​Jeff Howard was the top vote-getter in the Akron Area Boys Coach of the Year voting for the 2025-26 school year. The Woodridge High School cross country coach secured 42.40% of the ballots, with a total of 13,643 votes cast in the process. Additional details about Howard and the Akron Area Best of the School Year voting will be available on beaconjournal.com next Tuesday as the contest continues.
Howard leads the Bulldogs to a prominent accomplishment, culminating in a Division III state championship. Their standout performance at the state meet helped them prevail over runner-up West Liberty-Salem by a score of 65-162, marking Woodridge’s 11th state title since 2006.
For context, the Akron Area Best of the School Year feature highlights noteworthy achievements across various sports in the region, with ongoing coverage and results posted periodically on the Beacon Journal website.
In the chronological roll call of winners by date, the list shows both the girls and boys winners across different sports for the school year. On September 6, Abby Alden of Archbishop Hoban claimed the girls soccer honor, while Buddy Willig of Norton won the boys football award. September 12 saw Ava Brooks of Norton win girls tennis, and Donevan Noah of Tallmadge take boys cross country. September 19 awarded Addison Hovey of Woodridge girls tennis and Angelo Gotto of Barberton boys football. September 26 recognized Gabriela Iler of Revere for girls tennis and Atticus Sloan of Woodridge for boys cross country. The sequence continued through early 2026 with each subsequent date featuring another pair of winners in both girls and boys categories, spanning sports from cross country and soccer to basketball, swimming, wrestling, and lacrosse, reflecting the breadth of athletic excellence across the Akron area schools.
The list below includes all the dated winners across the year: October 3 — Bree Carpenter (Ellet, girls soccer) and Marlin Engram Jr. (East, boys football); October 10 — Maggie Gerschutz (Wadsworth, girls cross country) and Phil Partin (Manchester, boys football); October 17 — Makayla Martuccio (Tallmadge, girls cross country) and Anderson Seredick (Nordonia, boys cross country); October 24 — Elizabeth Coleman (Highland, girls golf) and Crew McDaniel (Hudson, boys cross country); October 31 — Brooklynn Hampton (Archbishop Hoban, girls soccer) and Nick Myers (CVCA, boys soccer); November 7 — Allison Hay (Tallmadge, girls cross country) and Sam Hopp (Twinsburg, boys cross country); November 14 — Samantha Dehrmann (Archbishop Hoban, girls volleyball) and Marty Tobin (Walsh Jesuit, boys football); December 12 — Anna Anzevino (Hudson, girls basketball) and Mason Massouh (Revere, boys wrestling); December 19 — Melania Cornute (St. Vincent-St. Mary, girls basketball) and George Marshall (Firestone, boys swimming); December 27 — Sarah Schueler (Firestone, girls swimming) and Dalton Keith (Coventry, boys wrestling); January 3 — Leannah Swiger (Springfield, girls wrestling) and Chad Rusinko (Tallmadge, boys basketball); January 9 — Rylee Kulick (Copley, girls swimming) and Tony Canfora (Wadsworth, boys swimming); January 16 — Haydn Paul (Nordonia, boys basketball) and Percy Robinson (Streetsboro, boys basketball); January 23 — Ashli Pearson (Hudson, girls basketball) and Reggie Edwards (Garfield, boys basketball); January 30 — Shaylah Jones (Buchtel, girls basketball) and DeCarlo Prince (St. Vincent-St. Mary, boys basketball); February 6 — Sydney Ferguson (St. Vincent-St. Mary, girls basketball) and John Johnson (Archbishop Hoban, boys basketball); February 13 — Dakota Graham (Norton, boys basketball) and Rayshawn Hamilton (Garfield, boys basketball); February 20 — Kayla Munn (Coventry, girls basketball) and Derrick Kruger (Firestone, boys basketball); February 27 — Stella Oliverio (Firestone, girls swimming) and Dante Kimble III (Ellet, boys basketball); March 6 — Rylee Jackson (Archbishop Hoban, girls swimming) and Andrew Gerstenmaier (Walsh Jesuit, boys swimming); March 13 — Niera Stevens (Archbishop Hoban, girls basketball) and Ian Bee (Tallmadge, boys wrestling); March 20 — MaKenzie Grant (Archbishop Hoban, girls basketball) and Arri Caporaletti (Archbishop Hoban, boys basketball); March 27 — Gianna Terlop (Walsh Jesuit, girls) and Owen Anderson (Wadsworth, boys lacrosse); April 3 — Ella Girard (Walsh Jesuit, girls lacrosse).