The Dispatch revealed its picks for the best athletes, coaches and teams of 2025-26 at the Central Ohio High School Sports Awards on June 22 at Upper Arlington High School.
Readers can make their selections throughout the summer, and that continues this week with a vote for boys Coach of the Year.
Voting is open until 4 p.m. July 17. Please do not email your votes; they will not count.
Here are the candidates:
Ryan Borland, Big Walnut track and field: Borland’s sixth season with the Golden Eagles culminated in the program’s first state championship. Wins from Ohio State football commit Jamier Brown in the 100- and 200-meters, Chase Bergsten in the 110 hurdles and the 400 relay provided almost all of the team’s 41 points, good for a first-place tie with New Philadelphia.
Noah Creagh, Whetstone soccer: Creagh has led a resurgence at his alma mater, guiding the Braves to their first district championship last fall. Creagh is 49-24-9 in five seasons and was Division II district and state Coach of the Year in the fall after the Braves became only the second City League team to reach the regional tournament.
Kyle Goodrich, St. Charles swimming and diving: Goodrich led the Cardinals to a Division I team championship repeat, overseeing four first-place individual or relay swims at state. Goodrich has coached five full seasons in his second stint at his alma mater, also having led the program from 2002-09.
Brian Kennedy, Watterson football: Kennedy has led his alma mater to unprecedented heights, namely a 30-game winning streak and consecutive Division III state championships. The 1992 graduate played collegiately at Southern Methodist and has coached in the Eagles program for 23 seasons, going 79-30 since taking the top job in 2017.
Brett Norris, Hilliard Bradley basketball: The 12th-year coach led the Jaguars (25-3) to their first Division I state tournament and a runner-up finish. Ten wins shy of 500 wins for his career, Norris also coached Delphos St. John’s to the 2002 Division IV state championship.
Mike Sandman, New Albany baseball: Sandman’s fourth and final season with the Eagles culminated in the Division II state championship, the program’s first since winning Division I in 2021. Sandman went 80-38 at New Albany, including 26-7 this year, on the heels of stints at Johnstown and Utica. Sandman resigned in mid-June to become dean of students at Utica Middle School.
Wes Schroeder, Olentangy Orange football: Schroeder’s second season at Orange culminated in the program’s first state championship. The Pioneers went 15-0, defeating Cincinnati St. Xavier 28-14 in the Division I final. Schroeder is 24-3 at Orange with a 76-18 career record including earlier stints at Harrod Allen East and Granville.
Brad Sparling, Dublin Jerome golf: Like Schroeder, Sparling led the Celtics to the Division I title in just his second season. Led by individual state medalist Brady Barnum, Jerome went undefeated in the OCC-Cardinal (20-0), won sectional and district and edged St. Charles by two shots at state.
The Dispatch staff reserves the right to remove athletes from the ballot where voting irregularities have occurred.
Please do not email your votes; they will not count.
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: Choose central Ohio’s boys high school Coach of the Year for 2025-26
