On Tuesday, June 16, Princeton High School will fill with the sound of names being called—79 of them, each one a Cincinnati-area athlete who rose above the rest in spring sports. The 2026 Cincinnati High School Sports Awards, presented by Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, is recognizing an extraordinary year of athletic achievement, with 546 finalists and winners spanning 64 different categories across the region's high schools.
This annual celebration matters because it marks the only time the Cincinnati region gathers to honor the breadth of its young athletic talent in one place. Beyond the marquee names in football and basketball season, spring sports often go underrecognized—the flag football players at Badin and Mount Notre Dame, the lacrosse athletes at St. Xavier and Mariemont, the softball and baseball stars grinding through April and May. This ceremony ensures that exceptional performance across all sports gets its moment.
The winner list reads like a map of competitive excellence across southwestern Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana. In boys lacrosse, Rowdy Scheer of St. Xavier earned top honors, while Charlotte Soller of Mariemont took the girls lacrosse award. Baseball crowned two winners: Conner Cuozzo of Moeller and Jack Ryan of St. Xavier. On the softball side, Neely McElhaney of Kings and Kaitlyn Dixon of Highlands represent Ohio and Northern Kentucky respectively. Tennis winners include Greg Bernadsky of Mason, Carson Dwyer and Nihal Narisetty of St. Xavier, and Blake Hussey of Covington Catholic. Track and field's Dom Ellis of St. Xavier led that category's honorees. The flag football awards went to Bella Heile of Badin and Evie Schoolfield of Mount Notre Dame.
What makes this year different is the structure. The ceremony will open its doors at 5 p.m. with a reception where finalists receive individual recognition—a deliberate shift toward personal attention rather than a brief moment onstage. The Enquirer will photograph all finalists and winners together before the main event begins at 7 p.m. Rocky Boiman, a familiar name to Cincinnati sports fans, will serve as a featured speaker. Joe Danneman of Fox19 and Shelby Dermer of The Cincinnati Enquirer will present awards throughout the evening.
The scale of this recognition is remarkable. Nearly 625 athletes are being honored—some as winners taking home the award, others as finalists who represented the very best in their sport. In categories as varied as Ohio baseball (which counted 16 finalists alone) to Northern Kentucky tennis competitions, these young athletes demonstrated excellence that their coaches and peers deemed worthy of regional recognition.
Winners are asked to RSVP to Melanie Laughman at mlaughman@enquirer.com as soon as possible. The event is free and open to the public, though only award winners will be called to the stage. For anyone wondering whether their favorite athlete made the cut, the full lists are available—a testament to the depth of talent across Cincinnati's high school sports landscape heading into summer.