Central Ohio high school sports: 2022 Year In Review

On Dec 22, 2022

It’s time to look back at the biggest moments from 2022 for central Ohio athletes and teams.

This also is a chance for us at ThisWeek Community News to send a note of thanks to our readers as we near completion of a run of coverage that began in 1989.

The last edition is slated for Jan. 26.

This year was marked by big moments in boys and girls basketball, memories in track and field, the continued success that central Ohio has enjoyed in boys and girls lacrosse and a fair share of success in football.

Here’s a look at the sports year in central Ohio through the eyes of the ThisWeek sports staff:

1. Pickerington Central boys basketball coach Eric Krueger hoists the Division I state championship trophy as his players celebrate a 55-48 win over Centerville on March 20 at the University of Dayton.

1. HOOP DREAMS COME TRUE — Central Ohio shined bright in boys and girls basketball, even surpassing football regarding some of its biggest moments.

The Reynoldsburg girls and Pickerington Central boys teams both captured Division I state championships.

Reynoldsburg’s Jack Purtell earned the 500th win of his coaching career as the Raiders beat Lancaster 82-35 on Feb. 7 and his team, along with eventual Division II state semifinalist Hartley and eventual Division III state runner-up Worthington Christian, ended up in Dayton for the state tournament. On March 12, Reynoldsburg beat Mason 63-56 in overtime as senior Imarianah Russell, who was runner-up for Ms. Basketball, scored 28 points to close her prep career with 2,002 points.

1. Reynoldsburg's Mya Perry (1), Trinity Ramos (22) and Imarianah Russell hoist the Division I state championship trophy after a 63-56 overtime win over Mason on March 12 at the University of Dayton.

In boys basketball, Central’s Devin Royal and Africentric’s Dailyn Swain, who went on to sign with Ohio State and Xavier, respectively, Nov. 9, led their teams to state.

The Nubians lost in a Division III state semifinal, but the Tigers captured their second state title with a 55-48 win over defending champion Centerville on March 20 as Royal scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half.

Central won 59-42 in a regional final March 12 over Gahanna Lincoln, which was led by Mr. Basketball runner-up Sean Jones, who now plays for Marquette.

2. GRIDIRON MEMORIES — Heading into this season, the Gahanna football team hadn’t reached double digits in wins since 1998 and never had won more than one playoff game in any season.

The Lions put together their best season in program history and combined with long playoff runs by Bloom-Carroll and Newark Catholic to provide some of the top moments in their sport.

Junior running back Diore Hubbard was a finalist for Mr. Football and helped Gahanna finish a program-best 13-2. The Lions won their first OCC-Ohio Division title since 2001 and reached a Division I state semifinal for the first time since 1982.

Bloom-Carroll lost to Canfield 35-14 in the Division III state championship game Dec. 2 after losing in Division IV state semifinals each of the past two seasons.

Newark Catholic had its season end with a loss in a Division VII state semifinal after it was state runner-up a year ago.

3. A REMARKABLE CAREER ENDS — After leading the Pickerington Central football team to a Division I regional semifinal and to its 19th playoff appearance in his 20 seasons as coach, Jay Sharrett announced his retirement Dec. 8.

Sharrett became the program’s first coach after the Pickerington school district split, which created Central and North beginning with the 2003-04 school year, and led the program to a Division II state runner-up finish in his fourth season in 2006.

The Tigers were Division I state runners-up in 2011, won state championships in 2017 and 2019 and were state runners-up again in 2020. They also reached state semifinals in 2016 and 2018.

Under Sharrett, Central went 211-42 with 17 league championships and eight regional titles.

4. THE RIGHT TRACK — At the state track and field meet June 3 and 4 at Ohio State, a pair of juniors who went on to sign with Kentucky in November led their teams to Division I championships.

Camden Bentley of the Gahanna girls program captured titles in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles and ran on the winning 800 relay to help her team score 47 points to win its third state championship as Westerville Central was runner-up (31).

Troy Lane of the Pickerington Central boys squad won the 100 in a state-record 10.25 seconds and was first in the 200 as well as with the 400 relay as his team scored 31 points to edge Olentangy Orange (30) for the title.

Grandview Heights’ Collin Haj Abed won titles in the boys long jump and 110 hurdles in Division III.

5. LAX POWER — In a rematch of the 2021 Division I boys lacrosse state championship game won 12-11 by Dublin Jerome, Upper Arlington avenged the loss with a 12-10 victory June 4 as Leo Caine scored four goals and Tommy Janowicz added three.

In the Division II state final, David Chintala had nine goals and one assist as DeSales beat Chagrin Falls 20-6.

The New Albany girls team also celebrated a Division I state championship, beating UA 13-12 in overtime after losing in state finals in 2018, 2019 and 2021. The Eagles rallied from a three-goal deficit with 3:13 to go and Maddy Paz scored the game-winning goal 50 seconds into overtime.

6. BOBCATS ROAR AGAIN — Central Ohio was represented in girls soccer by Olentangy Orange in a Division I state semifinal and by New Albany (Division I), Bexley (Division II) and Grandview (Division III) in boys title games, with Grandview earning its second consecutive championship.

The Bobcats defended their title despite entering the postseason at 8-7-1.

Grandview beat Yellow Springs 2-1 in two overtimes in a state semifinal Nov. 9 and then got an early goal from Danny Claypool to set up a 3-0 victory over Toledo Ottawa Hills on Nov. 12. Claypool also scored three goals in Grandview’s 2021 state title win.

7. NO ONE WAS FINER THAN STEINER — Abby Steiner, a 2017 Dublin Coffman graduate, signed a contract with PUMA in July to become a professional in women’s track and field.

That came after she had an NCAA outdoor meet to remember June 11 for Kentucky.

She opened the meet by running on the runner-up 400 relay, followed with a third-place finish in the 100 in 11.08 and then captured the championship in the 200 in a collegiate-record 21.8.

In her final NCAA event, she took the baton as the third leg of the 1,600 relay in fourth and passed all three runners ahead of her with a split of 48.92 as the Wildcats placed first.

Her performance helped Kentucky earn a third-place overall finish.

8. GYMNAST SALUTE — A four-time state qualifier in the all-around in gymnastics, Raegan Ernst capped her senior season at Jerome with one of central Ohio’s all-time best performances.

With a 37.6, Ernst became the first competitor from the Central District to capture the all-around championship since 1978. She also was the fourth Dublin gymnast to win an event at state as she added the title on uneven bars (9.475) as well as placing third on floor exercise (9.475) and fourth on balance beam (9.325).

Ernst now competes in track at the University of Dayton.

9. RUNNING FOR GLORY — Connor Ackley broke through with a championship in the Division I state boys cross country meet Nov. 5 at Fortress Obetz, running 15:10.1 to win the title while Jerome’s Sam Ricchiuti was second (15:25.6).

A four-time state qualifier, Ackley’s performance helped the Wildcats finish fifth (197) behind champion Mason (128) as was Lancaster was third (155) and Coffman placed fourth (177).

It was a strong day overall for Davidson considering its girls team scored 91 points to finish as runner-up to Mason (75), with Caitlyn Jones placing fourth (18:19).

In Division II, the Granville girls team won its second state championship.

10. STICKIN’ IT TO THE CHAMPS — The Thomas Worthington field hockey team captured its seventh state title with a 3-2 overtime win over two-time defending state champion Watterson on Nov. 5.

Thomas tied the game at 2 on a goal by Lauren Beier with 11:33 to go in the third period.

With 4:05 left in overtime, freshman attacker Sophia Borghese scored the game-winner as Thomas finished 19-2 and won its sixth title under coach Terri Simonetti Frost.

11. PIGSKIN SURPRISES — After going 1-5 in 2020 and 3-4 in 2021, the Columbus East football team won a share of the City League-North title and earned its first playoff win.

The Tigers finished 10-2, with their 7-0 start being their best since they went 9-0 in 1964. Their only other postseason appearances were in 1999 and 2020, the latter coming in a season in which every team was eligible.

Other teams posting turnaround seasons included Delaware Hayes, Grove City and Thomas Worthington.

The Pacers last had a winning record in 2018 before going 7-4 this fall as they made the playoffs for the third time, while the Dawgs went 6-5 for their first winning season since 2013.