Blue Aces Athletics

Winter Sports are in full swing and we want to remind you to make sure your Final Forms are up to date so there is no delay in participation. Please plan to complete your mandatory OHSAA Pre Season parent meeting. This is going to done virtually. See your coach for more information.

Scheduling requirements & conflicts: Please review the Handbook (pg 20 & 21) for policies on scheduling around holidays and breaks as well as how scheduling conflicts are managed amongst student activities

A couple of out student athletes are working on a 20 time project for their SDL English class. They are focusing on increasing student attendance at athletic events. They held a powder puff game a few weeks ago to raise money for incentives and out Granville Athletic Boosters have graciously offered to offset some of the ticket costs. Please read below for more information.

Blue time is a program aiming to promote more student attendance at Granville athletic events on school grounds. Starting in the winter 24/25 season each team will select a game/match/meet that they want increased attendance at. That event will be a “Blue Time Game” where students will receive free admission and a chance to win gift cards if they wear their Blue Time shirt. The more "Blue Time games" you attend, the better the chance of winning the big end of year “Blue Time Prize.” To receive free attendance and enter the gift card raffle at the selected events you must wear your Blue time shirt or purchase a shirt at the door. Event dates will be posted on Instagram so be sure to follow. Let’s support fellow student athletes!!

Girls Cross Country -Championship. At the Regional Championship, the team earned a 13/20 among the best Division 1 Central Ohio teams.

All-LCL Honors:

First Team: Sophia Poling (12), Elsa Tonnessen (9), Blake Witter (10), Lily Kronk (11)

Second Team: Cali Aquilina (9), Ava Meister (10), Margaret McDonald (10)

All-District Honors:

Sophia Poling (12)

Senior Sophia Poling was a consistent number one runner for us the entire year and earned the Most Valuable Runner award. Sophia earned All-LCL honors, and Division 1 All-District honors. Margaret McDonald earned Most Improved Athlete for her tremendous improvement the last year. Margaret dropped almost 2 minutes from last season, and finished 17th place in the Licking County League Varsity race and scored several times for our varsity team this year. Megan Cummiskey earned the Outstanding Sportsmanship due to her upbeat personality, positive attitude, and encouragement throughout the season. She is a dependable teammate, leader by example, and a wonderful individual.

2025 brings lots of potential, and we look forward to making another year of improvement & success!

Boys Cross Country - The Boys Cross Country Team had a successful season in 2024, competing as one of the smallest schools in Division 1. They finished 2nd to Watkins at the LCL meet and were 1 spot away from qualifying for Regionals in the postseason. Senior Cohen Stump and sophomore Ben Rose qualified individually for Regionals, where they represented Granville very well. Cohen Stump set a new boys record with a time of 15:37, breaking Joe Pappas’s previous mark of 15:41 set in 2015.

Field Hockey - The 2024/2025 field hockey season was lead by a large group of seniors who helped foster a great team atmosphere. Our regular season ended 5-9-1, with us being 4-5 in our conference. While on paper it looks like a tough season, our small but mighty team gave it their all each and every day. Our season came to an end during the tournament to a loss against Lancaster making our overall record 5-10-1.

Girls Soccer - The 2024 was the first season for new head coach Thai Trinh. The season concluded with an impressive 16-2-2 record and an appearance in the regional semifinals in the OSHAA Division III tournament. The Granville Blue Aces were named outright LCL champions following a 9-0 conference schedule which ended with a 6-0 win over conference rivals Watkins Memorial. The Blue Aces were crowned the central district champions, cementing their place in the regional semifinal game, with their overtime win against Bloom Carroll. Graduating seniors Anna Nolan, Anna Walker, Avery Ogg, Hope Mahl and Malana Sturgeon contributed to a season where the Blue Aces scored opponents 107-18.

Boys Soccer - The Granville Blue Aces Boys Soccer team had a good 2024 season. The team finished with an 12-3-3 record, concluding their season with a 1-0 loss against Bishop Watterson in the Central District Semi-Final. The Blue Aces also went undefeated in league play, scoring 40 goals and giving up only 2 goals. Granville won the Licking County League title. It was the program's 18th league title and eighth straight.

Junior Charlie Wright led the team with 23 goals on the year. He also tallied eight assists. Behind Wright was junior Grady Johnson where he netted nine goals while also contributing nine assists. Senior Grady Kirian scored six goals and recorded five assists. Senior Brady McKinney contributed off the bench. Junior Griffin Cousino was between the pipes and recorded 31 saves. Other non-senior contributing members to the team were juniors- Nolan Schneider, Grey Smith, Grant Priestnal (captain), Nate Ebner (captain), Will Ebner, Ben Mullett, Jack Hann, and Korbin Landrum, sophomores- Eric Lancaster, Caden Moore, Jorel Tabilon, and Liam Duffey, and freshmen- Sam McKenney, Carter Speakmon, and Chris Langford.

The Blue Aces head into 2024 looking to build on last season's results with a large incoming senior class.

Girls Golf - The 2024 Girls’ Varsity Golf Team finished the season in first place with a record of 27-0 in the LCL Girls Golf League. Lydia Wigal (Junior) received the MVP award and Carmella Aulet (Sophmore) was voted the MIP award. Ella Clarke (Sophmore), Hannah Huggins (Senior), Olivia Jones (Senior), Avery Staten (Junior) & Lydia Wigal (Junior) were 1st team All LCL. Second team All LCL member was Carmella Aulet (Sophmore). The Sportsmanship award went to Hannah Huggins (Senior).

The upcoming 2025 team returns: Senior’s – Ceci Dodd, Avery Staten & Lydia Wigal. Junior’s – Carmella Aulet, Ella Clarke, Isabella Dewey, Kaitlyn Hargis, Molly Montgomery & Neko O’Dell. Sophmore’s – Estelle Ames, Annika DeJong, Jocelyn Julian, Aubrey Lewis & Ella Schall.

The 2024 JV Girls’ Golf Team finished the season with a record of 5-2. Estelle Ames (Freshman) won the Most Improved award & Neko O’Dell (Sophmore) won the JV Sportsmanship award.

Boys Golf - The 2024 Blue Aces boys’ varsity golf team finished the season with a record of 218 victories and 125 defeats. The 218 victories represent the most victories by GHS boys’ team since at least 2011, if not all time. The team won the 2024 LCL championship by winning 3 of the 4 league tournaments. Overall, this team won 5 tournaments, finished in the top 10 in 12 tournaments, placed in the top 5 in 8 events.

Highlights included winning the 19-team Pickerington Central Invitational at Turnberry GC, winning the 20-team Circle K Invitational at EagleSticks GC, finishing as runner-up in the 21 team Buzz Scramble at Vernon View GC, and winning 3 of the 4 LCL tournaments, which led to the 2024 LCL Team title.

Freshman Will Heckman, junior Chase Holtzapple, and senior Alex Organ all earned 1st Team LCL honors. Senior Brogan Burgett earned 2nd team LCL and senior Sam Pfau earned 3rd team LCL. Sam was LCL medalist in 20 of the 4 LCL tournaments. Junior Chase Holtzapple carded a 1 over par 73 at the sectional tournament (Turnberry GC) to qualify for the DI Central District tournament at Apple Valley GC. Chase and Sam both earned honorable Mention for DI in the Central District. Seniors Alex Organ, Brogan Burgett, and Sam Pfau all earned Academic All-Ohio honors.

Football & Cheer - This season started back in the spring off-season workouts with the team competitions. These competition teams lead to improved weight room attendance and commitment to the process of getting 1% better daily. The summer started off with the Battle on the Turf in which 4 teams that were selected by the senior members of those teams competed in a variety of activities. Team A won the Battle on the Turf and eventually won the overall team competition.

The Freshman football season was a success, not because of their 7-0-1 record but because of the growth they made throughout the season. Players saw improved numbers in the weight room and on the track by the end of the season. Players that gave consistent effort and had the proper attitude really made their freshman year count. They laid the proper foundation to have a successful career at Granville High School.

The Junior varsity team encountered some struggles the first four weeks of the season, but that adversity led to a successful winning season. The goal of any JV program is to prepare those players to contribute on Friday nights. We had several players from the JV team play on special teams and move into starting roles by the end of the season at the varsity level. The Junior Varsity team ended up with a record of 7-2.

The varsity team had many statement wins over opponents this season. As in previous years, the season had some key injuries throughout the season. The team always had the next man up mentality. As the season progressed, it was vital to keep our players fresh for each game late in the season. Coach Leff did an excellent job with our new philosophy of sprint-based football. We emphasized rest and recovery over more running during our practice days. The varsity team lost a close LCL game versing Licking Valley but bounced back in the last two regular season games. At the end, we tied for 5th in our region with a 9-1 record and a home playoff game. We had a disappointing loss to Dover in the playoffs which ended our season.

Tennis - The Granville girls' varsity and JV tennis teams had a very successful fall season.

They began the season by winning the Licking County pre-season tennis tournament.

The girls tied the season win record and finished the season with a 16-2 won/loss record.

All seven varsity players advanced to at least the second round of the 2024 division 1 Sectional tournament.

The team was very unselfish and diverse by playing doubles and singles during the season.

Volleyball - While the 2024 season did not have as many victories as we had hoped, it was a testament to the team's resiliency. We played many, many close games and our record is deceiving of the talent of this team. The ability is there, and with some commitment to improvement and program development we have high expectations for 2025!

The Granville Athletics Mental Performance Initiative (GAMPI) had a busy month! GHS Coaches played the Game of TRI-ing in the Coach Beyond Fostering a Positive Team Environment training. In HeadspACE Huddles, student-athletes learned about balancing and relieving stress during busy seasons. Student-athlete leaders came together as GAMPIons at the high school and the middle school to play Mental Skills Jeopardy learn how self-talk, breathing techniques, and attention/focus can improve their athletic performance. GAMPI programming will continue after winter break with HeadspACE and Huddles sessions for student-athletes, sessions for parents, and coach training. Please encourage your student-athletes to participate in these trainings. Student-athletes should listen to the announcements and check SportsYou for information about future Huddle sessions.

As athletes we need to have the right amount of macronutrients (macros) to support our performance, growth and overall well being. Macros are protein, carbs and fats.

A great place to start is by getting our daily protein! As athletes we should aim to get .8-1g per pound of bodyweight, and when we have that number, take it and spread the intake across your meals for that day!

Example:

Athlete Bodyweight:205lbs

.8g Protein Intake: 205lbs x .8g = 164g

1.0g Protein Intake: 205lbs x 1.0g = 205g

3 meals: 54.6 - 68.3g of Protein/Meal

4 meals: 41 - 52.25g of Protein/Meal

5 meals: 32.8 - 41g of Protein/Meal

If you can only manage three main meals a day an easy way to get those values lower at each meal is by having 1-3 snacks with protein throughout your day as well. Remember food is fuel! To train and play at a high level you must fuel accordingly!

• Girls Basketball Holiday Hoopla - Tuesday Dec 17
• Boys Basketball Alumni Night - Saturday Dec 21
• Swimming Senior Night at Denison - Friday Jan 3 🏊
• Boys Basketball Youth Night - Wednesday Jan 8
• Girls Basketball GRD Night & Box out Hunger - Friday Jan 10
• Wrestling Senior & Youth Night - Friday Jan 10🤼
• Officials & Coaches Appreciation week - Jan 12 -18
• Girls Basketball Youth Night - Saturday Jan 18
• Boys Basketball Military Appreciation Night - Friday Jan 24
• Girls Basketball Senior Night - Saturday Feb 1🏀
• Boys Basketball & Cheer Senior night - Friday Feb 14🏀
• Spring Pictures - Saturday March 8📷

• All things athletics: Check out the website
• Tickets to events: Click here
  
• Live Stream: Click here
• Schedules: Check the weekly one on the website or DragonFly
• Scores from the night before: Click here (not all scores are reported)
• Forms that need filled out: Click here
• Athletic Handbook: Click here (Important information for all athletes and families)

Winter sports updates, info about spring sports and our Blue Aces in action

We hope every Blue Ace and their family has a great Holiday!