Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Four Youngstown City School District seniors who have been playing varsity sports for East can finish their seasons, the Ohio High School Athletic Association announced on Friday.

Last week, the OHSAA ruled that since Chaney again has begun offering high school sports, Chaney’s enrollment would be subtracted from East’s number in regard to competitive balance that determines divisions.

But that ruling meant that students who reside in the Chaney district were no longer eligible to play for East.

However, Chaney does not offer varsity sports this fall.

The four students — three football players and one volleyball player — attended East last year but were reassigned to Chaney when the school decided to reopen Chaney as a high school for 2018-19. They then were reassigned to East prior to the start of school.

The football players are Patrick Allen Jr., Lennie Davenport and Tyler Wagner, and the volleyball player is Miranda McCann.

“Obviously, this is great news,” said Krish Mohip, chief executive officer of the Youngstown City School District. “We’re very happy for these student-athletes.

“I want to thank OHSAA for being willing to hear us out and to work with us to do what’s best for our students,” Mohip said.

In September, the school district submitted information to OHSAA regarding the individual circumstances of the four seniors.

The OHSAA had previously ruled that all of the students, except the four seniors, were eligible to play sports all year at East because the school changes were based on educational programming, specifically, a pilot program aimed at preparing students for careers in new manufacturing.

The athletes went to court and on Sept. 27 in common pleas court, Judge Maureen Sweeney issued a temporary restraining order against the OHSAA decision. A hearing was scheduled for next week.

What prompted the lawsuit was the OHSAA’s decision on Sept. 25 to move the East football team from Division II to Division IV.

The OHSAA has not announced a decision as to whether East’s volleyball team will drop from Division I. Tournament brackets are to be released on Sunday.