In a vote that ended Oct. 10, Cincinnati.com readers selected the first 2025-2026 Cincinnati Enquirer/Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine Athletes of the Week from high school sports action through Oct. 5.
Here are this week’s winners.
Ohio football team: Oak Hills – The Highlanders’ offense scored seven touchdowns in a 48-10 road win at Sycamore.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana football team: Holy Cross – Holy Cross continued its perfect season with a 39-0 shutout of Frankfort.
Ohio boys fall team: Sycamore cross country – The Aviators scored a 70 at the Milford Invitational on Oct. 4, winning the event by 10 points.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana boys fall team: East Central soccer – The Trojans had a 1-0, double overtime win over Batesville on Sept. 29.
Ohio girls fall team: Walnut Hills soccer – The Eagles are 8-5-3 after an 0-5-1 start to the year, including a 7-0 shutout of Colerain on Sept. 29 and a 4-0 win at Kings on Sept. 30.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana girls fall team: Conner volleyball – The Cougars picked up their 20th win of the season, beating Scott on Oct. 1.
Ohio boys cross-country runner: Hayden Sorg, Moeller – His 10th-place finish in a new personal best of 17:03.2 helped the Crusaders win the team title at Ross.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana boys cross-country runner: Noah Fuller, Holy Cross – He took eighth place at Carroll County in 20:28.6.
Ohio girls cross-country runner: Eva Casto, Ursuline – Her fifth-place finish in 20:12.6 led the Lions to a second-place team finish at Ross.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana girls cross-country runner: Callie Ochsner, Bishop Brossart – The eighth-grader led the Lady ‘Stangs to the team title at Williamsburg with a runner-up finish in 20:01.09.
Field hockey: Chloe Castellini, Summit Country Day – The senior captain has 167 saves for the season as the team’s goalie and anchored the team’s defense in challenging matchups with Indian Hill and St. Ursula.
Ohio big-school football: Brayden Reilly, St. Xavier – In a 17-14 win over Louisville Trinity, he blocked two punts, had nine tackles (five solo), a forced fumble, one pass defended, and an interception that sealed the game.
Ohio small-school football: Cooper Reynolds, Blanchester – He had three catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns, and two interceptions on defense, in a 36-6 win over Clermont Northeastern.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana football: Chase McCracken, East Central – He led the defense in the Trojans’ shutout of Connersville with six tackles and a sack.
Ohio boys golfer: Blake Rohling, Roger Bacon – Rohling was tied for medalist honors at the Division II district meet, shooting a 72 and leading Roger Bacon to state qualification.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana boys golfer: Jace Hammons, Beechwood – Hammons shot a 79 and tied for 23rd at the Kentucky High School Athletic Association first round, qualifying for the finals.
Ohio big-school girls golfer: Charlotte Soller, Mariemont – Soller qualified for the state tournament with a 77 at PipeStone in the Division II district, finishing as third overall.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana girls golfer: Rowan Pies, East Central – The senior shot a 156 over two days at the Indiana High School Athletic Association state finals, finishing tied for 20th place.
Ohio big-school boys soccer: Adrian Kernes, Kings – The senior scored a goal in a 2-0 win over Walnut Hills.
Ohio small-school boys soccer: Cooper Faust, Taylor – Faust scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Madeira that snapped a six-year losing streak against the Mustangs. Faust leads the Cincinnati Hills League in goals.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana boys soccer: Collin Duty, Calvary Christian – The senior scored three goals in a 6-1 win over Holmes.
Ohio big-school girls soccer: Ellie Ulrich, Springboro – She had the assist against Beavercreek in a 1-0 win, two goals against Chaminade-Julienne in a 3-1 win and an assist against Wayne in a 9-0 win during the Panthers’ four-game winning streak.
Ohio small-school girls soccer: Kendall Hanlon, Western Brown – The junior scored three goals in a 5-0 win over Clinton-Massie to help the Broncos remain unbeaten and gave her a league-leading 31 goals on the season.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana girls soccer: Anne Bowling, Calvary Christian – The freshman had two goals and an assist in a 3-0 win over Ludlow that clinched the conference championship for the Cougars.
Girls singles tennis: Libby Goedde, Ursuline – The senior won four straight matches to advance to the finals at the Lindner Tennis Center sectional and secure a spot in the district tournament.
Girls doubles tennis: Paige Lint-Brooke Lint, Oak Hills – The freshman and senior sisters will advance to district after qualifying as semifinalists in the sectional.
Ohio big-school girls volleyball: Erica Dean, Little Miami – The senior contributed 10 kills and three digs in a win over Winton Woods.
Ohio small-school girls volleyball: Evie Holbrock, Taylor – She contributed 10 assists, three aces, three kills and two digs as the Yellowjackets beat Reading to secure their third straight league title.
Northern Kentucky/Indiana girls volleyball: Annike Berwanger, Conner – The senior had an all-around stat line of nine kills, five blocks, four digs and three aces in a win over Scott.
Boys water polo: Marco Di Loreto Tarot, Mason – Recorded eight goals, three assists, five ejections and four steals in a sudden-death third overtime win over St. Xavier.
If you win, what’s next?
Families have the option, after a win, to send in a VERY short (five to 10 seconds) thank you video from the athlete within two hours of the win for a winners’ compilation video. The video’s orientation must be vertical. Send videos by email to mlaughman@enquirer.com or through Messenger on Facebook. Or, you may drop the video in a separate DropBox using this link.
The Enquirer will no longer mail certificates to schools after getting feedback that families weren’t receiving them. Alex Harrison will make digital copies of all certificates available to families by 8 a.m. the Monday after the Friday win. Families will access the PDFs through this public Dropbox link.
Once printed, families can email a photo of athletes with their certificates to Melanie Laughman at mlaughman@enquirer.com, through Messenger on Facebook, or tag her on X at @mlaughman. We’ll put those images in a photo gallery.
This story was republished to add a video.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Enquirer names Greater Cincinnati high school athletes of the week, Oct. 10
Reporting by Melanie Laughman, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
