| Westerville Central High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 7118 Mount Royal Avenue Westerville, Ohio, (Delaware County), 43082 United States |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Public, Coeducational high school |
| Established | 2003 |
| School district | Westerville City School District |
| Superintendent | Dan Good[1] |
| Principal | Todd Spinner[1] |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 1,600 |
| Color(s) | Silver and Black [1] |
| Athletics conference | Ohio Capital Conference[1] |
| Team name | Warhawks[1] |
| Newspaper | 'The Wire' |
| Yearbook | 'The Talon' |
| Athletic Director | Andrew Ey[1] |
| Stadium | Warhawk Field |
| Website | School website |
Westerville Central High School is a public high school located in Westerville, Ohio northeast of Columbus, Ohio. It is the newest of three high schools in the Westerville City School District, the first classes starting in fall of 2003.
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The late 1990s brought a surge of population growth to northern Westerville, particularly in Genoa Township. In order to keep up, the district announced that it would build two new elementary schools, as well as a third high school. Westerville was the second Greater Columbus school district to have to build a third high school. The district turned to the taxpayers to help foot the bill for the new buildings, with Central costing the district $40 million, but voters turned the district down. Eventually, funds were secured and Central opened its doors in August 2003. Students had the opportunity to select the school mascot and colors. The winning nickname was the Wombats, but the Westerville School Board deemed it unacceptable, and thus selected the second choice, the Warhawks.[2] The colors chosen were Black and Silver.
On March 3, 2008, Central made national headlines after playing host to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Over 2,500 attended the town hall meeting, with many watching his speech from an overflow room.
Construction began on Central in 2002. The district hired Firestone Jaros Mullin, Inc./TMP Architecture to execute the project after declaring its proposal the best of those offered. The school features numerous facilities, including seven athletic fields, a 3000-seat stadium, an 1800-seat gymnasium, and a state-of-the-art 750-seat auditorium/theatre. The school design called for four distinct academic "wings" for focus on individual subjects. Each "academy" is marked by a distinct color; there are red, yellow, blue, and green wings. Central's centerpiece is its common area, traditionally referred to as Central Avenue. It serves as the school's dining area, is the point that connects all wings of the school, and also is the site for many school functions. It is meant to resemble Westerville's historic business district, Uptown Westerville, with a design that includes storefronts, signs, and lampposts. For its design, the school design earned the designation of "2004 Outstanding Design Award" from American School and University magazine.
Central opened its doors to students in the fall of 2003, with only freshmen and sophomores. The underclassmen thus had the opportunity to start new traditions and set the tone for years to come. Central added a third class in the 2004-05 school year, and had its first senior class in the 2005-06 school year. The school currently has approximately 1,600 students. In every year since its opening, the School has earned the designation of "Excellent" by the Ohio Department of Education on its annual report card, the highest possible distinction.
In the spring of 2007, principal Todd Meyer announced that he would be leaving his position at Central to become the principal at Olentangy Orange High School, a new high school in the Olentangy Local School District set to open in 2008. Todd Spinner was chosen to be the new principal after an extensive search. Spinner previously was the assistant principal at Delaware Hayes High School.
In athletics, students had the opportunity to play varsity schedules in their freshman and sophomore years during the initial two years of the school. Most teams struggled, but the school rallied around the Girls Soccer team, coached by Erik Ekis, winner of the 1997 National High School Coach of the Year award. Ekis led his team of 11 freshmen and 3 sophomores to a 15-3-1 record and an appearance in the OHSAA Division II State Semifinals. This was the beginning of a very successful run in girls soccer at Central, where the girls won the Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division and appeared in the Central District Championship in 2005. Seven members of the 2003 squad received scholarships to play soccer at the collegiate level. Central's 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 Girls Relay team also had success at the state level in their inaugural season, with the 4 x 400 team placing third in the state finals and the 4 x 100 team of Jeanetta Francy, Julia Francy, Raisa Garvin, and Vanessa Hardin winning the school's first state title.
The school has crosstown rivalries with Westerville North and Westerville South. The three schools found themselves in the same division in the Ohio Capital Conference starting in 2008. The Warhawks are also rivals with the Big Walnut Eagles in football, with the two teams competing in the "Battle of the Birds" for the "WarEagle Trophy."
The Boys Bowling team finished second at the state tournament in the 2005-06 season, and Jayson Foote finished as individual state runner-up in 2008.
In February 2007, Kicker Ben Buchanan became the first verbal commit of the 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes' football recruiting class, and was selected in September to play in the 2008 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. In addition, he was selected in December 2007 as a first-team USA Today All-USA Team Member.
At the 2007 OHSAA Swimming State Championships, Austin Staab defended his state titles in the 100 Free and 100 Fly, tying the national record in the 100 Fly with a 47.10, matching the time of Nate Dusing of Covington, Kentucky in 1997. For his efforts, Staab was named the Swimming World Magazine High School National Swimmer of the Year. He now swims for Stanford University, where he was named an NCAA All-American in six events and the 2008 Pacific-10 Conference[3] and NCAA[4] champion in the 100 Fly.
The Girls Bowling team finished second at the state tournament in the 2009-10 season, and Mary Wells and Melissa Klodnick finished as individual champion and runner-ups respectively in 2010.
2003 - Girls Soccer
2003 - Girls Soccer
2006 - Boys Bowling
2007 - Boys Soccer
2008 - Boys Bowling
2009 - Girls Bowling
2010 - Boys Soccer
2010 - Girls Bowling
2010 - Boys Bowling
2011 - Baseball
2005 - Boys Soccer
2005 - Girls Soccer
2006 - Girls Swimming and Diving
2006 - Football
2007 - Softball
2008 - Boys Basketball
2009 - Girls Track and Field
2011 - Boys Track and Field
2011 - Girls Volleyball
2011 - Football ^
^ State Playoff Qualifier
All except those noted are Division I State Champions
2004 - Jeanetta Francy, Julia Francy, Raisa Garvin, and Vanessa Hardin (Track and Field - 4X100M Relay)^
2005 - Bryan Blake (Golf)
2006 - Austin Staab (Swimming - 100 Free)
2006 - Austin Staab (Swimming - 100 Fly)
2006 - Brendan Barlow (Wrestling - 285 Wt. Class)
2007 - Austin Staab (Swimming - 100 Free)
2007 - Austin Staab (Swimming - 100 Fly)^^
2007 - Stuart Smith (Track and Field - 100M Dash)
2007 - Stuart Smith (Track and Field- 200M Dash)
2009 - Gibril Kamara, John Howard, Channing Doermann, and Davon Reed (Track and Field - 4X100M Relay)
2010 - Nick Schuttinger (Swimming - 100 Fly)
2010 - Mary Wells (Bowling - Girls)
^ Division III
^^ Former High School National Record
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