When Ritenour hired Drew Lohnes as the new athletic director in the beginning of the school year, he was not a new face to many of the Ritenour students.

Lohnes was a Physical Education and Health teacher at Wyland Elementary for 13 years, and had coached at Ritenour since 2002.

“I have known most of the kids at the high school since they were young, and it is an honor to still be with them,” Lohnes said.

Rather than just focus on boys and girls soccer like he had in the past, Lohnes watches over all of the sports now that he has a new position.

“The only thing I would honestly change is more hours. There’s a lot more work and not enough time,” Lohnes said.

Varsity Girl’s Basketball coach Joe Scheidler has been impressed with the leadership Lohnes has brought to the position.

“He’s always been there to help people out and he’s been a great resource as far as other coaches go,” Scheidler said.

Lohnes has mixed emotions about leaving coaching behind. With his new job he may encounter many new challenges, but he says he is ready for all that come his way.

“I enjoyed my job as a coach, but this is just a new step, and it is a great experience. Being a soccer coach, you just observe one thing and one thing only, but now that I am here, I see everything. It is just great altogether. It is more work, but it is all worth it in the end,” Lohnes said.

Lohnes is not the only person with mixed emotions about leaving his coaching duties behind. Junior Alexis Ferren has played varsity soccer since her freshman year, so Lohnes is the only coach she has ever known. She appreciated all the work that he did with her and her teammates.

“Whenever we did not understand something that was going on, he would help us comprehend,” Ferren said.

Lohnes says the biggest challenge of his job is being able to attend all of the different events. As a sports fanatic he enjoys every sport and shows no favoritism.

“I really do not have a favorite sport, I wish I could attend them all. But I would have to say softball and soccer since I used to coach them. The football games are pretty good as well because it is nice to see everybody come together and have a good time. The crowds are big and it is always good coming out with a win,” Lohnes said.

One thing that adds to the job at Ritenour is being able to enjoy the success of multiple Ritenour athletes in his first year. Lohnes believes in the athletes at Ritenour.

“Well as far as athletes go, Devin Alexander has been doing really good in football. He will be playing at Toledo. ‘Wale’ (Adewale Adeoye) should be a Division I player pretty soon as well. We also have Jenelle Williams for softball,” Lohnes said.

Lohnes has embraced his new role, and even though some players might still feel the sting of his departure from their sport, Ferren notes that there is a silver lining to the move.
“He was a great coach, it is sad that he is not there to coach me anymore, but I see him every day, so it is alright,” Ferren said.