Hiram elevates Macy Roell to become women’s volleyball coach
In the wake of longtime Hiram Terriers women’s volleyball Coach Brittany Dye’s departure from the program, Hiram has promoted from within to fill her position. Graduate Assistant Coach Macy Roell has been tapped to succeed Dye as the new women’s volleyball coach on an interim basis, as formally announced by Hiram on July 25. “We are going to see how...
Hiram alum Molly Middleton picked to be Ravenna’s new cross country coach
Longtime cross county/track Coach Molly Middleton discovered that retirement from coaching was not all that it was cracked up to be. Almost two years after stepping down as Marlington’s girls’ cross country/track coach, she is stepping back into action, having been announced as Ravenna’s new cross country coach on June 20. “When one of the Ravenna cross country parents reached...
Ravenna alum DaVante McKinney takes over as girls’ basketball coach
Ravenna graduate DaVante McKinney said he can remember the rich tradition of basketball during his playing days. McKinney will try to bring the Raven girls’ basketball team to its former glory, having been announced as the new head coach on June 20. “This community has giving me so much just from growing up here,” the first-year coach said. “Friends, family...
Craig Barstow seeks to bring stability as new Berkshire Badgers’ baseball coach
The 2025 season was a challenging year for the Berkshire Badgers’ baseball team, with longtime coach Nick Burzanko abruptly resigning in the fall of 2024. Craig Barstow will try to get the Badgers back on track, having been formally announced as the new head coach on July 7. “It is an honor,” the first-year coach said. “I went to school...
Cardinal fields first varsity girls’ golf team in school history
Since taking over the Cardinal Huskies’ golf program five years ago, Coach Mike Topalian has reshaped things and built a solid foundation for the boys’ team. His efforts are also bearing fruit with the girls, as the Huskies will have its first girls’ varsity golf team in school history this year. “It is something that I have been wanting to...
Crestwood boys’ basketball promotes Andrew Mertz to head coach
Filling the shoes of longtime Crestwood Red Devils boys’ basketball Coach Josh Jakacki is no easy feat for anyone. Andrew Mertz will attempt to carry the torch, having been approved as Jakacki’s successor by the Crestwood Board of Education on June 27. “I am very excited for the opportunity,” the first-year coach said. “I have had most of these guys...
Alaina Davis jumps in as new Ravenna girls’ soccer coach
As Alaina Davis’ playing career drew to an end, she wanted to still keep soccer as a key part of her life. Just months after graduating from Malone University, Davis has landed her first coaching job by becoming the Ravenna Ravens girls’ soccer coach. “It is really exciting,” Davis said. “I have played soccer since I was 8-years-old and I...
Crestwood alum Brittany Dye takes the helm as new Athletic Director
Even the best laid plans can change quickly. Brittany Dye’s plans for the fall season seemed to be set in stone at Hiram College but opportunity knocked and opened the door for her to return to her alma matter, having been approved as Crestwood’s new Athletic Director by the Board of Education on July 8. “It is an honor and...
Longtime Portage County softball Coach LeRoy Moore reaches 200 career victories
After his second coaching stint at Crestwood High School ended in 2023, longtime Portage County softball Coach LeRoy Moore acknowledged that he pondered whether his coaching career had reached its climax. It turns out he was not finished as a softball coach. In his second season with the Streetsboro Rockets, Moore recorded his 200th career coaching victory. “It is always...
Former Cardinal Coach Russ Buckley takes over Berkshire Boys’ Soccer
Russ Buckley spent four years coaching the Cardinal Huskies boys’ soccer team in the Battle of Kinsman Road. He will now see what it is like on the other side, having been formally approved by the Berkshire Board of Education to become the Berkshire boys’ soccer coach. “The one thing I like about Berkshire is it is community-based,” Buckley said....
Cardinal girls’ soccer program returns to action
As the Cardinal Huskies prepare to make their mark in the Northeastern Athletic Conference, they will do so by reviving a varsity program. Beginning in the fall of 2025, the Huskies will field a varsity girls’ soccer team for the first time since 2020. “It is pretty great to have a varsity team again this year,” Coach Dakota Ward told...
Hiram alum Giselle Bahena returns to the fold as head softball coach
During her six years of attending Hiram College, Giselle Bahena acknowledged that she had come to view Hiram as a second home. Two years after graduating, the Terriers’ alum is returning to become the head softball coach, having been formally announced as Hiram’s 19th softball coach in program history on June 2. “It was a home for me for six...
Garfield Athletic Director Jim Pfleger Takes Reins Of Track Program
Garfield G-Men athletic director Jim Pfleger knows full well what the G-Men Way is when it comes to the track program, given his own experience as a thrower during his high school days. That, as well his younger brother, Matt. Jim will try to preserve the G-Men Way by taking over as Garfield’s new head track coach. “There are certain...
Matt Hill receives nod as new Garfield G-Men boys’ basketball coach
For Matt Hill, the son of former Windham boys’ basketball Coach Marty Hill, the winningest coach in Portage County history, basketball is not just a family tradition but almost a way of life. Hill will now have a chance to author his own coaching chapter after being hired as the Garfield G-Men boys’ basketball coach after being formally approved...
Crestwood’s Tom Henderson named OHSBCA Division IV-V Asst. Coach of the Year
Crestwood Red Devils girls’ assistant basketball Coach Tom Henderson has learned that no matter how hard he tries, he is always pulled back into coaching high school athletics. In his second time coming out of retirement, the longtime coach was named the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association Division IV-V Assistant Coach of the Year on March 28. “I was...
Windham grad Hankins eager to make his mark as new Athletic Director
Since returning to Windham in 2001, graduate Dougle Hankins has worn many hats while working in the school district as a teacher and a coach. He now wears a most important hat, having been hired as Windham’s newest athletic director. “I have had an interest in being the athletic director since I first started in 2001,” the Windham alum told...
Justin Rahin embraces Ravenna roots as new boys’ basketball coach
The City of Ravenna has always been like a second home of sorts to Justin Rahim. Rahim will be joining the Portage County ranks of high school coaches, when he was announced as Ravenna’s new boys’ basketball coach on May 13. “It is not something I thought about. If you had told me I was going to be a coach...
Hiram alum Russ Swartz wraps coaching career with second-best record in Portage County history
For Hiram College alum Russ Swartz, there is nothing that beats Portage County basketball. The longtime boys’ basketball coach is calling it a career, having announced his resignation as the Mogadore Wildcats boys’ basketball coach on May 28. “I don’t know if words can describe how fortunate I feel with having this opportunity over these 17 years,” Swartz told The...
Cardinal’s Max Soltis nets seventh in D-III discus throw
Cardinal’s Max Soltis’ senior year of high school athletics was in danger of being over before it even started after having surgery over the summer to repair his right ACL and meniscus. But the Huskies’ senior made it his mission to not miss out on his final track season and ultimately took seventh place in the Ohio High School...
Aurora boys’ 4×100 finds redemption by taking fifth at D-I state meet
The Aurora Greenmen boys’ 4x100 relay ended its journey at the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division I state meet on a high. The quartet of senior Ishaan Shaik, juniors Quincy John and Luke Geyer and sophomore Luke McGovern earned fifth place by clocking 41.72 seconds last Saturday at The Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus. “It...
Streetsboro’s Ethan Laryea takes fifth place in 200-meter dash
Streetsboro Rockets’ junior Ethan Laryea had already experienced heartbreak when he missed out on a state berth in the 100-meter dash in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II postseason. He did not let history repeat itself in the 200-meter dash, earning fifth place with a time of 22.11 seconds last Saturday at The Ohio State University’s Jesse...
Crestwood’s James Durham wraps up career with All-Ohioan honors
A year after inching so close to netting a state berth, Crestwood Red Devils’ senior James Durham was determined to not let his senior season end on a low note. Durham concluded his breakout season by taking eighth place in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.71 seconds at the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II state...
Ravenna’s Bobby Melzer lands eighth place in shot put
Ravenna Ravens’ senior Bobby Melzer had come close to making it to the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II state meet for several years. Having finally earned a state bid, Melzer did not waste a moment, earning eighth place in the shot put by throwing a distance of 54 feet, 8¼ inches last Friday morning at The Ohio...
THREE-TIME STATE CHAMPION: Garfield G-Men’s Connor Hunt continues reign in seated events
Handling himself with poise at the Ohio High School Athletic Association seated state championships is something that Garfield G-Men junior Connor Hunt has done since he was a freshman. The G-Men senior continued adding to his resume by sweeping all three seated dash events last Saturday at The Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus. In only three...
Windham baseball bows out of postseason in shutout loss against Maplewood
The Windham Bombers baseball team’s success in the postseason still has yet to come but as far as Coach Jake Eye is concerned, they are closer than ever. The Bombers’ season ended when they were shut out by Northeastern Athletic Conference foe Maplewood 8-0 in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division VII Northeast 2 district semifinal last Wednesday...
Garfield G-Men throwers Riley Grace and Elise Edwards net D-III state berths
The Garfield G-Men track and field team’s absence from the throwing events at the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III state meet will only last one season. Junior Riley Grace captured a state bid in the shot put and junior Elise Edwards earned a state berth in the discus throw at the OHSAA Division III regional meet at...
Crestwood sprinter Martini triples as D-II state qualifier
No matter how the final week of the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II track and field season turns out, Crestwood Red Devils’ sophomore Liv Martini has already achieved a historic season. The Red Devils’ sprinter earned three state berths, qualifying in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter dash last Saturday at the OHSAA Division II regional meet at...
Streetsboro track and field teams finish as runners-up at Division II district meet
The Streetsboro Rockets’ track and field teams continued making significant strides in reaching a new level of success. The Rocket girls captured second place by scoring 127.50 points while the boys also earned second with a team score of 98.50 points at the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II district meet last Saturday at Lakeview High School. “We had...
Garfield G-Men girls’ track and field net fifth place at Division III district, boys advance one relay to regional
Although the field of competitors may have been deeper, the Garfield G-Men girls’ track and field team still demonstrated their versatility. The G-Men girls earned fifth place by scoring 56 points at the OHSAA Division III district meet last Friday at Cuyahoga Heights High School. “It was just a proud moment,” Coach Matt Pfleger said. “To see them all go...
REGIONAL RUNNERS-UP: Badger boys’ volleyball postseason march ends in sweep by Knights
All season long the Berkshire Badgers boys’ volleyball team has frustrated their opponents with their scrappy play. The shoe was on the other foot on Saturday afternoon as the Badgers fell to Nordonia in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II Region 7 championship by a 25-14, 25-18, 25-17 sweep at Berkshire High School. “They have such a commanding...
