When Brewer High swimming coach Kathy Cahill was selected to run in the Olympic torch relay for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, she received a blue commemorative shirt to honor her participation.

But Cahill doesn’t have the shirt anymore – she gave it to the person to whom she’s dedicating a segment of her Friday run: Brewer athletic director Dennis Kiah.

Kiah, who is in his ninth year as the Brewer AD, had a cancerous tumor removed from his neck Jan. 24 and underwent 42 radiation treatments.

“He’s been an inspiration to myself and so many others at Brewer,” Cahill said. “He continues to be an inspiration.”

Cahill, who is in her 14th season coaching the Witches, is also dedicating part of her run to her mother, Sally Cahill, who died in 1989.

With thoughts of Kiah and her mother, Cahill will run two-tenths of a mile in Concord, N.H. The torch relay began Dec. 4 in Atlanta and will end Feb. 8 in Salt Lake City where the Olympic flame will be used to light that cauldron that will officially open the Winter Olympics.

The Olympic relay will be in the northern New England region Friday, starting in Quincy, Mass., then on to Boston, up through Essex County, Mass., to Kittery, and then south through Rockingham County, N.H., the New Hampshire cities of Manchester, Concord and Hanover, and end for the day in Lebanon, N.H.

Cahill was notified of her selection in August.

“No one would ever conceive of having that honor of carrying the Olympic flame,” Cahill said. “So it’s more than a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

More than 11,000 torchbearers will participate in the relay.

Cahill’s husband Kevin Nelson nominated her for the torch run.

Cahill said Nelson was shopping for a car on the Chevrolet Web site – Chevrolet is one of the torch run sponsors – when he saw the nomination form.

The form indicated that nominees should be people who have encountered and overcome adversity. Cahill said her husband was moved to nominate her because of her ability to inspire athletes.

“He sent me an e-mail to say he did it and I got to read what he wrote, and I was just touched, just by that,” Cahill said. “Never, ever did either of us think I would be chosen. When I told him I was picked he thought I was pulling his leg.”

Each year Cahill has a mix of athletes on her team, from seniors who have scored at state championship meets to freshmen who are just learning how to swim the different strokes. Her dedication goes deeper than that, however.

“I tend to have a big heart and I tend to take in athletes who have a drug addiction, or have been battered by their parents,” she said. “Often times I’m the only adult they have. … My strengths are to teach [the Brewer swimmers] to swim and to strive to get better. For experienced athletes, particularly those who are stuck, my strength is to help them bust out of a slump.”

Milk mustaches for athletes

If you like to drink milk, and you’re a high school senior athlete, you can apply for a Scholar-Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year (SAMMY) award.

Student-athletes must fill out a SAMMY application and submit an essay of 75 words or less describing how drinking milk has been a part of their life and training regimen. Academic performance, athletic excellence, leadership skills and community service will also be taken into account.

The deadline for applications is March 8, 2002, and finalists will be named in June. One winner each from 25 geographical regions will be selected.

Complete rules and the application are available at whymilk.com.

Jessica Bloch’s High School Report is published each Tuesday. She can be reached at 990-8193 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net