It also will coincide with a new two-year cycle of determining divisions for teams. Football coaches have already begun to project who might still be in their football division and who might land elsewhere next season.
The gist of the competitive balance issue is a disproportionate number of private schools are contending for state championships compared to non-private schools. Making an effort to obtain competitive balance in all sports has been a hot-button issue that isn’t likely to be solved anytime soon.
This past weekend’s girls and boys state soccer finals at Columbus is a good example of why this issue gained support over the years. Of the 12 teams that played for titles, just three were public schools: Springboro and Chagrin Falls (girls), and Richfield Revere (boys).
Alter pulled a rare sweep, beating Chagrin Falls 3-0 to win the girls Division II state title and Richfield Revere 1-0 in double overtime to capture the boys D-II championship.
• The 30th annual Mid-East Cross Country Championships will be held at Indian Riffle Park in Kettering on Saturday. This girls and boys regional event draws state champions and the top seniors from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.
Among the 12-member Ohio girls team are Jessica Hartman (Lebanon), Lauren Shuman (Beavercreek) and Elizabeth Ordeman (Oakwood). The Team Ohio girls coach is Dave Dobson, who guided Centerville to its third straight D-I team title earlier this month at National Trail Raceway in Hebron.
On the Team Ohio boys team are Ben Ewert (Beavercreek) and Mike Laughlin (Carroll). The coach is Jim Weckesser (Beavercreek).
The girls will race at 11 a.m. Saturday and the boys at 11:30 a.m. The course is a viewer friendly 5K layout that winds around the Kettering Recreation Center. Indiana swept both girls and boys team titles last year and Ohio was runner-up in both. Racing is free to spectators.
• Former Fairmont West longtime cross country and track and field coach Bob Kritzer died last week. He was 88. He mentored some of the best runners and field event athletes to represent the Dragons from 1963-88 and was well respected among his coaching peers. Besides his oval success, he also was an inductee of the Ohio High School Track and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame.
He is survived by his wife Jean and sons Tim and Tom Kritzer. Visitation is from 5-8 p.m. today at Routsong funeral Home in Kettering.
• Basketball, bowling, wrestling, ice hockey, gymnastics and swimming and diving winter-sports preseasons are underway. Girls hoop and hockey annually start their regular seasons the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 25. The boys begin basketball play one week later on Dec. 2, as does wrestling.
• Regional final football games are this weekend. Tickets are available at each participating school. A percentage of presale proceeds are returned to schools.
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