Schondelmyer twice took Arcanum to the playoffs and parlayed four consecutive eight-win seasons into succeeding Al Hetrick at Versailles. A Northmont grad, Schondelmyer also was the head coach at Twin Valley South and was an assistant at Alter and the University of Dayton.
He oversaw a start-up independent program at Tri-Village, which fielded its first varsity team last fall. Tri-Village will join the Cross County Conference, which includes TVS and Arcanum, for football this fall.
“As a family, we always thought if the opportunity ever presented itself to come back to Arcanum, we felt that was a good place to call home,” he said. “It was just a timing situation. Nobody has a crystal ball on anything as far as that happening.”
Schondelmyer’s brother-in-law Brian Sprada is the Arcanum athletic director, a position Schondelmyer also had there. Another factor was most coaches were former players or assistants during Schondelmyer’s initial run with the Trojans.
“It’s obviously difficult for us,” Tri-Village AD and girls basketball coach Brad Gray said. “We didn’t want to lose Jason and we sought him out as the guy to lead our program. We understand it. It puts us in a rough spot but hopefully we can find a guy who wants to be here and build a program for us.”
• Covington’s Tyler Cates (North) and Butch Snider of Oakwood (South) have been named the head coaches for the Miami Valley Football Coaches Association North vs. South All-Star Game. The contest will be held at 7 p.m. June 9 at Centerville. Last year the North won, 31-28.
• The Ohio High School Football Coaches Association North-South games have been relocated from Dayton’s Welcome Stadium to Massillon’s Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. The games will be played on April 29. Carlisle’s Mike Brown is the South Divisions IV-VII head coach.
• North Carolina High Point sophomore Emma Bockrath (Alter) is the Big South women’s basketball player of the year. A 5-10 sophomore guard, she averaged 12.5 points and led the Panthers (15-15) in rebounding (5.9).
Bockrath’s cousin, Dayton redshirt senior and Beavercreek resident Kelley Austria (Carroll), was named the Atlantic 10 defensive player of the year. Those top conference honors aren’t the only things they have in common: both have overcome two bilateral ACL surgeries, according to Dave Bockrath, Emma’s father.
• Dayton Daily News contributing writer and bowling columnist Debbie Juniewicz and Troy Daily News Group Sports Editor David Fong were honored by the Southwest District during last Saturday’s D-I boys basketball district finals at UD Arena. Both were media honorees for the Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity Program that was initiated by the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
They were cited for their long-term efforts in championing high school sports. Joining them were numerous Friend of Athletes Recipients, most of whom were veteran community volunteers who were honored for their many services, some spanning more than 50 years.
• An extensive Cross County Conference website is back online: cccsports.net. Anyone who has a passion for high school sports knows the value of a detailed and updated conference site. The original CCC site ceased prior to this school year.
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