Fort Ancient Valley Conference

Cincinnati Enquirer All-City Spring Sports All-Star Teams

The Cincinnati Enquirer has announced its All-City Spring Sports All-Star Teams. The following individuals from the FAVC have been accorded All-City Honors in their respective sports:

GIRLS TRACK:
Cincinnati Enquirer Girls’ Track Athlete of the Year:

BRITTANY WILSON-FARLEY, Harrison: The senior won the Division I state title in the shot put with a throw of 45 feet, 5 inches. Four of Wilson-Farley’s six throws during the meet would have won the title.

FIRST TEAM

Ashley Liverpool, Walnut Hills The junior was Division I state runner-up in the 400 dash (55.09).

Nicole Patterson, Walnut Hills The senior was part of the 800 relay that finished seventh at the D-I state meet (1:43.38).

Jaelynne Johnson, Walnut Hills the sophomore was part of the 800 relay that finished seventh at the Division I state meet (1:43.38).

Tiffany Jones, Walnut Hills The senior was part of the 800 relay that finished seventh at the D-I state meet (1:43.38).

Shauniece Steele, Walnut Hills The junior was part of the 800 relay that finished seventh at the D-I state meet (1:43.38).

Michelle Thomas, Glen Este The sophomore was third in the 1,600 run at the Division I state meet.

HONORABLE MENTION:

Shauniece Steele, Walnut Hills (100 and 200 M); Dayeesha Hollins, Winton Woods (400 M); Haley Walter, Kings (400 M); Sarah Fisher, Loveland (1600M); Michelle Thomas, Glen Este (3200 M); Mount Healthy 400 M Relay (Jessica McNeil, Tracey Wallace, Aeriel Denmark, Briana Richards); 1,600 relay – Walnut Hills (Tiffany Jones, Shauniece Steele, Nicole Patterson, Ashley Liverpool); Erica Mudd, Anderson (High Jump); Annie Robben, Harrison (Pole Vault); Kim Strunk, Milford (Shot Put).

BOYS TRACK

FIRST TEAM

Azariah Heard, Winton Woods The freshman was part of the 800 relay that finished eighth at the Division I state meet (1:31.99).

Darius Howard, Winton Woods the senior was part of the 800 relay that finished eighth (1:31.99).

Avery Cunningham, Winton Woods The junior was part of the 1,600 relay that was a state qualifier.

Pryde Geh, Winton Woods the junior was part of the 800 relay that finished eighth (1:31.99). He was part of the 1,600 relay that was a state qualifier.

Maurice Norman, Winton Woods the senior was second in the Division I state 400 dash (47.61). He also was part of the 1,600 relay that qualified for state.

Juan Glover, Winton Woods The junior was part of the 800 relay that finished eighth at the Division I state meet (1:31.99). He was part of the 1,600 relay that was a state qualifier.

HONORABLE MENTION

Christian Patterson, Norwood (High Jump)

BASEB ALL

FIRST TEAM

Markus Kuykendoll, Harrison the senior was first-team all-Fort Ancient Valley Conference Buckeye and second-team all-state.

Matt Marksberry, Glen Este The senior pitcher was the FAVC Buckeye division player of the year. He was second-team all-state.

Braden Park, Talawanda The senior third baseman was the FAVC Scarlet player of the year. He was second-team all-state. He hit .556 with 13 doubles and 34 RBI.

Kyle Cook, Little Miami The junior catcher was the Fort Ancient Valley Conference Cardinal player of the year. He hit .436 with three home runs, five doubles, two triples, 23 RBI and nine stolen bases. (Division II-IV).

HONORABLE MENTION:

Amelia – Ben Kasten; Anderson – Daniel Rod, John Schraer; Edgewood – Seth Martin, Cody Leichman,Justin Elder; Glen Este – Nathan Bromagen, Andrew Gerber, Greg Jones; Harrison – Chase Stevens; Kings– Zac Murphy, Dylan Rios; Loveland – Adam Engel, Graham Russell; Milford – Zac McFarland, Wes Minton; Northwest – Cory Cook, Zach Hayes; Ross– Luke Bowman, Jeremy Thaler, A.J. Kruzel; Talawanda – Noah Zipko, Steven Kuehn, Todd Weiser; Turpin – Eric Martini, Mike Millikin, Matt Moliterno; Walnut Hills – Cameron Sloan.

Division II-IV

Little Miami – Cody Contner, Mike Sechrist, Ty Wilburn; and Wilmington – Joey Schulte;

SOFTBALL

DIVISIONS II-IV COACH OF THE YEAR

Paul Fernandez, Ross He led the Rams to the Division II state title, Ross’ first and just the second in Greater Cincinnati in any division (Hamilton won in 1985). It was Ross’ fifth state final four berth.

FIRST TEAM

Brooke Byrne, Wilmington The senior shortstop was the FAVC Cardinal player of the year. She hit .516 with 10 doubles, three triples and 18 RBI.

Rachael Connaughton, Ross the senior second baseman was Division II honorable mention all-state and first-team all-district. She was FAVC Scarlet co-player of the year. She hit .457 with 13 doubles.

Brittany Fernandez, Ross The junior right-handed pitcher had a 21-5 record with 200 strikeouts and a 0.89 ERA in 174 innings.

Sara Pearson, Edgewood The sophomore pitcher was FAVC Scarlet co-player of the year. She hit .329 with five home runs, five doubles and 21 RBI. She was 16-6 with 278 strikeouts.

Danielle Wilson, Ross The senior catcher was first-team all-FAVC Scarlet. She hit .417 with four home runs, six doubles, three triples and 37 RBI.

HONORABLE MENTION

Edgewood – Kayla Harmon,Carley Wright; Ross – Shelby Richards; Talawanda – Caitlyn Calhoun, Chelsea Scott; Wilmington –Stephanie Byrne, Jessi Robinson;

Division I

Kelley Benhase, Glen Este The sophomore pitcher was the Fort Ancient Valley Conference Buckeye player of the year and helped Glen Este win its first district title. She was 18-3 with 269 strikeouts and a 0.39 ERA in 144 innings.

Lauren Collier, Kings The junior pitcher was second-team all-state. She hit .474 with two home runs, nine RBI, four doubles, four triples and 23 runs. She was 15-7 with 222 strikeouts.

HONORABLE MENTION

Amelia – Shelby Engle, Natalie Wolfer; Glen Este – Kierstin Gregory, Kari Lang; Harrison – Tori Brown, Meghan Denny; Kings – Chelsea Hortman, Theresa Manne; Little Miami – Mandy Foster; Loveland – Nicollete Hayes, Courtney Allen, Haley Shuemake;

BOYS TENNIS

FIRST TEAM

Kevin Cox, Turpin the senior was a district doubles qualifier and first-team all-GCTCA for doubles.

Michael Dierkes, Turpin the senior was a district doubles qualifier and first-team all-GCTCA in doubles. Dierkes and teammate Kevin Cox were 17-5.

Austin Stahl, Loveland
The sophomore was a state doubles quarterfinalist with his brother, Chris Stahl. He was first-team all- GCTCA in doubles. He has a 52-10 career record.

Chris Stahl, Loveland The senior was a state doubles quarterfinalist with Austin Stahl. He was first-team all-GCTCA in doubles. He was 12-2 in singles this year.

HONORABLE MENTION

Anderson – Joey Hastings, Dillon Whitehead; Loveland – Ian Streicker; Talawanda – Matt Sherba; Turpin – Darius Frick, Sam Wilke, Keith Cox; Wilmington– Tyler Johnston

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THESE ALL-STARS!!! STAND UP AND TAKE A BOW, YOU’VE EARNED IT!!!

Ramball State Championship Celebration With the Cincinnati Reds

Prior to the August 3rd Reds/Cubs game, the Ramball State Championship Team (Players & Coaches) will be honored with a Ramball display at the Reds Hall of Fame (time TBA). Then the team will be taken down to the field to be introduced at approximately 6:50PM. The team will then remain on the field for the singing of our National Anthem. After the Anthem the team will be escorted around to the exit of the field.
The team (Coaches & Players) will be admitted free to the game and we will be sitting in the Infield Box seats behind the Reds dugout. Anyone else wanting to attend the game can purchase seats in the same area at a special price of $27 (normally priced $42). For additional information on how to order your tickets call: Groups Sales at (513) 765-7600, select option #2. Just as an F.Y.I. do so ASAP, the Reds and Cubs usually draw a big crowd (mostly Cub Fans) and seats will go fast.

We invite you all to come out and be part of a exciting night in Cincinnati for our STATE CHAMPIONSHIP RAMBALL TEAM!

Ramball State Championship Celebration

The 2009 Division 2 Softball State Champions are holding a community celebration next Thursday at Stricker's Grove from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome to come out to meet and honor the State Championship team and enjoy the Stricker Grove amusement park. Food and souvenirs will be available. Cost is $10 for a family and $5 per person. All proceeds from the celebration will benefit the Ramball Softball program.

The fifth time was the charm for the Ross Rams (26-7) softball team as they rally from behind to defeat Bellville Clear Fork (29-5) 4 to 2 to win its FIRST-EVER STATE CHAMPIONSHIP in softball. Ramball becomes the first team STATE CHAMPION for Ross, since the late Ron Chasteen guided the Ram Boys' Basketball team to the AA State Championship in 1980.

The Rams had been to the State Tournament in 1993, 1994, and 1999 only to be defeated in the semi-finals and then returned in 2005 and were defeated in the Championship game. Head Coach Paul Fernandez's squad was not to be denied in 2009. The Rams won their final lucky 13 games in a row to capture the title. During their 8 game tournament run, the Rams outscored their opponents, 33 to 5.

There is a commonality to the State Championships, former Ross Athletic Director, Jim Kernohan, who is currently a softball assistant coach was an assistant for Coach Chasteen and the 1980 State Champions.

The Rams won State Tournament games defeating Byesville Meadowbrook on Friday 4-0 and then Clear Fork 4-2 in the final game of the 2009 OHSAA softball season.

CONGRATULATIONS HEAD COACH FERNANDEZ, ASSISTANTS BOB WALTON, GARY WEITZEL AND KERNOHAN AND THE ENTIRE RAMBALL PROGRAM!!!! STAND UP AND TAKE A BOW, YOU'VE EARNED IT. THE FAVC IS PROUD OF ALL OF YOU.

The Ross (25-7) softball team scored a run in the bottom of the first inning and Jr. Pitcher, Brittany Fernandez shutdown Byesville Meadowbrook (22-8) on just 2 hits to propel the Rams to a 4-0 win and into the D2 State Championship Softball game for the second time in school history. Ramball will take on Bellville Clear Fork (29-4), who defeated perennial state power Tallamadge (27-5) 2-0 in the other Semi-Final game.

Milford, Turpin and Talawanda All Sports Champs for 2008-09

The FAVC All Sports Champs for this year have been crowned. The Buckeye Division was a tight race with the Milford Eagles winning their first ever All Sports Award with a final total of 100 points. In fact according to Milford this is their first ever All Sports Awards in the history of their sports program. Loveland was second with 95.5 points edging out Anderson who had 95 points.

In the Cardinal Division, Turpin got its fourth straight and fifth overall All Sports Award totaling 105.5 points and edgeing out Kings by 2 points who had 103.5. Walnut with 77 points came in third by one point over Wilmington.

In the Scarlet Division Talawanda has won it's third straight All Sports Award with a total of 101 points. Northwest is second with 86 points followed by Ross with 80.5 points. Please go to the All Sports link to see the complete final standings.

CONGRATULATIONS TO MILFORD, TURPIN AND TALAWANDA FOR YOUR ALL SPORTS AWARDS

FAVC to Realign in 2010-2011

What follows is a press release from Fort Ancient Valley Commissioner, Steve Borich, relative to the re-alignment that will occur as result of Amelia leaving the FAVC:

The FAVC has voted to stay at 17 schools for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons when Amelia goes to the Southern Buckeye Conference. They have also voted to realign into two divisions for all sports except football which will remain with the present alignment. All schools will remain in their present divisions for football with the Cardinal division only having 5 schools.

The two divisions for all other sports will be based on an East-West division.

East: Anderson , Glen Este, Kings, Little Miami , Loveland , Milford , Turpin, Walnut Hills, Wilmington

West: Edgewood, Harrison, Mt. Healthy, Norwood , Northwest, Ross, Talawanda, Winton Woods

Next year (2009-2010) the FAVC will remain as it is currently aligned.

Eight FAVC Schools announced as Harold A. Meyer Sportsmanship Award Winners

Eighty-three high schools and 7th-8th grade schools have been selected as
2007-08 recipients of The Ohio High School Athletic Association Harold A. Meyer Award for
Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity. The awards are presented to schools that demonstrate they have
completed an eight-part program that promotes sportsmanship, ethics and integrity in their schools and
communities. There is a link to the entire list of schools on the "In the News" page of the FAVC website.

Congratulations to the following FAVC schools who are among the 83 schools to demonstrate outstanding sportsmanship and the number of years they have won this award: Amelia 4th year, Anderson 11th year, Northwest 7th year, Ross 7th year, Loveland 8th year, Little Miami 8th year, Wilmington 7th year and Nagel Middle School 6th year.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THOSE FAVC SCHOOLS AND KEEP UP THE GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP
Steve Borich, FAVC Commissioner

FAVC Web Sponsorship Ads Available

FAVC sponsorship ads are still available. With over 1.5 million page hits last year, your ad will reach thousands of students, parents and sports fans from eighteen high schools covering five counties. Ads are available from a little over a dollar a day and up. In sponsoring the website you support student athletes and high school sports.

If you are interested in a FAVC sponsorship ad, please contact Steve Borich at commish@favcsports.com