Swimmers' progress becomes glacial

The effects of last weekend's winter storm has spilled over into this week and beyond, forcing the NCHSAA to cancel some postseason swim meets and move others.

The N.C. High School Athletic Association canceled the 1A/2A East swimming regionals that were supposed to be held Saturday in Cary, and then postponed some of the 3A and 4A regionals -- at least those affecting Carolina Conference and Piedmont Athletic Conference schools.

The 1A/2A cancellation means swimmers with top-12 times within their respective regions automatically advance to next weekend's state championship meets in Cary. Carrboro, which finished second behind Cardinal Gibbons in both the boys' and girls' state championships last year, will send a flock of swimmers to the 2010 states, including 2009 event winners Rosemary Scanga, Katie Furey and Emily Tysinger.

The 3-A (with Chapel Hill, Cardinal Gibbons and Orange) and the 4-A (with East Chapel Hill) regionals will shift to today. The 3-A East meet will take place at the Goldsboro Family Y, while the 4-A Central meet will take place at the Triangle Aquatics Center in Cary.

Others just dive in

Local divers managed to complete the NCHSAA 4A Central Region championship meet Friday at Duke's Taishoff Aquatic Pavilion, despite the frantic rescheduling of so many other sports.

Continuing the tradition of former champion Nick McCrory, now a freshman at Duke, East Chapel Hill competitors dominated the men's event.

East Chapel Hill's Charlie Retter won the men's championship with 460.6 points. Ross Lippard of Reagan was runnerup, with 282.8, followed closely by East Chapel Hill's Patrick Kiley (258.05) in third and Wesley Cochran (250.5) in fourth.

Michael Darken of East Chapel Hill took seventh (188.55), behind Carl Cutler of Riverside (245.1) and Alex Zaterka of Jordan (196.95).

Alison Menzies of Reagan was the women's champion with 403.65 points, with Sarah Greene of Riverside (389.55) in second and Lily Armstrong of Western Guilford (341.15) third. Alicia Rouesche of Grimsley (334.15) and Jordan's Leah Catotti (263.95) rounded out the top five.

Katie Krakow (244.7) was the top female finisher for East Chapel Hill, in sixth place, while Jordan's Taylor D avis (235.35) in seventh and East Chapel Hill's Maddie Jones (235.10) were only 15 one-hundredths of a point apart. Ryann Sellars of East Chapel Hill (151.45) finished in 11th place, behind Abby Showers of West Forsyth (225.35) and Jordan teammates Ashlyn Spring (207.7) and Claire Cattoti (133.35).

The NCHSAA 4A state championships are scheduled for 2:15 p.m. Wednesday at Pullen Aquatic Center in Raleigh.

Chapel Ridge, The Preserve change hands

Traditional Golf Properties has acquired three North Carolina golf courses from Bluegreen Golf of Atlanta, including Chapel Ridge Golf Club in Pittsboro and The Preserve at Jordan Lake. TGP also got Carolina National Golf Club in Brunswick County, west of Wilmington, and Brickshire GC in Virginia as part of a four-club deal.

Traditional Golf Properties, based in Toano, Va., will be operating the courses. All four courses are open to the public. The Preserve and Chapel Ridge have a multi-course membership program that gives full access to both courses for one rate. Multi-course members will also have reciprocal playing privileges at the other nine Traditional Golf courses in North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia.

"We have launched an aggressive membership drive that includes no initiation fee for a limited time," TGP golf course General Manager Gene Fones said in a prepared release. "We hope to replicate the Virginia model, where we have six clubs within a 50 miles radius and boast over 1,000 members."

The Golf Club of Chapel Ridge opened in 2006, designed by Fred Couples and JMP Golf Design. It is located in Pittsboro just south of Chapel Hill. The Preserve is a Davis Love III signature course, built in 2002, and is located west of Jordan Lake, south of Chapel Hill.

Miller on TV

Former Chapel Hill resident Todd Miller, the executive director of the N.C. Coastal Federation, is one of three North Carolinians featured in the television documentary Environmental Heroes that will air Thursday at 9:30 p.m. on UNC-TV.

Miller, a native of coastal North Carolina, started the federation in 1982 after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Since then, the federation has worked with thousands of people and groups to protect and enhance the coastal environment. It now has almost 10, 000 members and a staff of 18.

The other "environmental heroes" featured in the documentary are: Dean Brooks, a former dairy farmer in Chatham County who started and runs one of the largest compost businesses in the Southeast; and Gary Grant, a community activist from Halifax County who has worked to protect his African-American farming community from pollution from hog farms.

The documentary was written and produced by students in the science documentary television course at UNC's School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

"We hope the documentary provides inspiration for people who believe that one individual can make a huge difference in protecting the environment," said Tom Linden, the executive producer and director of the medical and science journalism program at the university.

The documentary previously was a finalist in the Carrboro Film Festival and the North Carolina Visions Film Festival.

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