NRHS Gym gets makeover

The New Richmond High School gymnasium got a makeover this summer with new lights and a refinished floor complete with new center court and OHSAA logos.

NRHS AD Doug Foote stands by the new center court logo.

NRHS' refinished gyn floor features a new OHSAA logo.

Fall practice underway

Practice for all fall sports started Aug. 1. Here's a view of Friday morning's football practice from the roof of New Richmond Middle School taken by Supt. Adam Bird.

NRHS athletes monitored for concussions

New Richmond High School is turning to technology to closely monitor its athletes for concussions.

“It’s called Baseline Testing for Concussions,” explained NRHS athletic director Doug Foote, who is having athletes in all sports undergo online ImPACT (Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) testing prior to competing during the 2012-13 school year.

“Our trainer Megan Barhorst is running the program,” said Foote. “We are going to test all our athletes now and then we’ll do it every two years. We’ll do all the incoming freshmen and then do juniors after that. They have to come in and do a test on a computer and then if they get hit in the head in any way, form or fashion we will redo their test and see where they are at and we will have a baseline for that test.”

The non-invasive computerized test is set up in a video game format and takes about 15 to 20 minutes. It tracks information such as memory, reaction time, speed and concentration.

Wellington trainer Megan Barhorst explains the ImPACT testing to senior football player Luke Hoskins while seniors (from left) Alex Horn and Clay Loadman complete their 20-minute test that will give the school a baseline for testing for possible concussions in the future.

“However, it is not an IQ test,” said Barhorst, who is assigned to New Richmond High School by Wellington Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine and is in her fourth year at New Richmond.

Concussions have not been a major problem during Barhorst’s time at New Richmond but they remain an area of great concern for the school.

“We had four concussions all of last year,” said Barhorst. “That is not bad at all for us, but what we are trying to avoid are concussions slipping by and us not noticing them.”

“It’s a great program and a lot of schools are doing it,” said Foote. “Supt. (Adam) Bird and I have been talking about it for about a year and we decided to implement the program this year.”

“For first time, all NRHS athletes will get baseline concussion testing before the season starts,” said Bird. “Thanks to Doug Foote for making this happen.”

Six Lady Lions named all-city

New Richmond's 4x400 meter relay team of seniors Sarah Shoemaker and Mikaela Rupp, junior Sarah Glenn and sophmore Olivia Behymer, sophomore high jumper Hannah Hall and sophmore pole vaulter Aly Skaggs have been named to the Cincinnati Enquirer's first team Div. II track all-star team.

The team of Shoemaker, Rupp, Glenn and Behymer won the district and finished sixth in the regional meet, just missing qualifying for the state meet.

Hall was fourth in the district high jump, third in the regional and finished 14th in the state. 

Skaggs finished third in the district pole vault and was eighth in the regional. 

Click here to view the Enquirer track all-stars.

Finan named academic All-American

Former New Richmond Lion Eric Finan (Class of 2007) was named a Capital One First-Team Academic All-American June 21.

Finan finished second in Ohio in Division II cross country and second in the state Dvi. II 3200 meter run for New Richmond High School where he holds the school record in both the 1600 and 3200 meter runs. He was his class valedictorian.


To qualify, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00. Finan holds a 3.785 GPA in the University of Cincinnati’s master of business administration program after earning an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering with a 3.897 GPA. 


Finan also received Cincinnati’s Legion of Excellence Award for the highest GPA on his team. He had been on the dean’s list every academic quarter he attended UC and was a Big East Academic All-Star from 2008-2010.


He received All-America honors in both track and cross country during his UC career.


Read more about Eric Finan

2011-12 NRHS sports wrap up show

New Richmond High School athletic director Doug Foote reviews the 2011-12 athletic season which saw NRHS teams win seven Southern Buckeye Conference American Division titles and record eight coach-of-the-year honors.

Click here to Listen to the 2011-12 sports wrap-up show

Skaggs named all-state in baseball

New Richmond senior Austin Skaggs has been named to the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association’s Division II all-state team as an outfielder.

New Richmond senior Austin Skaggs receives all-state honors after

 leading the Lions in most offensive categories.

Skaggs, who led the Lions in hitting with a .460 average in addition to going 7-2 as a pitcher, was the only Cincinnati area player to make the Div. II all-state team. In addition to his .460 average, Skaggs also led the 21-6 Lions in runs scored (37), hits (40), doubles (13), stolen bases (18), on-base percentage (.536) and tied for the team lead in runs batted in with 28.

"Austin enjoyed a very complete 2012 season,” said New Richmond coach Brian Benzinge. “He was our leader in most offensive categories, and also was our top pitcher.”

When not pitching, Skaggs played center field for the Lions who tied for the Southern Buckeye Conference American Division title. The Lions won their first 16 games of the 2012 season and were ranked No. 1 in the state by the coaches' association at one point in the season.

Austin Skagges steals second against Cincinnati Taft.

“Austin was arguably the best defensive outfielder in the SBAAC,” said Benzinger. “As a senior, Austin led by example on the field and came to play each and every day. He is a big reason for the team's success in 2012. His abilities and leadership will certainly be missed."

Skaggs was 7-2 in 52 innings as a starting pitcher, striking out 36 batters and recording an earned run average of 2.94.

In addition to playing baseball, Skaggs was a two-time state qualifier in wrestling for the Lions.

Skaggs becomes the 9th New Richmond baseball player to make the coaches’ all-state team. Other all-state players were Greg Higgins (1971), Gary Higgins (1977), Chris Hawkins (1982), Brian Benzinger (1985), Jeff Ast (1986), Cory Lytle (1990), Toby Shamblin (1991) and Brad Blankenship (1993).

Ironically, Todd Benzinger (1981), who  is arguably the best baseball player in New Richmond history, did not make the all-state team but was named to an All-America team and went on to play nine years in the Major Leagues and was a member of the 1990 World Champion Cincinnati Reds.

Clermont Northeastern’s Tanner Sanders received honorable mention on the coaches’ Div. II all-state team which is available at http://associationdatabase.com/aws/OHSBCA/asset_manager/get_file/48415?ver=1230.