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Wyoming shot a team total 325 to win the Pre-Season CHL tournament Monday at The Mill Golf Course.  Madeira finished in second place with a team score of 329.  In fact, the top five teams were divided by only 12 strokes.  Mariemont was third at 332. Indian Hill finished fourth at 335 and Taylor came in at 337.

Wyoming’s freshman phenom Austin Marty was medalist, shooting at 74.  Indian Hill’s Gabriel Kohn finished runner-up shooting a strong 77.  Wyoming’s Will Berkemeyer shot 79 to finish third.  Mariemont’s Dean Niemeyer finished with an 80.  Full results can be found in the drop down Boys Golf menu.

What a Fall Season we should have this year in the CHL.  Seven Players of the Year return for another season.  Devlan Daniel, Indian Hill, returns as POY in Football.  Ellie Hartung, Madeira, was the POY and State Runner-Up in Girls Golf. Kylie Stutsman, Taylor, returns as reigning POY in Volleyball.  Allie McCauley, Indian Hill, and Addy Zawaly, Mariemont, were co-POY's and they both return for the Girls Soccer season.  Jake Lewis, Indian Hill, returns for his senior season on the links, POY in Boys Golf.  And finally, Emily Shea, Indian Hill, was named POY in Girls Cross Country as a freshman. She returns as a sophomore with one POY under her belt, looking for a possible four in a row!

Girls Soccer:  Madeira finished 18-4-1, won the Ohio State Title in their division, but finished in third place in the toughest soccer league in the state.  Indian Hill finished 17-2-3 and were CHL champs and in the state final four in '25.  Mariemont finished 16-4 and finished 2nd in the CHL.

Boys Soccer:  Wyoming was CHL champions and were in the Ohio State Final Four last year. They finished with an 18-2-4 final record.  Mariemont was 17-3-1 and 2nd in the CHL. The Warriors have 3 Junior first teamers back this fall.

Volleyball:  Taylor has won 3 straight CHL Volleyball titles in a row.  in '25 the Jackets were 14-0 (22-3 overall). They return another strong team this season led by Kylie Stutsman.

Football:  Indian Hill Braves were CHL champions and made it all the way to the State Final Four last year.  Led by QB Devlan Daniel they were 7-0 (13-1).  Wyoming will be a strong challenger to IH this year. They had six underclass first team all league performers last season.  Mark Friday, September 11th, on your calendar when Wyoming travels to Indian Hill in the biggest game of the Fall Season.

Cross Country:  Indian Hill's Boys won the CHL meet last year beating Madeira by only 4 points in a very close race. On the Girls side Madeira beat Mariemont by only 1 point.  Should be another close CHL meet for both the Boys and Girls runners.

Boys Golf:  Indian Hill returns the Player of the Year Jake Lewis. The Braves won the Preview and Post Season Tournament to win the CHL by only one point over Wyoming. The Cowboys should be strong again with the addition of freshman Austin Marty joining the squad this year.

Girls Golf:  Madeira has dominated the CHL the last two years.  Led by golf phenom Ellie Hartung, the Zons won the CHL with a 7-0 record (14-0 overall).  They won both the Preview and the Post Season Tournaments.  Hartung is a favorite to return to the State Meet and could possibly be the next CHL State Champion.

Madeira Takes Pre-Season Tournament Gold

Junior Ellie Hartung led Madeira by shooting a blistering 33-35=68 in the CHL Pre-Season Tournament at Reeves Golf Course.  The Zons took the title by shooting a 338. Wyoming finished as runner-up shooting a team total of 361.  Mariemont was third and Taylor finished in fourth.

Hartung was the medalist.  Addi Koenig, Wyoming, finished second with an 80. Madeira’s Maggie Meyer shot an 86 for third. Full results can be found in the Girls Golf drop down menu.

High school athletic directors occupy one of the most demanding, and rewarding, leadership positions in education. On any given day, they’re expected to be administrators, event managers, marketers, fundraisers, compliance officers, transportation coordinators, counselors, conflict mediators, and public relations specialists.

Then, when the lights come on Friday night, they’re simply expected to make sure everything runs flawlessly. It’s a role that’s often misunderstood because the most important work happens behind the scenes. If everything goes according to plan, no one notices. If one small detail falls through the cracks, everyone does.

The hurdles are real. Athletic directors constantly balance limited budgets against growing expectations. Facilities need repairs. Equipment wears out. Officials are becoming harder to recruit. Transportation costs continue to rise. State association regulations evolve. Every year seems to bring more responsibility without additional resources. Then there are the people. Every coach wants more opportunities for their program. Every parent wants what’s best for their child. Every booster group has ideas. Every principal has priorities. Every student-athlete deserves an exceptional experience. The challenge isn’t deciding who is right. The challenge is finding a way to serve everyone while understanding that not every request can become reality.

Communication may be the single most valuable skill an athletic director possesses. One schedule change can affect multiple schools, officials, transportation departments, custodians, coaches, families, and hundreds of student-athletes. A weather delay can reshape an entire week. One misunderstood email can create unnecessary conflict that takes days to resolve. Great athletic directors understand that overcommunicating is almost always better than undercommunicating. Perhaps the greatest challenge is that athletic directors are often evaluated by outcomes they control the least. They don’t coach the games. They don’t make the shots. They don’t score the touchdowns. Yet when things go wrong, the athletic department is often the first place people look for answers.

Despite all of that, few careers offer the rewards this profession does. You watch nervous freshmen become confident seniors. You see struggling students find purpose through athletics. You hire coaches who influence lives far beyond the playing field. You build cultures and traditions that continue long after you’ve moved on. The best athletic directors know that banners eventually collect dust, trophies become decorations, and records are eventually broken. What lasts are the relationships. It’s the former athlete who returns years later to introduce you to their family. It’s the coach who tells you your support helped them through a difficult season. It’s the parent who thanks you not because their child won, but because their child grew. The hours are long. The criticism can be loud. The responsibility is constant. But somewhere in the middle of the chaos, athletic directors help shape students into better and/or more well rounded leaders, teammates, and people .

There are few callings more meaningful than that.

William Payne