Nick Molnar
Nick Molnar has been an OHSAA track and cross country official for 28 years. He is the local rules interpreter and chairperson of the scholarship committee for the Lorain County Track Officials Association. At the Comet Relays, and other large invitational meets in the county, Nick is usually serving as the referee or head field judge. He also helps to coordinate the officials for these meets. Nick has officiated at the District, Regional, and State levels for both track and cross county. He has been the meet manager for the LCCC District Cross Country meet since 2003.
Deb Molnar
Deb Molnar began officiating in 1990. She was a track athlete in high school, so officiating was the next logical step. Deb has had the privilege to officiate with some great people including Bill Buttermore, Ed Dohanos, Paul Thiel, Larry Dixon and many others within the Lorain County Association. She has been the district cross country starter for 15 years. Deb started the state meet in 2016-2017, and she has been the longtime starter at the D1 district track meet at Amherst, as well as starting at the regional and state levels. If there is a major track meet in Lorain County, Deb is probably the starter.
Al Ivey
Al Ivey has been involved in local sports since the 1990’s. He started officiating high school basketball in 1994. Since that time, he has had the privilege of officiating 6 OHSAA Sectionals and 4 Districts, and he has never given out a technical foul to any coach, player, or fan. He started officiating high school baseball in 1997 and umpired his first playoff games in 2002. Since then, he has worked multiple OHSAA Sectional/District games, 19 Regional games, and 6 State games. In 1999, he started officiating high school football. As an umpire, he has worked 5 playoff games, and as a white hat, he has worked 3. Anyone that has been around Al knows that his greatest joy in officiating is interacting with the kids.
CITIZENSHIP AWARD
Brian Szabo
Brian Szabo is a 1992 graduate of Vermilion High School. His focus in high school was art where he won multiple awards, including the Hallmark Award. Brian was also a member of the Vermilion football team. After graduation, Brian joined the Marine Corps and served his country stateside and overseas for five years. He loved his time in uniform and the opportunity to wear it, viewing the choice to join as one of the best decisions he’s ever made. Despite his love for the Corps, he decided to leave the military to attend college for art, but life had other plans, and Brian decided to start a family in his hometown of Vermilion where he was hired at the sewer plant. Outside of work, Brian coached football in the Vermilion youth program and at the Vermillion Middle School. He was part of a group that included Coach Matt Kobal, rec director Chad Kuhns, A.D. Andy Stillman, and fellow coach Adam Garcia, that worked to successfully rebuild a struggling youth football program. Their efforts helped close the gap between the youth and high school programs, providing consistent instruction and resulted in increased participation. In 2018, Brian left his job at the city to start his own business Szabo Apparel company. His goal was, and still is, to use his business as a way to help support school and youth programs as well as veteran and local charities. While in business, he has had the opportunity to work with a number of NFL players and charitable causes including the The Maxton W. Soviak Foundation, the United Way, and the Wounded Warrior Project.
Jim Hurst
Jim Hurst is a retired Pastor from Clearview Church in Columbia Station. He has dedicated his life to serving others. For 18 years he has been a valued volunteer member of the Columbia football coaching staff offering guidance and encouragement to young athletes. For 12 years, he has faithfully washed, transported, and returned towels for the boys and girls basketball teams. He and his wife Carol, married for 50 years, spend every date night supporting Columbia sports. His passion for coaching extends beyond the field as he is committed to mentoring young athletes and helping them make good choices in life. “Homer,” as he is affectionately called be the Columbia community, started “The 5th Quarter” in 2010. This is an event at his former church that students, after every home football game, can gather safely around a campfire and eat pizza. It was well attended from the beginning and still is to this day. He also started Columbia Christian Athletes, a weekly bible study group that gets together every Thursday morning. He has also provided countless numbers of Columbia students with community service opportunities.
JIM ALLEN AWARD
Chris Sweeney
Chris joined the Elyria-Chronicle in August of 2011 on the sports desk and has continued to work as a freelance reporter since 2013. During that time, he’s covered just about every sport, every Lorain County school and some pretty memorable moments Avon’s football state championship; state Final Fours in basketball, softball, soccer, and volleyball; countless wrestling tournaments; and has served as the tennis beat writer since the 2018-19 season. Though the best part about the job is talking to the kid who never gets interviewed, as most times those become the most interesting stories.
SERVICE AWARD
James Kohler
James Kohler’s career is a rich and varied one, showcasing both his dedication to education and his passion for athletics. His journey began at Langston Middle School in Oberlin, where he spent 13 years teaching and coaching middle school basketball and track. After his time at Langston, James transitioned to administrative positions, becoming the Assistant Principal and Athletic Director at Durling Middle School, and later moving on to Clearview High School in similar roles. These positions allowed him to blend his leadership skills with his deep involvement in athletics, which was a consistent theme throughout his career. His longest tenure has been at Keystone Local Schools, where he contributed not just as an educator but also as a coach. James has worked with a developmental middle school basketball team, coached 8th grade basketball, and served as a JV basketball coach. Over the past 13 years, he has served as an administrator at Keystone High School.
Howard Ksenich
Howard started working for Lorain City Schools in 1999 as a custodian at Admiral King High School. He held that position for 3 years before moving over to a position with facilities and grounds. Howard eventually worked his way up to head groundskeeper, which is the position that he has held for the past 17 years. As a graduate of Southview High School where he played multiple sports including football, Howard loved the idea of maintaining the sports fields. He takes pride in the fact that he played on George Daniel Field, as did his father and great uncle. Howard has always been willing to go above and beyond to do whatever it takes to ensure that the kids of Lorain City Schools have a positive experience.
Tim Kosco
Tim is a 1983 graduate of Admiral King High School, and has lived in Lorain his entire life. He has worked in various positions with Lorain City Schools since 2002 with the majority of that time being spent as a member of the stadium grounds crew. Tim takes the utmost pride in maintaining the sports fields, and setting up and tearing down for sporting events. Over the years, he has found creative ways to make the game experience more enjoyable for both the athletes and fans, while ensuring that the facilities are both safe and clean for everyone involved. Tim makes sure to do the necessary preventative maintenance on the equipment to extend the shelf life and save the district money. Tim and his wife Vicki are the proud parents and two sons, Tim and Tyler, both of which are graduates of Lorain City Schools where they lettered in multiple sports.
ATHLETIC ADMINISTRATOR OF THE YEAR
Shayna Hersh
Shayna Hersh was a graduate of North Ridgeville High School in 2012. She went on to complete her Bachelor of Science degree at The Ohio State University in 2016. After graduation, she began her career in athletics as an Athletic Programs Intern at Andrews Osborne Academy. While working in the athletic department she also served as the Assistant Coach for the Varsity Soccer team. During this time, she began her graduate studies at Ohio University in Athletic Administration. In fall of 2017 she accepted a position in her hometown of North Ridgeville as the Assistant Athletic Director. She graduated with her Masters of Athletic Administration degree from Ohio University in May of 2019. Shayna has served as a tournament manager for the Northeast District Athletic Board for soccer, basketball, softball and baseball for the past eight years. Alongside her girls basketball coach, Amy Esser, they re-developed a student athlete leadership program at North Ridgeville High School called Champions for Life. In 2022 they were recognized at the Ohio School Board Association Student Achievement Fair. Shayna also received the NEOIAAA Tim Flannery Horizon Award in 2022. She has served as president of the LCAAA for one year, vice president for one year and has coordinated the LCAAA Women’s Leadership Conference for the past 4 years.
Congratulations LCAAA Award Winners! We sincerely thank you for all you do for our communities!
