Walsh Jesuit Baseball junior right-handed pitcher Tyler Skulina has been named a first-team Pre-Season Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball All-American in the January 23rd issue of Collegiate Baseball.

Skulina, a University of Virginia recruit, is 6-foot-6 and 235 pounds. He compiled an 8-0 record last year in helping to lead the Warriors to a national ranking, a 30-3 record and the Division II State Championship.

Hudson senior Brian Winters has made an oral commitment to continue his academic and football careers at Kent State University.

Winters, 6-foot-5 and 321 pounds, was a two-year varsity starter for the Explorers. He was named Hudson’s Offensive MVP after anchoring the Explorers line as a tackle in nine games. He won the team’s "Sledgehammer Hits Award" after making 35 sledgehammer hits (pancake blocks).

Norwayne track and field runner Cody Miller set a University of Akron field House record for high school athletes by by running the 400 meter dash in 50.24 seconds. His time broke a 2005 record set by Trotwood madison runner of Stephen Robinson (50.26).

John Pettigrew, a running back from Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, has orally committed to attend Bowling Green to continue his football and academic careers.
He will sign an NCAA Division I letter of intent with Bowling Green on Feb. 4.
Pettigrew picked the Falcons over the University of Akron, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Ohio and Toledo.
The 5-foot-9, 180-pound Pettigrew rushed for 2,158 yards and scored 23 touchdowns in 2008 on his way to making first-team all-state in Division IV. He also was second-team all-state in 2006 and 2007.
He finished his career with 6,389 yards, the eighth-highest total in Ohio history.

Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels, a Canton McKinley graduate, is wasting little time hiring his new coaching staff and he is sticking to some names that he knows; McDaniels, to be precise.

Josh McDaniels, 32, just hired younger brother Ben, 28, as an offensive assistant. Ben McDaniels was, like Josh, a quarterback at McKinley. Ben went on to play quarterback at Kent State before becoming a graduate assistant for Glen Mason at Minnesota.

The 2009 International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Junior World Championships is beginning to piece itself together rather quickly. Here are a few recent notes and happenings:

WHO IS IN?

Akron Beacon Journal sports writers David Lee Morgan Jr., Michael Beaven and Jonas Fortune discuss area high school sports in a new weekly feature called Prep Talk.

DIES NOTES: The Dies family, Firestone principal Larry Petry and everyone else involved with producing the 22nd annual Bill Dies Memorial Wrestling Tournament should be commended for running such an outstanding tournament this past weekend.

With 43 teams competing and hundreds of wrestlers, tournament officials did an outstanding job of keeping things in order.

Akron Beacon Journal sports writers David Lee Morgan Jr., Michael Beaven and
Jonas Fortune discuss area high school sports in a new weekly feature called Prep Talk.

The Hiram men's basketball team is off to a great start in conference play. The Terriers are now 4-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference and a big reason is the play of local products: Ian Pfouts, Glenn Campbell and Hassan Muhammed.

Pfouts, a senior from Green High school, is second on the team in scoring at 10.8 points a game. He also averages six rebounds a game.

The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission announced its candidates for the 2008 Greater Cleveland Sports Awards Monday.

Ohio State athletes J Jaggers (wrestling), Chris “Beanie" Wells (football) and Alex Boone (football) have been nominated for the Collegiate Athlete of the Year Award.

Now that Cleveland St. Ignatius football coach Chuck Kyle earned his 10th Division I State Title in November he can begin to focus on his side project: coaching the USA Football Junior national Team.

This weekend Kyle will meet his 10-man staff in Nashville, Tenn. For meetings on team roster composition, preliminary player selection, playbook assembly and training camp practice schedule.

Ashland wrestler Jacob Bartley, a Southeast High School graduate, had a long-awaited return to the wrestling mats last weekend.

The 133- pound senior had missed more than a year due to knee surgery. Check out a story here about his return to the mat.

Jackson High School released a list of candidates for their head football and volleyball coach positions. Interviews are being conducted this week and next for both positions. Five administrators will handle the interview process.

The football list includes a lot of viable candidates including two assistants from last year’s staff -- Kacy Carter and Jon Mazur – and former Jackson graduate and Timken head coach Jeff Morris. Check it the list below.