Westerville athletes headline Central Ohio sports awards
Westerville South earned two of the evening’s leading honors at the 2025–26 Central Ohio High School Sports Awards, as volleyball standout RaShaun Benham and longtime basketball coach Ed Calo were recognized during the June 22 ceremony at Upper Arlington High School.
Benham was named Boys Volleyball Athlete of the Year, capping an exceptional senior season for the Wildcats. He recorded 391 kills, the second-highest total in Ohio and the most among Division I players, while also contributing 192 digs, 48 service aces, and 47 blocks. Earlier in the season, the American Volleyball Coaches Association and MaxPreps selected him as a Midwest Boys High School Player of the Week.
His Athlete of the Year selection placed him at the top of a field of leading boys volleyball players from across Central Ohio and added a major regional honor to his final high school season.
Former Westerville South boys basketball coach Ed Calo received the event’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The honor, announced before the ceremony and formally presented June 22, recognized a 38-season coaching career closely connected to Westerville South and generations of its student-athletes. A photograph from the ceremony confirms Calo received the award at Upper Arlington High School.
Together, the awards highlighted two different forms of athletic excellence within the Westerville South community: Benham’s accomplishments during a standout senior season and Calo’s sustained influence over nearly four decades.
Several other athletes from Westerville schools had been nominated for spring awards. Westerville North was represented by girls’ flag football players Kacee Bohan and Gabby Connor. Westerville Central nominees included Mackenzie Coffman and Audrey Reed in girls flag football, Hannah Pullins in softball, Robert Young in boys track and field, and Symone Smith in girls track and field.
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