It’s never to early to start looking at the 2026-27 high school athletic season here in Richland County.
While the Richland 200 highlights the top athletes returning, the Richland 25 is going to look at the Top 25 teams with sky-high expectations.
Let’s begin with Nos. 23-25 along with two teams who are on the cusp and should be looked at as league title contenders.
25. Crestview Boys Golf
The Crestview Cougars won the 2025 Firelands Conference boys golf championship by outlasting New London 333-335 in the conference tournament at Brookside Golf Course. All signs point to the Cougars doing it again.
Cole Bowman had the best round of the entire tournament with a 75 while Carter Bowman had an 81 and Zander Washburn had an 82 to give the Cougars three scores inside the Top 5. And all three of them will be back in 2026. Carter Bowman kept his great play up in the postseason as he took the individual sectional crown at Valley View when he shot a 35-39-74 while Cole Bowman was ninth in the tournament with a 42-41-83, Washburn tied for 23rd with a 43-45-88, Kayn Patton was 36th with a 48-48-96 and Cooper Sanders was 54th with a 60-53-113. Carter Bowman moved on to the district tournament where he finished tied for 22nd with a 38-43-81, so he gained valuable experience that will only help the Cougars in 2026.
All five of Crestview’s tournament golfers are returning and they should challenge for a Top 3 spot in the sectional tournament and make it out as a team to districts. But that FC title is well within reach.
24. Lexington Girls Track and Field
The Lexington Lady Lex won the 2026 Ohio Cardinal Conference track and field championship this season with 172 points finishing ahead of Ashland with 165 in the two-team race. Lex did it with depth as they didn’t earn a single runner or athlete of the year honor in the conference.
While they will graduate some extremely talented runners, Lex will still have plenty of depth. Sylvia Secrist was third in the 100-meter dash at the OCC meet and fifth in the 200. Morgan Harrod won the OCC title in the 800-meter run while Jersie Palmer was second. Freshman Mia Twedt was fifth in the 400 and twin sister Gabi was second in the 1,600, Lindsey Clingan was third and Alexis Neal was sixth in the 100-meter hurdles and Olivia Thomas was third in the 300-hurdles. Brynley Liersemann and Payton McGuire will continue to improve in the high jump, Allyson Meredith and Elise Nunn were young pole vaulters last season and Kayla Soehnlen was a solid thrower.
And they are all back. Lady Lex will be looking to keep hold of the OCC title for the sixth consecutive year in 2027 and with that depth, they have to be considered the favorite.
23. Mansfield Christian Girls Basketball
The Flames won the Mid-Buckeye Conference girls basketball championship in 2025-26 with a perfect run through the league for the first outright league title in program history.
They didn’t do much in the postseason and with the future of the MBC in the balance after Lucas left for the Northern 10 Conference, it will be interesting to see what 2026-27 brings.
One thing is for sure, the Flames will have talent. They bring back Bella Young, Brooklyn Rider and Bailee Nelson for a solid Big 3 and at a small school, that is enough to win a bunch of games. They had a big junior varsity team last season and will introduce a new coach this winter after Megan Young departed after leaving quite a mark on the rebuild of the program.
Expect the Flames to be very competitive again this year.
On the Cusp
Clear Fork Football
The Colts went 6-5 last season making it to the playoffs and finishing third in the conference behind Shelby and Galion. In 2026, the expectations at Clear Fork is to compete for a league championship. With Marcus Hoeflich returning at quarterback and weapons all around like Trey Sellers, Nash Evans, Davis Hoeflich and Alex Schlosser, the Colts have all the pieces to make a run at a league title and a playoff push. They will have to figure out some holes on the offensive line, but they grow linemen down in the Valley.
Lexington Girls Tennis
The Lexington girls tennis team won the Ohio Cardinal Conference championship in 2025 in similar fashion as the track team. They scored 64 points throughout the year and only had two OCC titles in first singles and second doubles. They will have to figure out how to replace OCC Player of the Year Ulo Erike as well as district qualifying doubles team Hannah Remy and Lily Thomas, but this feels like the start of a rebirth in Lex girls tennis.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland 25 Nos. 23-25 teams have sights set on repeat league titles
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
