Board of Directors

Stephanie Evans, director of athletics and student services at Stewart Federal Hocking High School, has been elected vice president of the Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors for the 2025-26 school year. Evans is entering her second year of a three-year term on the OHSAA board and is serving as the Female Representative from the Southeast District.

 

Evans has served on the Southeast District Athletic Board (SEDAB) since 2014. She began as the interim Class A Representative position for one year and was then elected as the female representative the following year and has remained since. She served as the SEDAB president for the 2019-2020 school year and is the sport liaison for softball.

 

Evans is a 1999 graduate of Eastern High School in Reedsville, Ohio, where she was valedictorian while participating in volleyball, basketball and softball. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Education (integrated language arts) in the fall of 2003 from Ohio University and later obtained her master’s degree in education administration from Ohio University, completing licensure programs for both principal and superintendent.

 

Evans spent 12 years in a variety of roles at Belpre City Schools. She taught middle school language arts for five years before becoming the assistant principal for the next seven years. Evans coached Belpre's varsity volleyball team for four years and varsity softball team for 12 years (two as assistant, 10 as head coach) and spent her last eight years at the district as Belpre's athletic administrator. Evans then took a position in the Federal Hocking Local School District, where she resides and is in her second year as the district’s director of athletics and student services.

As an education-focused athletic administrator, John is an executive board member of the Northeast Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NEOIAAA) and was elected to the OHSAA’s Northeast District Athletic Board (NEDAB). He has dedicated over 15 years to athletic leadership, serving as the director of athletics at Fairview Park City Schools and Oberlin City Schools before assuming his current role at Cleveland Benedictine High School.

 

In recognition of his contributions, John has received numerous awards from the Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (OIAAA) and the NEOIAAA, including the prestigious Citation Award, the Bruce Brown Award of Excellence and the NEOIAAA Athletic Administrator of the Year in 2025. He will be awarded the Athletic Administrator of the Year Award in November 2025 by the OIAAA.

 

John’s journey in sports began as a professional baseball player, spending nine years with the Cleveland Indians, New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates. After his playing career, he transitioned into the front office of the Cleveland Indians, where he served as manager of community relations for seven years. In this role, he worked closely with both the Cleveland community and the team’s players, fostering meaningful connections and impactful initiatives.

 

A passionate advocate for youth baseball, John has played a key role in growing the sport in Cleveland. He has organized major events such as the Hardball Classic at Progressive Field and the MLB Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities (RBI) East Regional Tournament. Additionally, he contributed to the 2019 MLB All-Star Game in Cleveland, coordinating the Mastercard Starting Lineups' pregame introductions.

 

Currently, John serves as president of the Cleveland Baseball Federation, a role he has held since October 2007. Founded as one of Cleveland’s oldest baseball organizations, the Federation is committed to its mission: “Providing kids the opportunity to play the game with no limits.”

 

John lives in North Ridgeville with his wife, Amy, and their children, Mary Grace, Jake (Anna), and Ellie, who is an eighth grader at Lakewood Catholic Academy.

 

Ray Hibbs is a 1988 graduate of Lakeland High School in Freeport. He received his bachelor’s degree in education from West Liberty University in 1994, a master’s degree in education from Muskingum University in 2010 and his educational administration certificate from Salem University in 2019.

 

Ray began his career in education as an intervention teacher at Lakeland High School. He then taught social studies for three years at Harrison Junior High School in Cadiz. During his time in the classroom, he coached volleyball, basketball, track & field and softball at various levels. Ray was the head girls basketball coach at Harrison Central High School from 1999 to 2002 and the head volleyball coach at Harrison Central with three different stints from 2007-2011, 2018-2019 and 2021-2024. In 2010, he became the athletic administrator at Harrison Central Junior/Senior High School.

 

Ray was initially elected to the East District Board as a 7^th/8^th grade representative in 2020 after filling that position for a year on an appointed basis and a year as the AAA representative, also on an appointed basis.

 

Ray resides in Freeport, Ohio.

Matt Hutchinson, Athletic Administrator at Wauseon High School, will begins a three-year term on the OHSAA Board of Directors in 2025. He will serve as the Class AAA representative from the Northwest District.

 

Matt was elected to the Northwest District Athletic Board (NWDAB) as the Class AAA representative in 2020 and was that board’s vice president during the 2024-25 school year.

 

Matt is a member of the Northwest Ohio Athletic Administrators Association (NWOIAAA) and earned his certified athletic administrator’s (CAA) credentials in 2018. His peers have twice awarded him both the OIAAA Administrator of the Year Award and the OIAAA Meritorious Service Award, and most recently he was awarded the NFHS Citation Award in 2024 and the State Award of Merit in 2025.

 

Matt is a 1985 graduate of Hilltop High School in West Unity and earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Miami University. He later received his master’s degree in educational administration and supervision from Bowling Green State University.

 

Matt began his teaching and coaching career at Bryan High School, where he taught math for five years before moving to Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati. After a two-year stint at Moeller, he became the varsity boys basketball coach at Tiffin Columbian High School in 1996 before accepting the same position at Anthony Wayne High School in Whitehouse in 2000. After teaching at Anthony Wayne for eight years, he moved on to Wauseon High School and eventually became the athletic administrator for the Indians in 2012.

 

Matt and his wife, Joy, an eighth grade American History teacher in Wauseon, have been married for 27 years. They have two children, JT and Marie.  JT is a 2024 Syracuse University graduate and works for Blink49 Studios in New York City. Marie is a senior at SUNY-ESF in Syracuse majoring in landscape architecture. Matt and Joy live in Wauseon.

Tom Nerl is a 1982 graduate of Purcell Marian High School in Cincinnati. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Xavier University in 1986 and later received a master’s degree in administration from Xavier in 2005. He achieved his certified athletic administrator (CAA) credential from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) in 2007 and became a Certified Master Athletic Administrator (CMAA) in 2012.

 

Tom began his educational career in 1986 at Purcell Marian, where he taught mathematics and coached football and varsity baseball. He was appointed dean of discipline in 1994 and athletic administrator in 1997. During this time, he also officiated high school basketball and served as treasurer of the Southwest Ohio Baseball Coaches Association.

 

In 2002, Tom joined Cincinnati Mariemont High School as a mathematics teacher and assistant football coach, and he accepted the position of athletic administrator in 2005. During his tenure, he has served on the executive board of the Southwest Ohio Athletic Directors Association (SWOADA), the state and national faculty for the NIAAA and OIAAA Leadership Training Institute and held the roles of mentoring chairperson for both SWOADA and OIAAA. Additionally, he currently serves as chairperson of the NIAAA Hall of Fame Committee.

 

Tom was appointed to the Southwest District Board in 2024 to fill an interim vacancy and was elected to a full term in May 2025.

 

He and his wife, Julie, have been married for 37 years. They have three children, Kevin, Eric and Sophie, and four grandchildren.

Tevepaugh graduated from Kent State University with a bachelor’s degree in education and earned a Master of Science degree in athletic administration from American Public University. He is a Certified Master Athletic Administrator.

 

Tevepaugh, who also serves as Streetsboro’s compliance officer, oversees an athletics department that in 2015 received the OHSAA/OIAAA Award of Excellence. He assisted with the design and supervised the construction of Streetsboro’s $4.5 million athletic complex, which was completed in 2017.

 

Tevepaugh was named a recipient of the OIAAA Award of Excellence in 2015 and the Bruce Brown Award of Excellence in 2021. He was selected Ohio Athletic Administrator of the Year in 2021 and achieved Exemplary Status while completing the NIAAA Quality Program Assessment that same year. He teaches Leadership Training Courses at the National Athletic Directors Conference and OIAAA Summer Institute. He also facilitates the OIAAA Bruce Brown Award of Excellence cohort and NIAAA QPA cohort.

 

Tevepaugh serves on the Northeast District Athletic Board, OIAAA Executive Board, NEOIAAA Executive Board and the OSU Coach Beyond - State Team. He previously served on the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association’s Executive Board (district representative) and the Northeast Ohio Baseball Coaches Association (eight years as executive director).

 

Tevepaugh was a three-sport athlete—football, basketball and baseball—at Monroe (Mich.) High School and earned a scholarship to play baseball at Valley City State University in North Dakota. He was the head baseball coach at Chagrin Falls Kenston High School for nine years, leading the Bombers to three conference titles, two district titles in both 2002 and 2004 and finishing regional runner-up both seasons. Tevepaugh was named Northeast Ohio Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2004 and Plain Dealer Coach of the Year in 2002. He also was an assistant football coach at Kenston for six years.

 

Tevepaugh and his wife, Denise live in Chagrin Falls. They have three sons—Josh, Ryan, and Brett—and seven grandchildren.

Lane Warner is a 1990 graduate of Pleasant High School in Marion. He received his bachelor’s degree in secondary education (history) from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1995 and a master's degree in educational leadership from Bowling Green State University in 2003.

 

Lane began a career in education at Kenton High School in 1995, teaching world history and geography and coaching football and track & field. One year later he returned to his home district to teach at Pleasant High School, where he remained for six years, teaching world and U.S. history and American government. During those six years, he coached football, basketball and track & field at the varsity level, and he was part of the football coaching staffs for teams that were Division V state champions (1996) and runners-up (2001). After leaving the classroom, Lane served the Mount Gilead Exempted Village Schools from 2002 to 2007 as the athletic/activities director (2002-03) and the director of community schools (2003-07). During that time, he was also the Indians' head football coach for three years (2003 through 2005) and head track & field coach (2006). In 2007, he returned to Pleasant Local Schools as the middle school principal, where he remained for 12 years. Lane accepted the superintendency at Elgin Local in 2019 and currently remains in that position.  

 

Lane was first appointed as a Class A representative to the Central District Athletic Board in June 2021 and was subsequently re-elected to continue in that capacity in the spring of 2022. He served as the president of that board for the 2022-23 school year, and this is his first term on the OHSAA Board of Directors.

 

Lane and his wife, Aimee, have been married for 25 years and have two children. Hudson (20) is a 2024 graduate of Pleasant High School and currently attends The Ohio State University, and Courtney (13) is an eighth grader at Pleasant Middle School.