Three diocesan high schools won state championships in early November.
Columbus Bishop Watterson captured the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) girls Division II cross country title on Saturday, Nov. 1, Newark Catholic completed an undefeated season by winning its ninth state championship and first since 2004 in Division VI girls volleyball on Saturday, Nov. 8 and Bishop Watterson won the Division III boys soccer championship on Sunday, Nov. 9.
Watterson finished with 158 team points in the state cross country meet at Fortress Obetz, edging out Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown, which had 161.
Newark Catholic (27-0} was victorious over St. Henry in straight sets in the volleyball final at Wright State University, winning by scores of 25-22, 25-23 and 25-18. More details on the Green Wave’s victory will appear in the next issue of The Catholic Times.
Tuscarawas Central Catholic’s girls volleyball team advanced to a Division VII state semifinal before losing by scores of 25-7, 25-13, 15-11 to eventual state champion Tiffin Calvert on Thursday, Nov. 6.
Watterson’s boys soccer team (16-6-3) defeated Aurora 3-0 in a Sunday evening game at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus to win its first OHSAA crown since 2014.
Sam Meacham had a goal and an assist, Alex Das and Michael Quinn scored goals and goalkeeper Aedan Richardson made five saves to finish with a shutout for the Eagles, who opened a 2-0 lead in the first half and added their final goal in the second half.
Two other diocesan soccer teams reached the state semifinals before losing.
The Columbus St. Charles Preparatory School boys were defeated 1-0 by Cleveland St. Ignatius on Nov. 5 at Bellville Clear Fork High School and Bishop Watterson’s girls fell 2-0 to Hudson in Ashland.
Things didn’t look promising for Watterson’s girls cross country team early in the season when seniors Addie Reineck and Lilly Glatz were lost to the team because of injuries and illness.
But a bunch of speedy underclassmen stepped up in their place and brought the Eagles their first state championship in the sport.
The state title completed a sweep for Watterson, which also finished first on successive Saturdays in the district meet at Hilliard Darby and the regionals at Pickerington North and in invitationals at Newark Catholic and Seneca East and the Midwest Catholic meet at Dayton Carroll.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Van Zandt was Watterson’s top runner at the state meet, finishing fifth in a field of 216 runners with a time of 18:03.34 over the 5-kilometer course. Other point-scoring runners for the Eagles were freshman Karine Bhowmick (29th, 19:07.88), sophomore Campbell Retzke (44th, 19:14.61), senior Cecilia Keller (50th, 19:20.65) and sophomore Berkley LaCount (71st, 19:38.67). Non-scoring members of the team were juniors Elsa Allen (74th, 19:39.82) and Emma Drab (86th, 19:47.41).
Many championship teams place two or more runners among the top 15, but that wasn’t the case with Watterson. “We’ve been successful because this team has an unusual amount of depth, with all of our girls finishing at least 86th,” said Stephen Taliaferro, who’s in his fifth year as the Eagles’ coach and his 30th year in coaching.
“That’s more depth than many of the larger schools we ran against in invitationals. These girls never let up from start to finish at Obetz, making 230 passes – more passes than there were girls competing. They may be inexperienced in terms of years, but they took a veteran approach in training and trusted fully in their routine.”
Taliaferro said team members began to realize they may be a part of a special season when they finished third in a Sept. 13 meet at Dublin Jerome. Finishing first in that event was state Division I champion Gahanna Lincoln, followed by Olentangy Orange, which had the second-place individual finisher in the big-school division.
“After that race, I thought ‘I’m ready for state. I think we’ve got a real team here which can win it all’ and I think the girls felt the same,” Taliaferro said.
He said Keller’s leadership and the strength of her Catholic faith played an important role in bringing the team together. “You can’t underestimate her impact on the program,” he said. “She approached Deacon (Chris) Campbell (the school’s principal) and Father (Paul) Noble (its chaplain) to ask for a special Mass before practice on the day before the state meet and they were happy to do it.
“She talked about the season being a gift of God and wanted to do this for herself and her teammates, with the idea of the Mass being a moment of calm in the midst of the state meet, Halloween and other things.”
Taliaferro said Keller is a multisport athlete who didn’t get involved with cross country until last year after playing soccer and basketball as a freshman and being on the track team in her sophomore year.
“She’s a great student and will be able to go to college anywhere,” he said. “One thing I know she’s looking at is the quality of the Newman center (for Catholic students) at the schools she visits.”
Taliaferro said the girls’ championship celebration was rather subdued because the Watterson boys, whom he also coaches, finished 11th in their state meet on the same day in the same place and were disappointed at the result.
“It was tough because the girls were celebrating and the guys were pretty low,” he said. “While sharing in the girls’ joy, I knew I needed time to sit down and talk with the guys to make sure they were OK. It was an awkward balance.
“To make sure the girls receive proper recognition, I’m reaching out to coaches (Scott) Dempsey and (Brian) Kennedy to see how they handled their celebrations last year,” Taliaferro said. Dempsey’s girls soccer team and Kennedy’s football team won state titles for Watterson in 2024 and the football team remains alive in this year’s state tournament.
“With winter sports getting ready to start, we’ll probably delay the schoolwide celebration ceremony for us until the school athletic banquet in May.”
In football, Columbus St. Francis DeSales in Division II and defending state champion Watterson in Division III advanced to regional semifinal games on Friday, Nov. 14 with second-round victories on Nov. 7 after having first-round byes.
DeSales quarterback R.J. Day set a school record with 482 passing yards as the Stallions got by Ashland 33-29 and will play Massillon Washington. Watterson, as it has all season, had a dominating performance in shutting out Granville 56-0 and faces Dresden Tri-Valley next as it hopes to extend its winning streak to 27 games over two seasons.
Lancaster Fisher Catholic, also with a first-round bye, lost its second-round game to Danville 59-8.
Two other diocesan Division VII teams lost high-scoring first-round games on Friday, Oct. 31 as Bowerston Conotton Valley defeated Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans 78-46 and Cedarville posted a 41-37 victory over Portsmouth Notre Dame.
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