Rock Hill Olympian: "The time is now! Whoo-hoo!"

Big day today for the only two "locals" we have in the Winter Olympics -- speedskaters Lauren Cholewinski (Rock Hill, SC) and Heather Richardson (High Point, NC). (UPDATE: Cholewinski finished 30th in the race. Richardson was a surprisingly high sixth. Both thought they would be happy with a finish somewhere around the top 20 in this event. Here are some more details about their race).

Both skaters were active on Twitter or Facebook today in advance of their race. Wrote Cholewinski on Twitter: "THE TIME IS NOW! WHOO-HOO I GET TO SKATE IN THE OLYMPICS TODAY! DOES IT GET ANY COOLER THAN THAT?"

Wrote Richardson on Facebook: "Today is the day! I just want to thank everyone so much for their support again and I'm gonna try my BEST!"

Cholewinski, who wore pink skates for her race, said afterward that she would have liked to have finished higher but still called the Olympic experience "amazing" and "overwhelming."