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EAST PALESTINE ROTARY
EAST PALESTINE -- The 2026 East Palestine Rotary Cross Country Invitational will be held on Saturday at East Palestine City Park.
Schools entered are host East Palestine, Lisbon, East Liverpool Christian, Hannibal River, Liberty, Springfield Local, Niles, Oak Glen (W.Va.), Pymatuning Valley, United Local and Warren JFK and Western Reserve.
Austintown, Boardman Glenwood and Badger will be participating in the middle school races only.
Saturday begins with the open race (5,000 meters) at 8:15 a.m. Cost is $10 per person and register before the race.
The rest of the schedule includes elementary race (2,000 meters) for grades 6 and under open to only schools competing in the high school or middle school races at 9:15 a.m.; middle school girls (3,000 meters) at 10 a.m.; middle school boys (3,000 meters) at 10:30 a.m.; high school girls (5,000 meters) at 11:15 a.m.; high school boys (5,000 meters) at 12:05 p.m.; and the awards presentation at 12:45 p.m.
GARNER TOPS INDIANS
NEWTON FALLS -- Maddie Garner was Southern’s top finisher in a Suburban League cross country meet Tuesday at Newton Falls.
Garner was 23rd in the girls race in 28 minutes, 26 seconds.
Lake’s Paige Schwartz was the girls winner in 22:10, while Lowellville’s Steven Yon won the boys race in 17:41.
REBELS ON A ROLL
COLUMBIANA -- The Crestview boys soccer team is on a roll.
The Rebels beat Garrettsville Garfield, 12-0, Wednesday as Jaden Moore had three goals and one assist and Danny Novak also scored three goals.
Crestview has a four-game winning streak, outscoring its opponents a combined 36-0.
Keagan Zohnd contributed two goals. Arther Gelbecke and Aiden Deem each had one goal and one assist. Mason Hayward and Sawyer Zuch scored goals. Carson Barber had two assists. Jackson Dolan and Wyatt Ervin added assists.
Riley Mercer made three saves
Crestview will play at Heartland Christian on Saturday.
BEAVERS WIN SIXTH
CALCUTTA -- Peyton Dunn scored three goals, Leah Stewart two and Lilly Johnson one as the Beaver Local girls soccer team beat East Liverpool, 6-0, Tuesday.
Alexis Lasure, Faith Brokaw and Jansen Ours each had one assist.
The Beavers (6-1) will host Steubenville on Monday.
DUKES TOP WARRIORS
ALLIANCE -- The Marlington girls tennis team clinched the Eastern Buckeye Conference championship with a 4-0 win over West Branch on Wednesday.
The Dukes improve to 10-1 overall and 4-0 in the EBC. Their lone loss was to Canton McKinley.
West Branch moves to 3-6 and 2-2 in the EBC heading into today’s home match against Salem.
FIRST SINGLES: Izzy Christian (M) def. Cailyn Brink, 6-2, 6-3.
SECOND SINGLES: Ember McCarty (M) def. Sydney Lane, 6-0, 6-3.
THIRD SINGLES: Victory Byder (M) def. Addison Bloor, 6-0, 6-0.
FIRST DOUBLES: Lio Foith-Myla Christian (M) def. Annabelle McGuire-Leah Irey, 6-1, 6-4.
SECOND DOUBLES: Jackie Seaburn-Addy Christian (M) leading Landy Simon-Lauren Sanor, 6-2, 2-1 when match was stopped due to lightning.
WARRIORS PLAY TODAY
MINERVA -- The West Branch at Minerva girls soccer match was postponed Wednesday due to a thunderstorm. The teams will play at 6:30 p.m. today.
FOOTBALL TOPS OHIO
COLUMBUS - With almost 350,000 high school student-athletes during the 2025-26 school year, Ohio ranks as the third-largest state for high school sports participation in the annual National Federation of State High School Associations survey, trailing only Texas and California.
Ohio is now the national leader in the number of high schools that have a team in three sports, including girls wrestling (525), girls bowling (505) and boys bowling (517). The continued growth of girls wrestling and girls flag football in Ohio and across the country helped lead to a national record for total high school student-athletes.
Ohio's 347,994 total student-athletes last school year ranked third behind Texas (911,405) and California (859,022). Following Ohio were Illinois (326,756), Pennsylvania (315,647), New York (312,563), Florida (311,233) and Michigan (295,634).
"This is a tribute to the teams and programs that our member schools have built and the coaches who create those fun and educational opportunities for kids,” OHSAA executive director Doug Ute said. “The tradition of high school sports in Ohio is amazing and so many kids grow up waiting for their turn to play for their school."
Ohio ranks seventh in the country in total population. There are currently 813 member schools of the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
Among boys sports in Ohio, the top sports for participation include football (40,302), track and field (28,964), baseball (20,892), basketball (20,246) and soccer (17,540).
Top sports for Ohio girls participation include competitive spirit/cheerleading (26,635), track and field (23,739), volleyball (19,867), soccer (14,605), softball (13,977) and basketball (12,879).
GUARDIANS FALL
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Dylan Beavers had two hits and three RBIs in an eight-run third inning that carried the Baltimore Orioles past the Cleveland Guardians 9-5 Wednesday night.
Coby Mayo tacked on a sixth-inning homer for the Orioles, who had lost seven of eight before cranking up their offense against Cleveland lefty Foster Griffin (15-5).
Chase DeLauter and Nathaniel Lowe homered for the Guardians, who hold a narrow lead for the third AL wild-card spot and are chasing the first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.
Baltimore trailed 2-0 before sending 14 batters to the plate and getting eight hits in the pivotal third inning.
After the first two batters singled off Griffin, Beavers twice attempted to bunt. Griffin then bounced a pickoff throw to second base)into the outfield, allowing both runners to advance.
Beavers followed with an opposite-field double to left that started Baltimore’s parade to the plate.
A single and a walk loaded the bases, and Griffin hit Christian Encarnacion-Strand with a pitch to force in a run. Jackson Holliday then delivered an RBI single before Rece Hinds hit a sacrifice fly for the first out of the inning.
A single by Jeremiah Jackson made it 6-2, and Leody Taveras chased Griffin with his second hit of the inning -- a run-scoring single. Two batters later, Beavers capped the uprising with an RBI single to center.
Shane Baz (6-15) allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings for the Orioles. The right-hander received only 19 runs of support over his previous 14 starts, but he spent most of this game working with a substantial lead.
WARD JOINS IN
BEREA (AP) -- Denzel Ward is the latest Northeast Ohio native and NFL player to become a minority investor in the Cleveland Guardians.
The Guardians announced Wednesday morning that the Cleveland Browns cornerback has purchased a minority share in the franchise.
Ward bought a small share of David Blitzer’s 35% stake. Blitzer, the Guardians vice chairman, can become the controlling owner after the 2027 season or he can wait to exercise that option later. The Dolan family currently owns the majority stake.
“They (Blitzer’s group) worked with me throughout the entire process. I’m grateful that they brought me on and gave me a great opportunity,” said Ward, who starred at Nordonia High School. “I’m a Cleveland kid and love Cleveland to death and just had the opportunity to continue to be a part of the Cleveland community in different ways.”
Ward joins Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce as NFL players who have a piece of the Guardians. Kelce, a Cleveland Heights native, was announced in late May. He was slated to throw out the first pitch before the Guardians faced the Detroit Tigers on June 14, but the game was postponed due to rain.
The Guardians announced they will honor Ward during Tuesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox.
“Denzel Ward is a hometown hero on the field and off it,” Paul Dolan and Blitzer said in a joint statement. “His excellence, character and commitment to this community make him a perfect fit for our organization. We are proud to welcome him as a partner in the Guardians future.”
BILLS HONOR NEIGHBORS
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- The Buffalo Bills are honoring their fans to the north by having the Canadian national anthem performed at their home opener next week, and amid rising cross-border tensions with the United States.
The team on Wednesday announced that the Toronto-based musical act Barenaked Ladies will perform “O Canada” before the Bills’ prime-time game against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 17. They’ll be followed by Hawaiian-born actress and singer Auli’i Cravalho performing the “Star-Spangled Banner.”
The game will be the first regular-season outing played at the Bills’ new $2.1 billion Highmark Stadium.
The NHL’s Buffalo Sabres have had both the Canadian and American anthems performed before each game no matter the opponent in a tradition that began with their inception in 1970. The Bills and Sabres are now both owned by Terry Pegula.
TAR HEELS SLAPPED
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina won’t host recruits for Saturday’s home debut against East Tennessee State after self-reporting a recruiting violation, the latest bump for NFL coaching great Bill Belichick’s program.
In a statement, UNC spokesman Kevin Best said the Tar Heels aren’t allowed to host unofficial visits because of the violation. While hosting recruits on official visits was permitted, Best said the program decided “to concentrate our official visits on the remaining five home games.”
“The situation has been properly resolved through the NCAA process, and we have worked with the NCAA and University compliance on appropriate and corrective action,” he said.
The Tar Heels went 4-8 last year in Belichick’s first college season, marked by shaky play on the field and unwanted headlines off it, such as an assistant coach being briefly suspended for violating NCAA rules. Troubles have reached into 2026, including general manger Michael Lombardi resigning last week amid a school investigation into conduct within the program.