COLUMBUS — Both Stark County and Columbus will now get the chance to prove their respective locations superior for the state football finals, as, starting in 2012, both areas will host the Ohio high school football finals in consecutive years. In a special board meeting last Wednesday, July 21, the Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors voted to award both Stark County and Columbus the opportunity to host the state football finals for two years each beginning with the 2012 season.  Stark County, which has hosted all or portions of the finals for the past 20 years and has two years remaining on the current contract to host the finals, has been awarded the 2012 and 2013 championships, while Columbus will host the finals in 2014 and 2015. As part of the motion to approve the recommendation, the Board also gave itself the opportunity to discuss option years for hosting the finals in the future.

Springfield basketball player Tony Ferrell was selected in the “top 20” game at Rick Bolus’ “Blue Chip” basketball camp in Georgetown, Kentucky last month out of over 350 camp participants. Ferrell averaged 5.5 points per game and 3.4 rebounds per game last season as a forward for Springfield and has continued to progress through the summer. He’s progressed enough so that, while participating in the Blue Chip camp on June 26 and 27 in Georgetown, he topped hundreds of other players to participate in a game that included what camp directors determined to be the 20 best performers in the camp.