CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School welcomed two new members to its Hall of Fame – one of the best football players ever to take Jim Oddo Field, and a distinguished alumnus who has made a name for himself on Broadway.
The CCHS Alumni Association honored Mario Acitelli (Class of ’06) and Matt Olin (Class of ’91) during a pregame reception, and presented them with the Hall of Fame Award at halftime of the Sept. 22 football game at Keffer Stadium. Alumni Association President Nikki Doulé Warren and Principal Kurt Telford presented the awards.
Mario Acitelli graduated from Charlotte Catholic in 2006. In his football career at Catholic, he was a three-year, two-way starter. He led the Cougars to 32 straight wins and back-to-back state championships in 2004 and 2005. He was voted the school’s first-ever All-American and first All-State selection player in 28 years (since Frank Lampke). In football, he was a two-time All-State and three-time All-Conference player, and a Prep Nation All-American. He lettered all four years in football, and was nominated for the Wendy’s High School Heisman, all while maintaining a 4.1 grade-point average. He was also a three-year starter in lacrosse. He was selected for the Queen City Top 50, the North Carolina Great 38 and the North Carolina High School Lacrosse Association All-State team. He helped lead the school’s lacrosse team to a state championship during his junior year.
As a four-year starter and team captain for the Appalachian State Mountaineers, Acitelli was a member of the 2006 and 2007 National Championship teams. Additionally, he won the 2009 Jacobs Blocking Trophy, which is awarded to the Southern Conference’s top offensive lineman. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Appalachian State University.
After his playing career, he spent a season as a student assistant coach for Appalachian, and three years at the University of Texas as a graduate assistant coach, working with the offensive line and the offensive coordinator. He earned a master’s degree in advertising while at the University of Texas.
He was joined on the field by his wife, the former Sara Cline, and their daughter, Leona Erin. They live in Williamsburg, Va,, where he is the tight ends and fullbacks coach and the special teams coordinator for the College of William and Mary.
Matt Olin graduated from Charlotte Catholic in 1991. Hee was involved in the drama department and participated in the productions of “Grease,” “Ten Little Indians,” “Godspell” and “Bye Bye Birdie.” He credits longtime teacher Dottie Tippett with providing him with both the opportunities and the creative confidence in high school that led to his career on Broadway and beyond.
He spent 20 years creating and producing theater in Charlotte and New York, winning honors such as 14 Tony Awards, 50 Tony nominations, Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards and more. Notably, he conceived and developed “The Other Place,” a new play which had a critically-acclaimed off-Broadway world premiere, and garnered many award nominations and wins. The play earned an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for “Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play,” was named by Playbill as one of the “Unforgettable Experiences of 2011,” moved on to an extended, Tony-nominated Broadway run in 2013, and to date has been performed in more than 70 cities.
Olin is the owner of Matt Olin Creative, specializing in copywriting and creativity consulting. He also is the producer and host of CreativeMornings/Charlotte, a monthly breakfast lecture series for the local creative community. He also is the co-creator of “Queen City Quiz Show,” the winner of a 2016 Knight Cities Challenge Grant. He’s been a guest lecturer at SUNY/Borough of Manhattan Community College, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Charlotte, Davidson College, Clemson University and the University of Alabama.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University. He and his wife Sarah have a daughter, Mirabelle. He was not able to attend the reception and game, but friend Tim Miner ’92 accepted the Distinguished Alumnus Award in his place.
When he was told that he had been selected as a member of the Hall of Fame, Olin said, “I can easily connect the dots between any of my professional creative accomplishments and the joyful experiences I had in the CCHS theater and music programs. It’s an honor to be inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame, but it’s really me who should be acknowledging you – Dottie Tippett and all my fellow Cougars – for the opportunities and confidence you provided. What a gift.”
The CCHS Alumni Association Hall of Fame honors outstanding alumni and other dedicated individuals who have demonstrated commitment to the ideals of Charlotte Catholic. Members are selected for outstanding accomplishments in athletics, for distinguishing themselves since graduation, or for selflessly serving the Catholic community.
— Carolyn Kramer Tillman, Special to the Catholic News Herald. Carolyn Kramer Tillman is the assistant director, Advancement and Communications, at Charlotte Catholic High School.
CHARLOTTE – Charlotte Catholic High School is very proud to announce that seniors Mary Cecilia Polking, Connor Blaise Ruff and Matthew Louis Weber have been named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.
Polking has served on Student Council as a Class Representative and as the Executive Council Secretary. She is in the National Honor Society and the CCHS Color Guard, and has competed on the track team. She has volunteered as an Assistant Catechist at her church, as a tutor at the Missionaries of Charity Convent, and as an Assistant Teacher with Vacation Bible School. She works as a Grader/Assistant at Kumon of Charlotte.
As an eighth-grader, Polking won the 2014 Charlotte Observer Spelling Bee. She won an AP Scholar award as a junior, and earned highest honors on the National Latin Examination four years in a row. She is the daughter of Christian and Jean Marie Polking of Charlotte, and the eldest of eight children.
Ruff is the President of the CCHS Speech and Debate Team, as well as the Captain of the Public Form division of the team. He has had a volunteer internship at Levine Children’s Hospital and has volunteered at the Pineville Firehouse.
As a sophomore, Ruff served as Captain of the JV Soccer team. He has played soccer at CCHS all four years, and also played club soccer during his freshman and sophomore years. He works as a soccer referee and at AutoBell as well.
Ruff is in Honors Choir and was chosen to perform with the “Singing Sergeants” of the US Air Force Band. He has earned the Bronze Award from the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, and studied abroad through Oxbridge Academy. He is the son of Michael and Jenifer Ruff of Charlotte.
Weber attended the Niner Academy Leader Institute at UNC-Charlotte, a summer program focusing on leadership and community engagement. He has played alto saxophone for six years, and as a member of the CCHS Marching Band, he played in the Limerick International Band Festival and the Dublin St. Patrick’s Day Parade. He was awarded first chair in the CCHS Symphonic Band.
Weber has volunteered with Servants with a Heart, 24 Hours of Booty, PurpleStride, and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. He has run winter and spring track at CCHS, as well as cross country. He won the Cougar Award for Academic Excellence as a freshman and sophomore, and earned First Honors three years in a row. He is the son of Mark and Patti Weber of Charlotte.
Nearly 1.6 million high school juniors from more than 22,000 high schools nationwide entered the 2018 competition by taking the Preliminary SAT / National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in the fall of 2016.
Approximately 16,000 students qualified as semifinalists, representing less than one percent of all U.S. high school seniors. This group includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
From this group of outstanding students, approximately 15,000 finalists will be named, and more than half of all finalists will receive either a Merit Scholarship or a Special Scholarship from a corporate sponsor. The winners will be announced between April and July.
They will join more than 300,000 other distinguished students who have earned the National Merit Scholar title.
The National Merit Scholarship program was founded in 1955 to distinguish and honor academically talented American high school students and to encourage them to develop their talents and skills to the fullest. The competition is very rigorous, and scholarship winners are chosen based on their skills, abilities, extracurricular accomplishments, and potential for future success.