OHSAA announces fall sports divisions

COLUMBUS — The Ohio High School Athletic Association has announced the new divisional breakdowns for the upcoming fall sports of cross country, golf, girls tennis, soccer and volleyball. The divisions and regional assignments for football will be announced on Thursday. Earlier this month, schools were given the opportunity to move up to Division I. The 2025-26 school year is the second of the current two-year enrollment cycle using data provided by the Ohio Department of Education. For golf, the official start date for tryouts, practice and competition is July 28. For all other fall sports, tryouts and practice can begin on Aug. 1, followed by staggered season start dates by sport. State tournament host sites and formats will be announced in August. In boys and girls golf, there are no changes for area teams. Norwalk remains in Div. I, while Edison and Willard are again Div. II. Area Firelands Conference schools — Monroeville, New London, Plymouth, South Central, St. Paul and Western Reserve — are still Div. III. In girls tennis, there are also no changes as Norwalk, Edison and Willard are in Div. II. In girls soccer, Norwalk remains in Div. III, while Edison goes down from Div. IV to Div. V. Likewise in boys soccer, as the Truckers are again Div. III, and both the Chargers and Crimson Flashes are in Div. IV. There were also a couple minor changes in volleyball. Norwalk stays in Div. III, where it is the 10th-largest school based on current enrollment. Willard and Edison are again in Div. V, where the Crimson Flashes reached a regional championship match in 2024. Moving up from Div. VI to Div. V this season is Western Reserve. New London, also a district champion last season, stays in Div. VI. Then in Div. VII, Monroeville goes down after winning a district title in Div. VI last season. That means another clash with FC rival St. Paul, along with Plymouth and South Central, could be in play again in 2025. The Flyers won district and regional titles last season to advance to the state semifinals, where they fell to Tiffin Calvert. CROSS COUNTRY New XC divisions; contract with Obetz COLUMBUS — With cross country expanding to four divisions this fall, the Ohio High School Athletic Association has announced the new divisional breakdowns. The Association also agreed to a new three-year contract with Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park to host three OHSAA cross country events each fall. Since 2020, the OHSAA has annually held three cross country events at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park in Southeast Columbus, including the Early Season Invitational in mid-August, the junior high grade Invitational in mid-October — and the high school state championships on the first Saturday in November. The contract extension with Obetz is for the 2025, 2026 and 2027 seasons. "Obetz has been such a great host for our three cross country events," said Doug Ute, OHSAA Executive Director. "The stadium and park have proven to be a fantastic venue for our student-athletes to compete. We appreciate all the work that goes into all three events and are excited to be there for the next three years." As announced in January, the OHSAA will expand cross country from three to four divisions this fall. The breakdowns for the new four-division format were approved by the OHSAA Board of Directors at its April meeting on April 24. After years fo competing with the largest schools in the state, Norwalk slides down to Division II. Edison and Willard are in Div. III, while area FC schools — Monroeville, New London, Plymouth, South Central, St. Paul and Western Reserve — are in the new Div. IV. The breakdowns remain the same for area schools on the girls side. The 2025 divisional breakdowns are posted at ohsaa.org.