And we’re off.
The 2026 edition of the Richland 200 is officially underway as we take the next several weeks to take a look at the Top 200 returning high school athletes in Richland County for the 2026-27 sports season.
Before we do, here is a quick insight on how athletes qualify for the list. In sports like tennis, golf, swimming and diving and wrestling where the postseason goes sectional, district and state, those who qualify for the district tournament automatically make the Richland 200. In sports like track and field and cross country where the postseason goes district, regional and state, those who qualify for the regional meet make the list. Finally, in more team-focused sports like softball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, football and basketball, those who earn any sort of postseason honor whether it be all-league, all-district or all-state are on the list for the Richland 200.
And then there are my picks, the wildcards. Those athletes who did not qualify through the above windows who I believe are potentially Top 100 athletes, I put them on the list myself. We will meet them later on at No. 100 along with 15 honorable mention wildcards who need to be watched.
This year, 322 Richland County high school athletes qualified for the Richland 200. That is an insane number. Instead of ignoring 132 of them, because 10 spots go to wildcards, they are all listed under the honorable mention section as a kudos for qualifying and as names everyone needs to keep an eye on.
Over the course of this summer, we will see a total of 347 names of Richland County athletes. Who do you say we get started with Nos. 191-200 and the 132 honorable mentions?
132 Honorable Mentions: Gavin Camak, Mansfield Senior; Isaac Freibel, Shelby; Peyton Freitag, Clear Fork; Isaac Smith, Crestview; Wyatt Love, Crestview; Logan Robinson, Crestview; Jackson VanScyoc, Crestview; Wyatt Turchan, Crestview; Maddox Beal, Mansfield Christian; Abraham Evans, Mansfield Christian; Leland Koppert-Smith, Lucas; Blaine Houser, Mansfield Christian; Weston Smith, Plymouth; Carter Jester, Plymouth; Eliyah Molina, Clear Fork; Emily Pond, Crestview; Adalyn Dean, Mansfield Christian; Anna Caughenbaugh, Plymouth; Stephanie Baughman, Mansfield Christian; Imani Holland, Mansfield Senior; Livia Harriger, Mansfield Christian; Molly Snyder, Mansfield Senior; Brinly Epneris, Clear Fork; Lena Kahl, Crestview; Ian Morrison, Ontario; Cy Henry, Mansfield Senior; Brennon Dille, Crestview; Audrey Wendling, Lexington; Gabe Cole, Plymouth; Ben Hockensmith, Lucas; Carter Cox, Lucas; Chloe Ernsberger, Shelby; Hailey Hildebrand, Lexington; Drake Foster, Crestview; Jayce Hinton, Crestview; Sean Nolen, Crestview; Luke Remy, Clear Fork; Natalie Smith, Ontario; Ta’Neyah Hammock, Mansfield Senior; Carliann Hughes, Lexington; Sean Winfield, Plymouth; Jake Thompson, Lexington; Sam Hoover, Lexington; Brady Wheeler, Lexington; Nathan Jackson, Lexington; Brayden McGinty, Lexington; Quinnten Anderson, Lexington; Adam Britton, Lexington; Ezra Mueller, Lexington; Lauren Udhe, Ontario; Addison Smith, Ontario; Jocelyn Phillips, Lexington; Kennedy Fritz, Shelby; Arabella Ream, Shelby; Lillian Muntis, Shelby; Raegan Sudol, Clear Fork; Ella Manns, Ontario; Ava Julian, Ontario; Olivia Sandwall, Ontario; Cullen Withrow, Lucas; Jaxen Haynes, Mansfield Senior; Carson Coole, Madison; Tori Zerby, Mansfield Christian; Makayla Cunningham, Plymouth; Anna Rall, Crestview; Isaac Friebel, Shelby; Anthony Tackett, Shelby; Owen Weiser, Clear Fork; John Bartone, Lexington; Cam Glennon, Lexington; Kingston Peterson, Lexington; Eben Cochran, Lexington; Logan Moore, Crestview; Bella Grant, Crestview; Danika Kingman, Crestview; Dawson Dreibelbis, Lexington; Myles Smith, Lexington; Jackson Buttil, Ontario; Alex Simmering, Ontario; Brant Leidigh, Crestview; Davis De Lorenzo, Mansfield Christian; Jake Frangella, Shelby; Evan Larsen, Madison; Leah Robinson, Mansfield Christian; Leah De Lorenzo, Mansfield Christian; Alexandra Cutlip, Crestview; Natalia Peters, Shelby; Emma Mahek, Shelby; Reese Bechtler, Mansfield Christian; Hudson Stacy, Mansfield Madison; Jace Young, Mansfield Senior; Percy Long, Mansfield Senior; Xavier Taylor, Mansfield Senior; Wyatt Cornell, Lexington; Daniel Hudson, Lexington; Wyatt Coble, Clear Fork; Grady Hunt, Madison; Vince Caudill, Ontario; Caiden Byerly, Madison; Corbyn Barth, Shelby; Drayden Tschantz, Clear Fork; Malachi Endicott, Madison; Max Miller, Shelby; Levi Walter, Ontario; Zell Finley, Lucas; Lucas Distl, Plymouth; Kaci Pollard, Mansfield Christian; Jael Sterken, Mansfield Christian; Trent Rodman, Shelby; Dalton Downs, Shelby; Willow Harris, Ontario; Justin Switaj, Ontario; Carson Pigg, Lexington; Isaac McFarland, Crestview; Dawson Loose, Mansfield Christian; Grady Cline, Crestview; Emma Brown, Lucas; Lydia McFadden, Mansfield Christian; Jordyn Yeager, Ontario; Callahan Cavanaugh, Mansfield Senior; Addyson Powell, Madison; Kyleigh Washington, Madison; Zoey Shaffer, Ontario; Laynie Kemp, Crestview; Shiloh Walter, Lucas; Deryn Moore, Crestview; Michelle Hope, Mansfield Christian; Layla Daugherty, Clear Fork; Isaiah Miller, Plymouth; Cam Turlo, Lexington; Charlize Stinehour, Lucas; Marlea Rader, Mansfield Christian.
200. Audrey Smith, Plymouth
Smith helped the Plymouth girls cross country team qualify for the regional meet last season by developing into the Big Red’s No. 1 runner by the end of the postseason. At regionals, she ran a 22:07.64 to take 113th overall. The week before, she was 32nd in the district meet with a 23:54.4 as she dropped nearly two minutes off of her time from the previous week. She is a great kid who can step up in 2026 to lead the Big Red back to regionals.
199. Henry Yugovich, Ontario
Yugovich earned second team All-Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference honors during the 2025 soccer season after scoring a goal and adding an assist while playing all over the pitch for the 9-7-1 Warriors. In tennis, he joined Justin Switaj as a district-qualifying doubles team making Yugovich a two-sport Richland 200 qualifier. Yugovich is going to be a junior in the upcoming school year and is expected to take a major jump this season. We could be looking at this kid as an underrated superstar before the next Richland 200.
198. Finn McAuley, Clear Fork
McAuley earned honorable mention All-District and second team All-MOAC honors during the 2025 soccer season. He scored 13 goals and added four assists to help the Colts win a second straight district championship. He returns to the Colts as part of an absolutely loaded lineup that brings back its Top 3 scorers and a defense with a ton of experience. Watch for McAuley to leave his high school career with three district titles.
197. Lily Swendal, Clear Fork
Swendal earned second team All-District and second team All-MOAC honors during the 2025 soccer season. She had three goals and three assists to help the Colts win the MOAC championship and make it to the district championship match with a 16-2-2 overall record. Swendal plays all over the pitch, but she could be a kid who the Colts look to for some scoring after the graduation of Brinley Barnett and Ashtyn Wine and their 65 combined goals and 35 combined assists.
196. Alex Morabito, Ontario
A freshman in 2025-26, Morabito was a Division II district swim meet qualifier in the 200-yard freestyle where he ended up taking 25th overall with a 1:58.96 and in the 100-yard breaststroke where he also finished 25th with a 1:08.28. With the graduation of a few big names in the swim program, Morabito has a chance to step into a major role in the upcoming season. He is also a member of the soccer team that has a very talented freshman class and after the program graduated seven seniors, he could see some time on the varsity pitch in 2026.
195. Penny Wilging, Ontario
Wilging qualified for the Division II district swim meet in the 200-yard freestyle where she finished 23rd with a 2:13.93 and in the 500-free where she took 25th with a 6:03.55. Just a freshman last year, Wilging has an extremely bright future in the pool and has a chance to step into some key spots during the upcoming season. Her potential is off the charts.
194. Tatum Mottayaw, Ontario
Mottayaw was so close to a state swim meet berth last season. At districts, she took 17th in the 200-yard freestyle with a 2:08.75 and was 12th in the 500-free with a 5:43.07 narrowly missing out on an individual state qualifying spot in both races. Back for her senior year, Mottayaw is going to use those narrow misses as motivation to end her career in Canton for the state swim championships. Watch out for this kid.
193. Logan Sesco, Ontario
Talk about a kid with an extremely bright future, Sesco, just a freshman in 2025-26, has that in the pool. At the Division II district meet, Sesco took 18th with a 1:56.37 in the 200-yard freestyle and was 16th in the 100-yard backstroke with a 59.91. As he grows and gets stronger, Sesco will continue to drop time and place even higher where he is likely going to be an All-Ohio swimmer by the end of his career.
192. Kenny Konves, Lexington
Konves qualified for the state swim meet in two events last season as a member of relay teams. He was on the 200-yard freestyle relay team that took 22nd in the preliminaries at state with a 1:32.05 and was on the 400-free relay that also took 22nd with a 3:24.56. Konves was just a freshman last year so he showed the kind of potential he has. With his other three relay teammates graduating, Konves will either have to bring three more guys along or go at it individually for a return trip to state.
191. Anthony Fanello, Lucas
Fanello earned honorable mention All-District 9 and first team All-Mid-Buckeye Conference honors during the 2026 baseball season. He hit .298 with 17 hits, 11 RBIs and 17 runs scored. He is a three-sport athlete who plays football and basketball for the Cubs. In football, he had 21 tackles with a tackle for loss and 0.5 sacks while also running for 120 yards and two touchdowns on offense. He was also a starter on the basketball team and has been instrumental in the success of all three programs. Back for his senior year, Fanello will try to leave a lasting impact on the future of all three teams as his leadership will be felt for years to come.
jfurr@usatodayco.com
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Kicking off Richland 200 with Nos. 191-200 and 132 honorable mentions
Reporting by Jake Furr, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jake Furr, Mansfield News Journal | USA TODAY Network
