Sports Briefs: Marion County athletes make college choices
Area senior athletes make college choices
The following area senior athletes will be competing in college next season:
Athletes from River Valley are Megan Diven (Rio Grande women's track and field), Emma Hawk (Wittenberg women's track and field), Jevin Beard (Ohio Northern men's basketball and golf) and Karson Lang (Ohio Northern football).
Athletes from Marion Harding are Riley Keeran (Defiance men's basketball), Grace McCrery (Ripon women's swimming), Wesley Stokes (Baldwin-Wallace football and men's basketball), Brady Wink (Capital men's tennis), Jacob Arndt (Bluffton football), Gage Warren (Tiffin men's bowling), Ryleigh Tillman (Ohio Wesleyan women's tennis), Kaedan Faggs (Baldwin-Wallace football and men's track and field), Shealana Booker (Indianapolis women's track and field), Payne Ratliff (Otterbein men's cross country and track and field), Abbie Peters (Bluffton women's soccer) and Jacob Barr (Wright State-Lake baseball).
Athletes from Highland are Jada Mullins (Tiffin women's soccer), Ashlyn Belcher (Old Dominion women's volleyball), Kendall Stover (Grand Valley State women's volleyball), Rider Minnick (Mount Vernon Nazarene baseball), James Blaney III (Mount Vernon Nazarene men's bowling), Jordan Bellamy (UM-Dearborn men's basketball), Audrey Robinson (Wittenberg softball), Emma Hinkle (Rio Grande women's soccer) and Emma West (Mount Vernon Nazarene women's basketball).
Max Kellogg of Pleasant will play baseball at Bluffton
Others who have made college decisions are encouraged to send a note to Rob McCurdy at rmccurdy@gannett.com for another upcoming list.
Marion Star's Rob McCurdy wins OPSWA Writer of the Year award
COLUMBUS — For the ninth time of his career and fifth time since rejoining the Marion Star, Rob McCurdy was named Sportswriter of the Year by the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association on Thursday.
He earned the honor in Division 2 for daily newspapers with circulations of 10,000 or less. Former colleague Curt Conrad of the Richland Source won the honor in Division I for larger newspapers and websites.
Instead of individual stories being judged, this year entries were grouped into three stories per classification: game stories, features, columns, news stories and enterprise/investigation pieces. This was a peer-judged contest.
McCurdy won first place for a collection of game stories, first place for a group of columns and first place in the enterprise/investigative category for a series of stores looking back at the impact COVID-19 had on high school sports. Mark Hazelwood of the Norwalk Reflector was runner-up to McCurdy for writer of the year.
Earlier this year, McCurdy was named Division I Sports Columnist of the Year by Ohio APME and finished third in the enterprise category.
In a career that started in 1990, McCurdy has earned nearly 150 writing awards from state and regional entities, plus 11 national honors.
He is a 1988 graduate of River Valley and an 1992 graduate of Bowling Green State University where he majored in journalism and minored in sports management. He started working at the Marion Star while in college and after graduation and returned in February of 2016.
The OPSWA membership roster now stands at 204 writers and photographers around the state, which marks the most in its 49-year history.
Founded in 1972, the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association works to support and enhance the coverage of high school sports in Ohio and to recognize superior writing among sports journalists.
In 2010, the OPSWA partnered with the Ohio High School Athletic Association to create a website, establish electronic communications and increase its membership and recognition.
Nike Skills Football Camp coming to Mansfield's Arlin Field
MANSFIELD — Next Gen Camps will hold the Nike Skills Football Camp at Mansfield's Arlin Field June 6 to 8 from 9 am. to 3 p.m. and for ages 8 to 18.
Under the direction of Mansfield Senior head football coach Chioke Bradley and camp organizer Jacob Byrd, several college football standouts will be on hand to lend instruction.
Slated to appear will be Ohio State's Miyan Williams, Zach Harrison, Denzel Burke, Steele Chambers, Cade Stover, Tommy Eichenberg and Noah Ruggles, plus Michigan State's Angelo Grose.
Autographs and pictures with the college players will be one of the highlights along with position group drills, a 7-on-7 tournament, special teams drills for kickers and punters and a linemen challenge. Players will be grouped by positions, age and ability and there will be daily training for speed, strength and agility development.
For more information, visit USSportsCamps.com/football or reach Byrd at jacob@nextgencamps.com or 419-512-0499.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Sports Briefs: Marion County athletes make college choices
