally ranked for much of the season and won the N.C. 4A Western Regional champion. The N.C. 4A state runner-ups finished 31-1, a school-record for wins.
Game of the year
In December, Lake Norman star Kirsten Lewis-Williams made a game-winning buzzer beater to punctuate a 67-66 comeback win against North Mecklenburg. Lake Norman went onto make a long run atop The Charlotte Observer Sweet 16 girls basketball poll, and Lewis-Williams, who had a game-high 28 points, went on to lead the team to its first N.C. 4A state championship. She was The Observer’s regional player of the year.
Mecklenburg County coach of the year
Charlotte Christian softball coach Kevin Hinde led the Knights to their first state baseball championship in 2021, and the team repeated in 2022. This season, Christian reached the state finals round. Hinde, in his sixth season, slowly built the Knights into a power. When he took over in 2018, the team was picked to finish last in the CISAA conference. It finished third, and hasn’t looked back.
Regional coach of the year
Lake Norman girls basketball coach McKenzie Graham led her team on quite the ride in the 2022-23 season. The Wildcats seemingly came out of nowhere, won their first 31 games and earned a national ranking. Along the way, Lake Norman won Greater Metro 4A conference, conference tournament and N.C. 4A Western Regional championship en route to its first state championship appearance and a 31-1 season.
Mecklenburg County athletic director of the year
Butler High’s Chris Satterfield won the N.C. Athletic Directors Association’s “athletic director of excellence” award this year. Up next: Satterfield is organizing a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools summer coaches symposium.
“Chris Satterfield, first of all, is passionate about the work,” CMS system athletic director Ericia Turner said, “and he’s student-centered. Everything he can do for student-athletes at Butler, he’s going to do, and he’s good for our other CMS ADs. He’s a mentor our new ADs and he’s spearheading the coaches symposium and creating the agenda. That’s not an extra paycheck. That’s just the right thing do and we need that type of leadership in our district, and that’s why Chris Satterfield is not only one of the best athletic directors in CMS, but in the state of North Carolina.”
Regional athletic director of the year
Forestview’s Brian Horne, a longtime baseball coach at the school, became athletic director during the pandemic. And he hit the ground running.
“He’s stepped up over there,” said Gaston County director of athletics Chad Duncan, “with all the different things we had to deal with during the pandemic and also just trying to get more booster club involvement and just trying to learn as much as he can by going to athletic director conferences. He’s really worked on developing a network and on being the best he can be, and I know I truly appreciate it.”
This story was originally published June 1, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
