It is hard to believe that the Richland 200 series is getting ready to start its seventh edition this summer.
A project that started as a way to fill pages and time during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Richland 200 has now turned into a must-follow series over the summer months to get a good grasp of what to expect during the upcoming high school sports season.
The series kicks off this week, but before it does, let’s take a trip down memory lane for a second. While we won’t find out who the No. 1 returning athlete for the 2026-27 season is until August, we can always take a look back at the seven athletes who were named No. 1 during their time and see what they are up to now.
Here they are.
2025: Madison Henkel, Shelby
Henkel lived up to all of the hype and then some during her senior year after being named the No. 1 athlete in the Richland 200. In volleyball, she recorded her 1,000th kill to cap off a stellar career on the court. It set the stage for track season where she won an indoor state title in the long jump as she was preparing for something special during outdoor season. The Coastal Carolina commit went on to break the state record in the long jump at the Division III state track and field championships with a leap of 19-11.50 which helped her repeat as state champion. Every single one of her jumps at the state finals would have won her a state title, even her last one where she moved back on the runway to try and get some extra speed to break 20 feet but her steps were messed up and she jumped 18-02.25. She was expected to repeat in the long jump, but to top it all off, she anchored the 4×100-meter relay team to a Division III state title for the first relay state crown in program history. Yeah, she absoluetly deserved that No. 1 ranking.
2025: Brayden DeVito, Shelby
It is going to be hard to find a high school career in Richland County history that could match up to Brayden DeVito. And actually, all you have to really do is look at his senior year to find something that may never be matched. After being named the No. 1 athlete in the Richland 200 in 2025, DeVito made sure that ranking was warranted. Starting with football, he racked up the postseason honors earning Ohio Mr. Football Runner-up, Division IV Ohio Offensive Player of the Year, first team All-Ohio, North Central Ohio Football Coaches Association Offensive Back of the Year – Big Schools, Division IV Northwest District Offensive Player of the Year, first team All-Northwest District, Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference Player of the Year, first team All-MOAC and Mansfield News Journal Offensive Player of the Year. In basketball, he earned first team All-Ohio, Division IV Northwest District Player of the Year, first team All-NW District, Division IV District 6 Player of the Year, first team All-District 6, first team All-MOAC and co-News Journal Player of the Year. To cap it all off, he helped the 4×100-meter relay team win a Division III state championship with a state record-breaking time of 41.30. DeVito is a once-in-a-lifetime high school athlete and is heading to the United States Air Force Academy to continue his football career to see if he can further cement his legacy as the best high school football player to ever come out of Richland County.
2024: Bodpegn Miller, Ontario
Now to the ‘where are they now?’ portion of this list. Miller was the No. 1 ranked athlete in the 2024 Richland 200 and put together a high school football career that rivals the greatest to ever come out of Ontario. He took his talents to The Ohio State University as a wide receiver and spent a year learning from arguably the best receivers coaching staff in the country. Now, Miller is at the University of Washington where he hopes to be at the top of a Big 10 receiving room and get some time on the field after redshirting last season at OSU. The Huskies seem extremely excited about Miller’s potential on the field and maybe a change of scenery will do Miller some good this upcoming season and beyond as he still has all four years of eligibility left.
2023: Alex Bruskotter, Shelby
After being named the No. 1 athlete in the Richland 200 during the 2023 countdown, Bruskotter enjoyed a senior year that saw him earn an Ohio Mr. Basketball nomination and a Division II Player of the Year nod while leading the Whippets to their first ever regional championship. After high school, he committed to play basketball at Wright State University where he played in 15 games as a true freshman averaging 8.3 minutes of playing time and scoring 4.5 points a game. He had his best game against Cleveland State where he dropped 25 points in 28 minutes proving he could be a go-to option on offense. As fate would have it, Bruskotter transferred out of Wright State and into Cleveland State where he impressed the Vikings enough to make them offer him a spot on the team as the go-to guy on offense. He will suit up for CSU this winter to see if he can do something special in college hoops.
2022: Shelby Grover, Lucas
Speaking of people who have already done special things, Grover has done that and then some since being named the No. 1 athlete of the Richland 200 during the 2022 countdown. Grover capped off a high school career with a state long jump championship when there were just three divisions. She then went to Kent State University to compete in the heptathlon. There, she took off. As a freshman, she earned a spot at the Nike Outdoor Nationals and USATF U20 Championships before following that up with All-American honors during her sophomore season. During her junior year, Grover began feeling discomfort on the inside of her foot and then tore her spring ligament and flexor reticulum in her foot and ankle. She competed at indoor on the injury and helped KSU win an indoor Mid-American Conference championship, but the pain was too much as she prepared for the outdoor season that she decided to redshirt outdoor track season to give her a chance to recoup and come back stronger than ever. She still has two years of eligibility left for outdoor season to try and recapture All-American honors.
2021: Ethan Turnbaugh, Ontario
Turnbaugh had one of the most tragic stories during his senior year. After being named the No. 1 athlete of the Richland 200 in 2021, he battled through injury after injury and never really got fully healthy for a run at a state championship that seemed to be well within reach before the start of the season. In the district tournament in 2022, Turnbaugh won his first match but injury defaulted his next two as he was unable to wrestle effectively ending his season. He still had an incredible high school career with multiple JC Gorman championships and plenty of postseason success and All-Ohio honors. While he didn’t continue his wrestling career beyond high school, Turnbaugh is living a great and productive life away from the sport.
2020: Taylor Huff, Madison
The very first Richland 200 No. 1 athlete might be the one who has enjoyed the most success so far after earning the honor. Taylor Huff took the No. 1 ranking and turned it into an Ohio Ms. Soccer Award and a Division II state championship. After that, she won a national championship at Florida State University after starting her career at the University of Tennessee. She has been on the United State Women’s National Team’s U-23 squad where she hopes to catch on for the next Olympics and is currently playing professionally for Bay Football Club out of San Jose, California in the National Women’s Soccer League. She started all 26 games as a rookie in 2025 and scored four goals. She was one of just two rookies in the league to start every game of the season. For the 2026 season, she has played in all 10 games and has one goal while dominating the midfield for Bay. The first No. 1 athlete in Richland 200 history continues to make Richland County proud.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Where are they now? Every Richland 200 No. 1 athlete still successful
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
