The past year was very kind to area athletes, with titles and big stories coming in bunches.

The Mount Airy News sports staff has picked the best and most memorable moments of the past calendar year. These tidbits are presented in chronological order to ensure a non-bias approach.

So now for your reading pleasure, the 2009 year in review.

Mount Airy boys basketball defeat Bishop McGuinness for tourney title — After falling to eventual 1A state champion Bishop twice during the regular season, Mount Airy and coach Kevin Spainhour finally got some retribution, defeating the Villains at home to capture the Northwest 1A tournament crown. The Granite Bears made a run in the state playoffs, but were shocked by conference foe South Stokes, a team who the Bears had beaten three times previously during the season.

East Surry coach Robert Smith retires — After a 20-plus year career, East Surry girls basketball coach Robert Smith called it quits. Smith was honored during his final game and took East Surry into the state playoffs. Due to a stipulation with teacher retirement in North Carolina, Smith was unable to coach his team during the final two games of the season. The Cardinals, led by Courtney Simmons, Kelsey Long and Lekita Shuff won one for “the gipper” but eventually met with juggernaut Bishop McGuinness, the eventual state champion.

North Surry wrestling finishes undefeated — The Greyhounds, led by coach Eric Jessup, left everyone in their wake during the 2008-2009 wrestling season, eventually ending the regular season with a perfect 32-0. North met its match in the state team duals, but had several wrestlers with strong showings at the individual state tournament in Winston-Salem.

Lyncee Kowalcik wins four gold medals — The Surry Central swimmer brought home four gold medals at the de-facto conference championship meet. She blew away the competition in the 100-yard backstroke (1 minute, 9.49 seconds), won the 50 freestyle (27.33) and anchored the 200- and 400-freestyle relay teams.

Kriska, Stanley and Collier win track titles — Mount Airy’s Matus Kriska, Justin Collier and Surry Central’s Raven Stanley all brought home track titles to their respective schools in 2009. Kriska won his second straight mile championship, while Collier won the high jump and Stanley the pole vault.

East Surry softball wins back-to-back titles — After an epic 14-inning loss to Swain County in the opener in Cary, the Cardinals, led by tournament MVP Hayley Shelton, won their final four games, including three on the last day of the tournament. Shelton was phenomenal, as were all of the Cardinals, giving coach Derrick Hill his third title as head coach.

Mount Airy tennis triumphs — Mount Airy boys tennis experienced a banner year in 2009 by winning the overall team tournament to go along with a doubles state title by Nick John and Brooks Mayberry.

Depleted Knights’ valiant effort — Playing all season long with the minimum nine players required to field a team, the Surry Community College softball squad was somehow able to flourish. After finishing the regular season in seventh place of Region X, the Knights made a run in the Region X tournament to place fourth.

Changes at North Surry — Former Greyhounds football coach Mitch Martin stepped down after a 4-8 season amid controversy and unrest at North. Former Lenoir-Rhyne assistant Brian Hampton was pegged to replace him. Without time to work with his team, the growing pains of regime change coupled with a string of bad luck, the Greyhounds had a less-than-stellar season, finishing 1-10.

Power Couple — Dobson residents Jason and Alison Bryant became the second couple to finish in the Top 10 of their respective divisions for two straight years at New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Road in Race. Alison was fourth in the women’s division, while Jason was eighth in the men’s. The Road Race travels 7.6 miles to the top of a mountain.

SCC drops basketball program — First, assistant coach Tony Searcy stepped down. Then, head coach Eddie Wilmoth resigned from that role. By the end of the summer, the Knights boys basketball program was defunct.

Fleming’s wild ride — After winning his first race at legendary Bowman Gray, local driver Luke Fleming was deemed to be driving with an illegally modified engine by track officials and banned for the season. But Fleming, who vehemently denied any wrongdoing, got the last laugh. Later in the summer at a NASCAR-sanctioned race held at Bowman Gray, Fleming took first while driving a different car.

Jessup’s summer vacation — Former East Surry and Surry Community College pitcher Jordan Jessup had quite a summer. First, he set the CVCL strikeout record. To top that, the Appalachian State hurler landed on the cover of a nationally-circulated Reebok catalog.

Little League comes up big — The East Surry/Mount Airy Little League team dominated its regular season so badly it had to leave the state to find good competition. While the team fell in a regional final, it was able to defeat out-of-state teams while advancing through the tournament.

North Surry’s perfect season — The Greyhounds volleyball squad was rarely challenged en route to securing a perfect season capped by the 2A state title. North Surry finished the season 33-0 and was pushed past three games in only four matches all season.

Shelton’s comeback — After taking a few breaks from tennis over the past two years, East Surry’s Megan Shelton returned this year in style, winning the 1A individual title. Mount Airy doubles tandem Ellie Case and Jordan Gwyn took silver at states.

Eagles’ record-setting season — The Surry Central boys soccer team advanced to the Western Regional title game before falling to Shelby in a game that was decided by penalty kicks. The Golden Eagles (23-3) wrapped up the season with the most wins in school history to go with the most shutouts (13), consecutive wins (15), all-conference nominations (six), and fewest goals allowed (21). Central returns all but two starters next season.

Super bowl of Surry County — Undefeated Mount Airy and East Surry, bitter rivals, met with the Northwest 1A/2A conference football title on the line on the final Friday of the regular season. One of the most anticipated regular season games in recent memory, the Granite Bears handed the Cardinals a 30-6 loss.

Little Cardinals win in triple-OT thriller — The Pilot Mountain Cardinals won the Surry County Little League football title with a triple-overtime win over West Stokes.

“The Catch” — Mount Airy wide receiver Justin Collier hauled in a pass on 4th-and-17 from the 19-yard line with 1:15 remaining against Robbinsville in the Western region 1A football final to put the stamp on the Granite Bears’ 27-26 win over Robbinsville.

Two-point try shocks Bears — Wallace-Rose Hill’s Omar Carr plunged over the goal line and Mount Airy was denied their second straight 1A state football title, 38-37. Rose Hill was held to fourth down on their first overtime possession but picked up the touchdown and then the two-pointer which ended the Bears’ season.