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The board reviewed the list of schools selected by the OHSAA’s Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity (SEI) Committee to receive awards for the 2015-16 school year. Cincinnati Saint Ursula Academy was the lone school to receive the Commissioner’s Award, the highest SEI award a school can receive. Four other schools also received the Harold A. Meyer Award, including Columbus Bishop Watterson, Hamilton Ross, Ashville Teays Valley and Dublin John Sells Middle School. The OHSAA will issue a separate press release on the award winners next week.

A report from the OHSAA’s 7^th and 8^th Grade Committee was presented to the board. Included was an update on the upcoming Fourth Annual OHSAA Middle School Cross Country Invitational Oct. 22, along with plans for the Inaugural OHSAA Middle School Track & Field State Meet on May 13, 2017. A separate press release will describe more details on the middle school state track meet.

Since the board’s August meeting, 34 member schools were penalized for committing infractions of OHSAA bylaws or sports regulations. The list of infractions and penalties is always included in the complete meeting minutes, but media members may request the list in advance from Tim Stried, OHSAA Director of Communications, at [email protected].

The board approved the divisional breakdowns in lacrosse for next spring’s first OHSAA lacrosse tournament. In girls lacrosse, Division I will be comprised of schools with 440 or more girls (according to the enrollment numbers posted at OHSAA.org), while Division II will be comprised of schools with 439 or fewer girls. In boys lacrosse, Division I will be comprised of schools with 450 or more boys, while Division II will be comprised of schools with 449 or fewer boys.

The board approved two individuals to fill vacancies on District Athletic Boards for the remainder of the 2016-17 school year. In the Southeast District, Jeff Stricklett, Superintendent of Washington-Nile Local Schools, was approved to serve as the Class AAA Representative. In the Southwest District, Bill Myles Jr., Assistant Superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools, was approved as the Ethnic Minority Representative.

A list of recommendations from the OHSAA’s District Athletic Board Review Committee was tabled until the next board meeting.

Updates from the OHSAA Foundation were discussed, including a recap of the Student Leadership Conference (SLC) held Oct. 4 at the Ohio Union at The Ohio State University. The SLC was attended by 1,500 students, making it once again the largest SLC in the nation.

The board approved the winter sports preseason manuals and postseason tournament regulations. Those documents will be posted soon on the respective sport pages at www.OHSAA.org.

The highlights from the annual meeting of the OHSAA’s Joint Advisory Committee on Sports Medicine in August were presented to the board. The committee will be consulted this winter as regulations are adopted for the new baseball pitch count rule, as mandated by the National Federation.

The boys ice hockey state tournament draw was approved by the board. For the upcoming 2017 state tournament, the winner of the Columbus district will play the winner of the Sylvania district in the first state semifinal game, followed by the Brooklyn district winner playing the Kent district winner. The semifinals are Saturday, March 11 at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., while the championship game will be Sunday, March 12 at 2 p.m. All three games are at Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus.

The board was updated on the status of competitive balance, including the rostering regulations and technology. A reminder that this school year, high schools are submitting roster data in soccer, volleyball, football, basketball, baseball and softball, which will be used when divisional assignments are made for the 2016-17 school year.