North Ridgeville's Shayna Hersh named administrator of the year as LCAAA banquet

VERMILION – Lorain County's Athletic Administrators gave a big "thank you" to 10 individuals Thursday night at German's Villa at their annual LCAAA awards banquet. Shayna Hersh of North Ridgeville was honored as the LCAAA Administrator of the Year. Hersh, a 2012 graduate of North Ridgeville High School, returned home after a brief stint with Andrews Osborne Academy to eventually become the assistant athletic director for North Ridgeville. She is the granddaughter of rhe late Judie Asp, long-time sportswriter for The Chronicle-Telegram best known for her wrestling and girls sports coverage. Among her many talents, Hersh served as an assistant girls soccer coach, and has been the tournament manager for soccer, basketball, softball and baseball for the past eight years. Along with Amy Esser, the girls basketball coach, Hersh reorganized the student-athlete leadership program at the school. She has served as the LCAAA president and vice president for one year and coordinated the organization's Women's Leadership Conference the past four years. "North Ridgeville athletics as a soccer player growing up and all of my family were big athletes," said Hersh. "Athletics has made a big impact on me and when I had the opportunity when Ridgeville opened the assistant A.D. position, I felt it was my calling. I was so incredibly grateful to come back home and just support all the athletes in North Ridgeville, especially the female athletes." C-T sportswriter Chris Sweeney, who has covered high school athletes in the area since 2011, received the Jim Allen Media Award. Allen, known as Jim Popiel to his many Admiral King students before retiring after a distinguished career, is the long-time radio voice who has highlighted high school and youth sports for many years. The award was established in 2015 to honor local media members who have contributed to the advancement of local athletes. Sweeney grew up in Shaker Heights and was given the opportunity to cover sports by The Chronicle. Among the many regular-season and post-season events Sweeney covered was the state championship run by Avon's football team this past fall. He's covered every sport offered by the area high schools, and he's been instrumental in following up on the careers of local athletes in college. "Obviously I was surprised," said Sweeney. "The subject line in the email just said 'Jim Allen Award' and I thought it was just telling me about the Jim Allen Award. I didn't realize I was the winner of the Jim Allen Award. "It was very special surprise. It's special to be recognized by the people you've been covering for so long. I've gotten to know the community very well, and it's just nice to know that the work is well-received." The Ed Dohanos Award winners were Nick and Deb Molnar, along with Al Ivey. The Molnars are longtime cross country and track officials in the area and both have officiated at a number of district, regional and state meets. Ivey, who started officiating basketball in 1994, is one of the more popular officials for basketball, football and baseball. He's been called to officiate at numerous playoff and tournament levels including state. Ivey, known as "Big Al," enjoys the kids and has a lot of fun doing his job. "My thing is the kids," said Ivey. "I love the kids and that's what I do it for. I don't do it for no playoff, no tournament -- none of that. It's all about the kids. When the kids see me walk on the court or the field or whatever and they have a smile on their face, that's my award." The newly created award was named in Dohanos' honor. Dohanos passed away in 2021 after serving 55 years as a football official, 50 in basketball and 44 in track. He also officiated baseball and volleyball and was well-respected throughout the state. He was chosen to officiate many local and state tournament events in football, basketball and track. Brian Szabo of Vermilion and Jim Hurst of Columbia Station were Citizenship Award winners. Szabo, a 1992 graduate of Vermilion and a Marine Corps veteran, volunteers as a coach and raising funds for local youth football teams and charities. He's one of many credited with the resurgence of the Sailor's football program. Hurst, a retired pastor at the Clearview Church in Columbia Station, asked former Columbia coach Jason Ward, now the athletic director at the school, some 18 years ago about being a volunteer helper with the football program. "Homer," as he is affectionately called by the Columbia community, and his wife, Carol, of 50-plus years, help do the thankless tasks like washing towels for boys and girls basketball teams. Hurst started "The 5th Quarter" in 2010 that gathers safely at his church after every football game for a campfire and pizza party. He also started the Columbia Christian Athletes, a weekly bible study group. Ward said his work is invaluable to the community. Three local citizens were give LCAAA Service Awards. Howard Ksenich, a Southview grad and the head groundskeeper for Lorain Schools for the past 17 years, and Tim Kosco, a graduate of Admiral King, were awarded for their maintaining and other work involving the athletic programs at Lorain. According to Lorain Athletic Director Bryan Koury, they go above and beyond to make sure every athletic event is a memorable one. They also take care of maintaining equipment used for those events, extending the life and saving the schools extra expense. Keystone principal, James Kohler, has had a variety of experiences in his teaching and administrative career. He started with the Oberlin School system, becoming an assistant principal and athletic director at Durling Middle School before moving on to Clearview Schools in similar capacities. His longest tenure has been with the Keystone Schools where he became an assistant coach with both middle school and junior varsity basketball teams. Keystone A.D. Jeff Holzhauer praised Kohler for allowing him to continue coaching basketball and track by assisting him with the athletic events. Brookside Athletic Director Chris Adkins, the president of the LCAAA, served as Master of Ceremonies. Koury, Ward, Holzhauer and Vermilion AD Andy Stillman presented the awards. Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.