1. Avon football blazes path to its first state championship (58 points, five first-place votes): Avon has gone on several deep playoff runs through the years. In 2024, everything came together for a 16-0 Division II state championship season.
The Eagles were led by 10 All-Ohioans and featured Division I collegiate prospects on both sides of the ball. One of them was Ohio Mr. Football finalist Nolan Good at quarterback.
Avon dominated the competition, winning by an average of 26.6 points per game. It returned to the Division II state semifinals against Akron Hoban. Against the team it had lost to five times in the postseason, Avon defeated the Knights, 35-10.
Avon vs. Akron Hoban football: Eagles break through to state title game with dominant 35-10 win
A week later, Avon traveled to Canton and defeated Cincinnati Anderson, 20-13, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in the Division II state championship game.
This season marked the Eagles’ first state championship in school history. After years of heartbreaking shortcomings, it is the pinnacle moment of Avon football.
2. Mateo Medina’s triple crown takes Elyria to track and field state championship (54, one first-place vote): It takes a team to win. That is unless your name is Mateo Medina.
The Pioneers sprinter secured three state championships in the Division I state meet.
He ran a 10.82 in the 100 meters, a 45:88 in the 400 and a 21.67 in the 200. He scored all of Elyria’s 30 points, and the Pioneers were crowned Division I track and field state champions.
Elyria outscored second-place Huber Heights Wayne, which totaled 29 points.
Medina’s 400-time ranks third in OHSAA state tournament history. He is also the 16th sprinter in OHSAA history to win the triple crown.
Medina is the sixth athlete to win a team state championship all by himself and the first to do it since 1998. He is running at Arizona State University.
3. Bay’s Tessa Knapp becomes OHSAA all-time leading goal scorer (48): Heading into her senior year, Knapp was on pace to become Ohio’s all-time leading goal scorer.
The road to 193 career goals came to a head in a regular-season game against Padua. The eventual winner of the 2024 Ohio Ms. Soccer award scored a hat-trick in a 7-0 victory over the Bruins, marking her 193rd goal.
Girls soccer: Bay’s Tessa Knapp breaks OHSAA career goals record in 7-0 home win over Padua
She surpassed Jaclyn Dutton, from St. Clairsville (2009).
This accomplishment marked years of dominance in which she had three straight seasons with 50 or more goals.
Knapp played in seven more games, which pushed the all-time scoring record to 179.
Bay girls soccer: Tessa Knapp caps off historic career with Ms. Ohio Soccer award
The Notre Dame signee had a storybook ending to her Bay soccer career when she assisted the game-winning goal against Medina Highland in the final seconds of the Division III state championship match for a 1-0 victory.
4. Bay’s state championship caps off thrilling girls soccer season (40): The 2024 season featured possibly the greatest talent pool in the history of area girls soccer.
With many heading to Division I collegiate soccer, the season was capped by Bay’s Division III state championship. The Rockets’ senior class had three Division I signees (Knapp, Emery Ashenbrener, and Elizabeth Fetterman), and they finished 22-0-2.
Bay girls soccer: Senior leadership guides Rockets to state title
Bay was so dominant that it outscored opponents, 134-8. In the regional final it faced Avon Lake, which had shut out all of its opponents in October. It took the Rockets less than a minute to score their first goal en route to an 8-0 mercy-rule win.
Rocky River, another state powerhouse and Cleveland West Conference rival to Bay, met the Rockets again in a state semifinal.
Unlike the 2023 match that went in the Pirates’ favor in penalties, Bay won, 4-1, with Knapp scoring a hat-trick.
Many other area teams made deep playoff runs. Avon won a Division II regional championship, and Amherst advanced to the sweet 16.
Along with Knapp, Rocky River’s Sophia Sindelar (Florida) and Avon’s Giana Scott (Notre Dame) signed to play in the Power Four. Many others from the area went on to play Division I.
5. Hudson siblings Evan and Olivia win track and field state championships for Oberlin (38): In lockstep, brother and sister Evan and Olivia Hudson won state championships at the Division III state meet.
They each won the 400-meter dash, as Evan ran a 47.97 and Olivia recorded a personal-best 56.83 in her state championship race.
Evan, who is running at the University of Notre Dame, also won the 200-meter state championship (22.02).
Olivia was a sophomore last year and will be a junior with an opportunity to defend her title this coming spring.
6. Avon Lake’s Rejan Alhashash and Vermilion’s Brooke Jenkins become Lorain County’s first girls wrestling state champions (36): Avon Lake’s Al-Hashash (140 pounds) and Vermilion’s Jenkins (235) each won state titles in their respective weight classes.
Al-Hashash won after being pinned in her state championship bout the year prior. “I’m so happy I can’t stop crying,” she said after winning her match.
Avon Lake’s Rejan Al-Hashash brings home 2024 state title after ’23 runner-up finish
Vermilion sent multiple wrestlers to the state tournament, and Jenkins won it all, defeating Fairborn’s Akiaya Rhinehart.
Jenkins dominated her bracket, which resulted in three pins and a 17-2 technical fall. She had a 28-7 record that year.
7. Olmsted Falls girls basketball dominates postseason to win first state championship (33): Olmsted Falls’ 2023-24 season will go down as one of most dominant postseason runs.
With an average playoff win margin of 22.8 points per game, the 2022-23 Division I state runner-up Bulldogs avenged their state championship loss to win their first state title.
Olmsted Falls had Youngstown State commit Danielle Cameron, who was named The Morning Journal’s girls basketball player of the year, along with a supporting cast of All-Ohio point guard Maddie Cerovac, Emily Scina, Jessica Wolanin and Jesse Simon.
Add in the depth on its bench and Olmsted Falls overwhelmed opponents with a well-oiled machine of passing, off-ball movement and shooting on offense. Defensively, the Bulldogs’ ball pressure and tempo forced turnovers.
The Bulldogs graduated a pair of All-Ohio and college-caliber athletes from the year prior. Olmsted Falls reloaded, leading to a 52-45 victory against Springboro in the Division I state championship game at the University of Dayton.
The season started with a pair of losses. Also, the Bulldogs’ 52-game winning streak against SWC opponents ended with a loss to Avon Lake. It was a tough loss for the Bulldogs, but the game was telling to what the future could hold, as Avon Lake honored its 1994 state championship girls basketball team at halftime. Olmsted Falls watched to pay its respect, not knowing one day it would too be a state champion.
Olmsted Falls state championship season had 26 wins and three losses, with a 13-1 SWC championship record.
The Avon Lake loss was the last loss of the season, after which the Bulldogs won 17 consecutive games en route to a championship.
8. Area qualifies unprecedented 11 teams to host home playoff games (31): Avon headlined the area’s football success, and 11 local teams hosted first-round home playoff games on Nov. 1.
High school football: 11 area teams embrace opportunities home playoff games provide
Those teams were Clearview, Avon Lake, Avon, Bay, Columbia, Lorain, Keystone, North Ridgeville, Olmsted Falls, Rocky River and Vermilion.
Vermilion football: William DiFucci wins Ohio Division IV co-Coach of the Year
No year has produced area first-round home playoff games. Even after the OHSAA expanded to 16 teams per region in 2021, the most the area had was nine.
With Lorain (9-2) and Clearview (8-3), it marked the first time the city of Lorain had a pair of home playoff games at the same time.
Of these teams, eight of the 11 advanced to the next round, and a week after that, the regional semifinalists were Avon (Division II, Region 6) and Columbia (Division VI, Region 21).
9. Avon Lake’s Bella Pfeil becomes the first Lorain County diver to win a state championship (30): After becoming the county’s first diver to win a district championship, Pfeil rode the momentum all the way to the top of the podium in the Division I state diving championship.
Avon Lake’s Isabella Pfeil wins Division I 1-meter dive state championship
Pfeil was one of three local divers to advance to the finals at the state meet. She took over the competition, with a final score of 454.35, ahead of Makenna Mincey of Magnificat, who scored 438.90.
Pfeil is now a diver at Florida Gulf Coast University.
10. OHSAA playoff expansion opens up opportunities for historic seasons (28): With multiple sports having more divisions, it left more room for more teams to make deeper playoff runs.
The first round of playoff expansion affected fall sports. However, local teams pounced on their opportunities to make historic playoff runs.
Boys and girls soccer went from three divisions to five. North Ridgeville boys soccer (13-3-4, 6-0-1 in SWC) clinched its first regional championship in school history.
Avon Lake (Division III), Open Door (V) and Westlake (III) also advanced to the sweet 16.
Girls soccer had Bay win the Division III state championship, along with Rocky River and Avon advancing to the final four. Teams including Amherst and Avon Lake made runs to the regional tournament.
Volleyball went to seven divisions. Avon made the deepest playoff run to the Division II state semifinals. Meanwhile, Elyria Catholic and Olmsted Falls were regional finalists.
Elyria Catholic vs. Girard volleyball: Panthers wear down Girard in D-V regional semifinal sweep