Crawford 12: Honorable mention teams have what it takes to compete

Editor's Note: This is the first of a summer series.

The Crawford 12 kicks off with a quartet of honorable mentions

Each of these teams impressed at times throughout their respective seasons last year and return virtually everyone, which sets them up nicely this fall and winter.

From here, we'll look at 12 returning teams that should be in a position to improve greatly upon last season, compete for league titles, or make deep runs in the postseason. The No. 1 team will be announced alongside the top male and female athletes in the Crawford 100 on Aug. 11 .

So, without further ado, let's get the Crawford 12 underway:

Wynford girls golf

There were a lot of unknowns coming into fall of 2023 for the Royals who had a very young squad featuring one junior, three sophomores and four freshmen. Coach Sean Weisenauer knew the potential was there, but wasn't sure how quickly his girls would progress.

After a seventh-place finish at the Buckeye Central Invite to open the season, Wynford was second at the Crawford County tournament , third at the Lady Flashes Invite hosted by Willard, and runner-up at the Northern 10 tournament with a program-best 393 , which was enough to see the Royals finish the season as league runner-up.

Rising sophomore Caroline Sheldon quickly rose up the lineup finishing out with a 48.18 nine-hole average, best on the team and seventh in the league. Soon-to-be junior Rylee Robinson wasn't far back with a 49.82, and Sheldon's classmate Willa Johnson averaged a 52.73 — all three earned second team Northern 10. Sophomore Maggie Ridge carried a 59.90 average, senior Heather Wappelhorst a 63.50 and junior Emi Schuster 71.40.

Since the N10 began crowning league champions in 2016, Wynford has been on the outside looking in. The Royals were runner-up in 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2023, and third in 2017, 2019 and 2021. A league title has eluded them the last eight years — this group might be able to become just the third program to earn the honors of N10 champs after Buckeye Central won the first three and Colonel Crawford reigned supreme the last five years.

Crestline boys basketball

It was a season of growth in Crestline under new head coach Paul Webb. And despite the Bulldogs' 4-19 final record, the team improved a ton over the course of three months.

This season, they return virtually everyone as well, which had Webb excited the moment last season ended in sectionals at Lucas . In that finale, the Bulldogs gave Lucas everything it could handle as rising senior Carter Giesige led the way with 19 points, soon-to-be sophomore Kody Lawhorn — one of the breakout players of last season — had 12 and Giesige's classmate Derek McCunn had eight. Kieran Barnett, the leading scorer on the season averaging 12.4 points per game, was held scoreless and fouled out, but the sky is the limit for the talented junior whom Webb referred to as "our engine" following the Lucas game.

A full season under coach Webb and quality varsity experience for this bunch is going to pay dividends starting next season. And that experience alone will be the difference in a lot of games be it nonleague or in the Mid-Buckeye Conference. Which, speaking of, could be in reach in the near future if the Bulldogs progress as expected.

Keep an eye on this bunch to improve upon their record and possibly pull off some upsets along the way. Who knows what's possible come March?

Buckeye Central girls basketball

The Buckettes' reign ended last season finishing as sectional runner-up after seven consecutive district championships and two trips to state in that stretch. But even in a "down year" for Buckeye Central standards, the girls still managed to pull off some impressive wins along the way.

Nevaeh Metzger, the lone returner with multiple years of varsity experience, became the leader as a junior and went on to earn All-Ohio honors being named honorable mention in Division IV after averaging 9.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.8 steals while shooting 75.3% from the free throw line. She was a major reason why the Buckettes were able to pull off big wins at Wynford and put a major dent in Colonel Crawford's league title aspirations late in the season. BC played eventual league champs Carey tough in the second meeting losing 44-40, and turned a 41-36 loss to Bucryus the first time to a 50-20 win the second.

Crawford 100: Buckeye Central's bunch look to build on last year's successes

Back for her senior season, Metzger is joined by classmates Grace Collene (8.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 1.2 steals) and Mara McDougal (6.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.7 steals, 34 made 3s) along with rising juniors Aleyse Siefert (6.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.2 steals), Ella Collene (2.2 points), and Macy Deppen (1.8 points).

The Northern 10 should be as competitive — if not more — as it was last season with Carey, Colonel Crawford, Upper Sandusky, Seneca East and Wynford all returning strong cores. Preseason the Buckettes will likely be on the outside looking in when projecting league champs, but they showed last year what they're capable of and nobody in the N10 will be able to overlook them this winter.

Colonel Crawford swimming

It's always a case of reloading, rather than rebuilding, for the Eagles in the pool. And they're led by a talented returning quartet that earned All-Ohio honors after placing eighth at state in the 200-freestyle relay.

Rising senior Ashtyn Rickel is seeking her third consecutive all-state nod having been part of a relay as a sophomore, and she qualified in the 200 IM and 100 free last season. Soon-to-be junior Ava Finnan anchored the All-Ohio relay and qualified herself in the 100 free and 200 free, and classmate Brynn Bruner was second leg of the relay and a qualifier in the 100 back and 500 free. Ava's younger sister, sophomore Riley swam the third leg earning All-Ohio in her first year of high school. All four also qualified in the 400 freestyle relay but missed out on finals by 1.33 seconds.

Senior Landon Sutter also made his return to state having been part of the All-Ohio relay as a sophomore, he qualified as an individual in the 200 IM finishing 26th in preliminaries.

Sophomores Meadow Foust and Evy Grau got district experience as part of the 200 medley relay, along with Grau as an individual in the 200 free and 500 free, plus Foust in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. And for the boys, the 200-medley relay of senior Aiden Shull, juniors Andrew Heinle and Ian Gonzales, and sophomore Parker Keller got to experience Bowling Green as well. Keller made it solo in the 200 IM, Heinle in the 100 back, and Keller in the 100 breaststroke.

Add in all the new faces or young talent ready to take the next step as individuals or filling spots on relays, and Colonel Crawford is poised to make a run at another league title and make a big splash in the postseason again.

zholden@gannett.com

419-617-6018

Twitter/X: @Zachary_Holden

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Crawford 12: Honorable mention teams have what it takes to compete