Ohio
Who was the best high school athlete in Greater Columbus last week? Your votes decide
How to nominate for the Columbus Dispatch’s Athletes of the Week
Here’s how to nominate students for the Columbus Dispatch’s athletes of the week ballots for the 2023-2024 school year.
Dispatch.com readers can now vote for their favorite high school athletes of the week on their desktop, the Dispatch.com mobile web or Dispatch app once per hour by scrolling down to ballots listed below.
Deadline is 4 p.m. Friday.
Last week’s winner: Horizon Science Academy’s Temidayo Owoyemi named Athlete of the Week
High school sports: Here’s how to nominate The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Athletes of the Week in 2023-24
Columbus High School Sports newsletter: Sign up for our weekly newsletter on high school sports
High school Athlete of the Week
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center high school Athlete of the Week voting occurs each week during high school sports competition and recognizes athletes across all sports.
Student of the Week: Who was the central Ohio high school Student of the Week? Your votes decide
If you can’t see the ballot when you scroll to the bottom of this story, try refreshing the link or clearing the cache in your browser. Voters can cast one vote per hour per device. You do not have to be a subscriber to vote.
Please do not email your votes; they will not count. Nominations and votes are not the same things.
Please be aware: The Dispatch’s voting system recognizes only one vote per WiFi IP address, so consider taking your phone off WiFi to vote each hour if you’re sharing it with multiple people.
Athletes were nominated over the past few weeks for the vote starting Monday, May 27.
Please do not email your votes; they will not count. Nominations and votes are not the same things.
Athletes are on this week’s ballot based on information made available to The Dispatch, and nominations made over the past week.
High school sports: 2022-23 Athletes of the week
Once athletes win during the regular season, they’re not eligible to be back on the ballot until the postseason. If athletes haven’t won in the regular season, they can be nominated more than once.
Student of the Week: Who was the central Ohio high school stood out the most? Your vote decides
The Dispatch staff reserves the right to remove ballots or athletes from the ballot where voting irregularities have occurred.
Have any questions? Email sports editor Brian White at bwhite1@dispatch.com.
Please do not email your votes; they will not count. Nominations and votes are not the same things.
Here are this week’s Athlete of the Week candidates:
Jacie Clifton, Logan Elm softball: Had two hits and four RBIs, including a three-run home run, in a 7-3 win over Dover on a Division II regional final.
Anna Conrad, Fairfield Union track and field: Won the 1,600 meters (5:06.84) and joined Sarah Lepi, Averey Cottrill and Abigail Pike on the first-place 1,600 relay (4:00.02) at the Division II regional meet.
Isabel Evans, Northridge track and field: Won the 100 hurdles (14.18) and 300 hurdles (43.42) at the Division II regional meet.
Dawayne Galloway, Marion-Franklin track and field: Won the 100 (10.56), joined Nazsir Jackson, Aaris Billingsley and Taliq Black on the first-place 400 relay (42.02) and ran on the second-place 800 relay (1:28.63) with Jackson, Billingsley and Terry Black (1:28.63) at the Division II regional meet.
Henry Lessard, Bexley tennis: Won the Division II singles championship to complete a 26-1 freshman season. In bringing Bexley its sixth all-time singles title and first since 1986, he went 7-0 in three-set matches.
Chayse Lipscomb, Fairfield Union track and field: Won the 110 hurdles (14.25) and 300 hurdles (37.36) ) at the Division II regional meet.
Olivia Pace, Westerville Central track and field: Won the 100 meters (12.06), 200 (24.27) and long jump (18 feet, 7 inches) and anchored the first-place 400 relay (46.67) at the Division I regional meet.
Avery Stratton , Teays Valley softball: Was 3 for 4 with two singles and the game-winning home run and pitched three innings, striking out four in an 8-7 win over Marysville to help the Vikings win their first district title since 2018.
LICKING COUNTY, Ohio (WCMH) — When you think of wild animals in central Ohio, a black bear likely isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. That’s why one Licking County family said they couldn’t believe their eyes.
It was an average afternoon drive home for father and son, Justin and Aaron Rhodes, when something walked into the road in front of them.
“I didn’t even think it was real at first, so that’s why I had to do the double take,” Justin said.
Aaron said he thought it was “just a weird looking dog”.
To their disbelief, it was a bear. The sighting comes just one year after the animal was spotted in Licking County for the first time in more than two decades.
“It’s kind of hard to believe that they’re even around this area,” Justin said. “I’ve lived in this area for about 24 years now, so it’s been quite a while, and I’ve never seen one before.”
These sightings are becoming more common. The Ohio Division of Wildlife said the black bear population is growing in the state, and they expect those trends to continue. Ohio saw a record number of confirmed sightings in 2025.
Lindsey Krusling, a wildlife communications specialist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said they are seeing more breeding females establish homes in the state, signaling the species is returning. Experts said the work restoring natural forest land is a big reason why.
“We’re starting to get some black bears coming in from neighboring states like Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky,” Krusling said. “They’re naturally crossing those state borders and coming back to Ohio because we have more of that habitat available to them, especially those forested areas.”
As the black bear population grows, the Division of Wildlife is expanding its research. They are putting radio collars on some bears they find in the state to help track data, such as if the bears are staying here, how far they’ve traveled and if they’re successfully having cubs.
“We’re trying to get quite a bit of data from these bears, and we’re super excited to see where this takes us,” Krusling said.
The research is in the beginning stages, but they expect population growth to continue, Krusling said.
Sighting reports can be submitted here to help the Division of Wildlife track black bear populations throughout the state.
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Real estate transfers in Licking County, Ohio, range from $85,000 to $865,000
The following are property transfers recorded in Licking County from June 1-5, 2026.
First name indicates the seller; second name represents the buyer
Buckeye Lake
- 502 Providence Lane; Cohagen, Christopher C and Lori A; Adams, Jeffrey L and Boyce-Adams, Jo Anna; 6/1/2026; $511,000
- 131 Cranberry Lane; Smart, Amy and Kidwell, Kevin K; Sew and Minor, Christian; 6/1/2026; $262,000
Etna Township
- 116 Cameron Drive SW; Ray, Erica L; Darjee, Sanjay and Laxmi and Dil; 6/2/2026; $412,000
- 119 Kraner St. SW; Adkins, Zane and Amy; Culbertson, Brenton Howard; 6/1/2026; $368,500
- 160 Dusky Willow Drive; Willow Reserve LLC; Martin, Alaina K; 6/2/2026; $290,940
Granville
- 119 Derwyn Del Way; Lifer, David C and Julia H; Martin, Michael and Lisa; 6/1/2026; $865,000
- 39 Victoria Drive; Acton, Wendy S and Paul J; Cannon, Matthew Evan and Zywica, Natalie Nicole; 6/2/2026; $835,000
Granville Township
- 49 Alberry Drive; Halliday, Lucas and Breayne; Howe, Jason and Kathryn; 6/2/2026; $570,000
Harrison Township
- 102 Whirlaway Loop; Rice, Dawn (Trustee); Bope, Maria and Shane; 6/2/2026; $420,000
Heath
- 1306 Kacey Court; Fischer Homes Columbus II LLC; Owens, Blake Andrew and Taylor Marie; 6/2/2026; $437,779
- 805 Fieldson Drive; Flowers, Ingrit; Harder, Noah C; 6/2/2026; $250,000
Hebron
- 802 Cumberland Meadows Circle; Lines, Marlene S; Gerhart, Jamie A and Ralph W Jr; 6/2/2026; $232,000
Johnstown
- 101 Bigelow Drive; McGovern, Matthew S and Jennifer L; Sanford, Jessica; 6/2/2026; $442,500
Liberty Township
- 5844 Nichols Lane Road NW; La Jeunesse, Garth E and Debra; Nesselroad, William Heath and Annie; 6/1/2026; $629,000
- 7211 Northridge Road NW; Devault, Robert E Jr and Joann; Esbenshade, Travis M and Lowe, Shelby M; 6/1/2026; $495,000
Newark
- 2110 Overlook Way; D.R. Horton-Indiana LLC; Tarsha, Michele A; 6/1/2026; $433,335
- 1162 Taylor Ave.; Heath Fluid LLC; Anglada, Gabriel P and Salina T; 6/1/2026; $200,000
- 32 Postal Ave. W.; Palmisano, Phil; Moore, Dominic Michael and Miksich, Paige Elizabeth; 6/1/2026; $198,900
- 75 Gay St.; Velez, Marcos A; Camell, Campbell; 6/1/2026; $155,000
- 655 Evans St.; TNL; McRada Properties LLC; 6/1/2026; $145,000
- 63 Wallace St.; FDA Peachtree LLC; Burns, Amber L; 6/2/2026; $86,500
- 404 10th St.; Synergy Group Properties LLC; Busy Boys Restoration LLC; 6/2/2026; $85,000
Reynoldsburg
- 8447 Rodebaugh Road; Collins, Carol J; Thorpe, Kimberley Lynn and Henry, Steven; 6/2/2026; $340,000
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