Which Columbus high schools changed divisions or regions for football season?
The first Friday of high school football is just over two months away, and several Columbus-area high schools will be competing in new divisions this fall.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association released the updated divisional breakdowns for the fall sports based on enrollment data and competitive balance on Monday. The three fall sports that account for competitive balance — football, soccer and girls volleyball — receive updated divisional assignments each year, while the others — golf, girls tennis, cross country and field hockey — will use these divisions for the next two years.
Football is split into seven divisions with four regions per division. Two schools from the Columbus area, Olentangy and Olentangy Berlin, moved up to Division I, and all four schools in the Olentangy district will now compete in Division I, Region 2. Last year, Olentangy Liberty was in Region 2 and Olentangy Orange was in Region 3.
In Division II, DeSales moved up from Division III and Briggs, Franklin Heights, Teays Valley and West moved from Region 8 to Region 7, joining the other Division II schools from the Columbus area.
Division III saw quite a bit of movement with Whitehall-Yearling moving down from Division II and Bloom-Carroll, Bexley and Linden McKinley moving up from Division IV.
Hartley, Eastmoor Academy, Buckeye Valley and River Valley moved down to Division IV. Johnstown moved up from Division V to join Division IV, Region 15. KIPP Columbus jumped two divisions, moving up from Division VI.
Highland and Heath moved down from Division IV to Division V, with Highland joining Region 18 and Heath joining Region 19. Fredericktown, Centerburg Africentric and Africentric all moved into Division V from Division VI.
Four teams moved from Division VII to Division VI — Berne Union, Cardington, East Knox and Grove City Christian. Only one team, Madison-Plains, moved down to Division VI.
Also in Division VII, Danville moved from Region 27 to Region 25 and Ridgedale moved from 27 to 26.
Here is the full list of Columbus high schools and their football regional assignments for this fall.
Columbus-area high school football regional assignments
Division I, Region 2: Delaware Hayes, Dublin Coffman, Dublin Jerome, Marysville, Olentangy, Olentangy Berlin, Olentangy Liberty, Olentangy Orange
Division I, Region 3: Central Crossing, Gahanna, Grove City, Groveport Madison, Hilliard Bradley, Hilliard Darby, Hilliard Davidson, Lancaster, New Albany, Newark, Pickerington Central, Pickerington North, Reynoldsburg, Thomas Worthington, Upper Arlington, Westerville Central, Westerville North, Westland
Division II, Region 7: Big Walnut, Briggs, Canal Winchester, Dublin Scioto, Franklin Heights, Independence, Marion Harding, Mifflin, Mount Vernon, Northland, St. Charles, DeSales, Teays Valley, Walnut Ridge, Watkins Memorial, West, Westerville South, Whetstone, Worthington Kilbourne
Division III, Region 11: Beechcroft, Bexley, Watterson, Bloom-Carroll, Centennial, Granville, Hamilton Township, Jonathan Alder, Linden McKinley, London, South, Whitehall-Yearling
Division IV, Region 14: Buckeye Valley, River Valley
Division IV, Region 15: Hartley, Ready, East, Eastmoor Academy, Johnstown, KIPP Columbus, Lakewood, Licking Valley, Marion-Franklin
Division V, Region 18: Fredericktown, Highland, North Union, Pleasant
Division V, Region 19: Africentric, Amanda-Clearcreek, Centerburg, Columbus Academy, Harvest Prep, Heath, Liberty Union, Northridge, Utica
Division VI, Region 23: Berne Union, Cardington, East Knox, Elgin, Grandview Heights, Grove City Christian, Mount Gilead, Northmor, West Jefferson, Worthington Christian
Division VI, Region 24: Fairbanks, Madison-Plains
Division VII, Region 25: Danville
Division VII, Region 26: Ridgedale
Division VII, Region 27: Fairfield Christian, Fisher Catholic, Millersport, Newark Catholic
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus schools move in new OHSAA football regions, divisions
