1 / 39. Jeff Backes and the 2000 state championship Upper Arlington football team were honored during the game Oct. 10, 2025, at Upper Arlington. (photo by John Hulkenberg). (John Hulkenberg/Columbus Dispatch). Central Ohio high school sports has a long history of excellence. Proof can be found in the graduation years of two of the area’s top athletes of all time.. Chic Harley graduated from East in 1915 and Abby Steiner graduated from Dublin Coffman in 2018.. Advertisement. Advertisement. Advertisement. As the local component to All-America 250 for 250 – USA TODAY Sports’ celebration of the 250 greatest American sports figures of all time – The Dispatch asked readers to vote in polls to determine the top central Ohio high school football player, basketball player and athlete ever.. 1 / 51. Northland’s Trey Burke (3) gets some pressure from Westerville South’s Isiah Rogers (11) during the first half of the division I regional final at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum Saturday, March 20, 2011. Northland won 80-62.. (SHARI LEWIS | COLUMBUS DISPATCH). We have taken the top three vote-getters from each of those polls, including Harley and Steiner, to pose another question: Among those nine, who is the best of the best?. All left legacies that helped define high school sports in this community, beyond championships and statistics. After reading about the candidates, vote in our poll.. Jeff Backes and the 2000 state championship Upper Arlington football team were honored during a Golden Bears home game on Oct. 10, 2025.. A 2001 graduate of UA, Backes helped lead the Golden Bears (15-0) to central Ohio’s first Division I state championship in 2000, beating Solon 15-9. Backes was named Ohio’s Mr. Football, setting single-season program records for rushing yards (3,353), scoring (266 points) and touchdowns (44). He went on to play defensive back at Northwestern.. Northland’s Trey Burke goes up for a shot against Findlay College Prep in 2009.. The 6-foot point guard was stellar whether he was the Vikings’ leading man or counterpart to another future NBA player in Jared Sullinger. Burke won 97 of his 102 games at Northland and was part of the Vikings’ Division I state championship team as a sophomore in 2009 and state runner-up team as a senior, when he was named Mr. Basketball. He went on to play at Michigan.. Former Ohio State running back and two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin poses for a photo with family members during halftime of a game against Akon in 2024.. Arguably the most beloved football player from central Ohio and still the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner, the first portion of Griffin’s legacy was cemented at Eastmoor. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a junior in 1970 and ran for 1,787 yards and 29 touchdowns at fullback as a senior, pacing the Warriors to the City League championship.. East graduate Chic Harley was Ohio State’s first three-time All-American – in 1916, 1917 and 1919. He spent 1918 in the military during World War I. The Buckeyes lost only one game during his tenure. Largely because of his play and the crowds he attracted, Ohio Stadium was built in 1922 and has been known ever since as “the house that Harley built.”. Given that Harley played at East before World War I, his statistics are lost to time. His impact is not. Harley’s high-school prowess reportedly drew more fans to Tigers games than to Ohio State at the time. East’s field is named for Harley, and Ohio Stadium was conceived largely because of his drawing power, although he graduated before it opened in 1922.. Reynoldsburg graduate Mike Matheny played in MLB for 13 years before managing the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals.. A 1988 graduate of Reynoldsburg, Matheny enjoyed stellar baseball and football careers for the Raiders. He went on to play baseball at Michigan before a 13-year MLB career in which he won four Gold Gloves as a catcher. Matheny later served as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals for seven seasons and the Kansas City Royals for three.. Jack Nicklaus shakes hands with Memorial champion J.T. Poston during the trophy ceremony following the final round June 7 at Muirfield Village Golf Club.. Before he was the Golden Bear, Nicklaus honed his craft as a UA Golden Bear, class of 1957. Nicklaus was a two-time individual state champion (1956, 1957), one-time team champion (1957), four-year letterwinner in basketball and catcher for the baseball team. All of that and his five straight Ohio State Junior championships in the mid-1950s laid the foundation for his 1961 NCAA championship, 117 pro victories, 18 major titles and the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club.. West’s Mike Redd (22) is double teamed by Independence’s Joe Cooper (32) and Kenny Gregory (20) on Dec. 17, 1996.. A 6-5 swingman whose friendly rivalry with Independence star Kenny Gregory highlighted City League basketball in the mid-1990s, Redd scored 1,197 points at West from 1993-97 and averaged 25.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.6 steals and 3.5 assists. He helped Ohio State to the 1999 Final Four and played 12 years in the NBA.. Hamilton Township graduate Gary Trent starred at Ohio University before having a nine-year NBA career.. The 6-8 forward shot a national high-school record of 81.4% as a senior in 1991-92, part of a season that saw him average 32.4 points and 15.7 rebounds to cap a career in which he scored 1,536 points. Trent went on to play at Ohio University and nine seasons in the NBA.. Abby Steiner, right, won seven indoor and nine outdoor state titles for Dublin Coffman.. A 2018 graduate of Coffman, Steiner had a record-breaking sprint career at the prep, collegiate and professional levels. She captured seven indoor and nine outdoor Division I state titles for Coffman and owns state records in the 100 and 200 meters. Steiner, who ran at Kentucky, holds the NCAA record for the 200 and U.S. indoor records for the 200 and 300. She ran professionally for Puma.. Advertisement. Advertisement. Advertisement. The Dispatch high school sports staff can be reached at sports@dispatch.com and at @DispatchPreps on X.. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Vote for central Ohio’s greatest high school athlete of all time