Times-Reporter Asks Readers to Vote for High School Athletes Feb. 23-28

The Times-Reporter is asking readers across its coverage area to vote in two online polls to name the Athletes of the Week for performances from Feb. 23–28, a push fueled by OHSAA postseason play as Strasburg, West Holmes and Tusky Valley girls advanced toward Sweet 16 regional action and area wrestlers competed in sectional meets. The paper said the polls run until 5 p.m. Friday and that winners will be announced on The Times-Reporter website.

The paper published its weekly call for votes on March 2 at 1:49 p.m. ET, with Kevin Sutton identified as the author of the piece. The article includes the line, "OHSAA postseason action heated up with boys basketball games in full swing and the Strasburg, West Holmes and Tusky Valley girls each punching their ticket to Sweet 16 regional action along with area wrestlers hitting the mats in sectional action." The Times-Reporter also notes the online poll covers outstanding high-school performances across the paper’s coverage area — including schools that draw from o

Readers are asked to "Take time to cast your vote for your choice during the Times-Reporter Athletes of the Week for Feb. 23-28." The Times-Reporter instructs that "High school sports fans can vote in two polls this week to pick their top performance from the week before. The polls run until 5 p.m. Friday." Winners of those polls will be posted on The Times-Reporter website after voting closes.

Those who want to nominate athletes for future Athlete of the Week consideration can e-mail sports@timesreporter.com by noon Sunday, following the paper's direction to "include the athlete's name, school and sport and a little about their accomplishment that week." Kevin Sutton's contact information is provided for follow-up: KSutton1@gannett.com, X @KSuttonDJSports and Instagram kevinsutton_dailyjeffsports.

For context on recent honorees, the Times-Reporter published a winter roll of past Athletes of the Week, listing winners by week. Dec. 1-Dec. 6: Myles Wolf, Claymont boys basketball; Aubrie Wells, New Philadelphia girls basketball. Dec. 8-Dec. 13: Reid Wells, New Philadelphia boys basketball; Sofia Secrest, Strasburg girls basketball. Dec. 15-Dec. 20: Grady Barkley, Malvern boys basketball; Ella Debo, Malvern girls basketball. Jan. 5-Jan. 10: Javyn Lafferty, Newcomerstown boys basketball; Laynie Matchett, Newcomerstown girls basketball. Jan. 12-Jan. 17: Jayven Johnson, Carrollton boys basketball; Sofia Secrest, Strasburg girls basketball. Jan. 19-Jan. 24: Cale Dinger, Indian Valley bowling; Ava Edwards, Claymont girls basketball. Jan. 26-Jan. 31: Dylan Sours, West Holmes wrestling; Abby Johnson, Claymont girls basketball. Feb. 2-Feb. 7: Gage Moore, Strasburg boys basketball; Bayli McConnell, Indian Valley girls basketball. Feb. 9-Feb. 14: R.J. Higgenbotham, Conotton Valley boys basketball; Whitney Smith, Malvern girls basketball.

Local and regional outlets run similar polls on differing schedules: the Beaver County Times posts two new polls weekly and keeps them live until noon Friday, TimesRecordNews left a poll up until approximately noon Sunday in one example, and the Jacksonville Times-Union runs voting from Monday morning to 10 a.m. Thursday with vote limits and monitoring. The Times-Union statement warns, "We reserve the right to disqualify a candidate or declare a vote 'no contest' if tampering such as bots or offering to pay for voting is evident. Please respect the integrity of the vote the way these athletes respect the integrity of the game."

Media labels in the supplied materials included repeated image tags such as "Combat image", "Combat", "Soccer image", "Soccer", "Racing image", "Racing", "Fantasy image", "Watch image" and "Network image". The Times-Reporter and partner sites also prompt users to "Download app from appStore" and "Download app from googlePlay" to follow coverage.

With OHSAA postseason tournaments continuing to shape season-defining performances in Tuscarawas County and neighboring communities, the Times-Reporter vote will put local athletes such as those from Strasburg, West Holmes, Tusky Valley and the county's wrestling programs before readers as postseason momentum builds.