Bexley High School (BHS) is a public high school located in Bexley, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus.
Contents
Athletics
Bexley’s athletic program includes teams in the following sports: lacrosse, football, basketball, baseball, cheerleading, cross country, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track, volleyball, and wrestling. Bexley purchased artificial grass for athletes to perform on in the winter of 2003. In 2024 the school purchased 6 million dollars' worth of land for a new athletic complex. Teams have won the Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships in:
Boys Golf - 2015
Boys Basketball - 1983
Boys Soccer - 2003, 2005
Girls Volleyball - 1977
Other non-sanctioned titles:
Girls Tennis (OTCA)- 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978,2023,2024
Boys Tennis (OTCA)- 1975, 2017
Boys Diving - 2023
Football program
In 2016, the program earned its first home playoff game and first playoff win, and went 11–1. The program also earned a playoff spot in the 2008, 2013, 2014, and 2015 seasons.
Soccer program
The Men's and women's soccer teams have combined for 12 state final fours since 1999. The men's team has won two state championships (in 2003 and 2005) and has appeared in multiple Final Four and Regional Finals. They have also had a flurry of All-District, All-State, and two All-American selections. The men's program won their league championship for 15 straight seasons until the streak was ended in 2009. The women have been one of the most consistent teams of their sport in the state; they were state finalists in 1999 through 2003, 2005, and 2006; state runners-up in 1999; and state champions in 2009. The women have also had multiple all-district, all-state, and all-American recipients.
Ross Friedman was a four-year letter winner and captained the team his junior and senior years. During his tenure at Bexley, he led the team to two state semi-final appearances, earning first team All-MSL as a junior, first team all-district, first team all-state and NSCAA all region as a senior.
Wrestling program
The wrestling program has had individual successes throughout the school's history. There have been numerous state qualifiers, 10 state placers and one state champion. As a team there has not been a great deal of success until recently when they earned a Mid-State League Title in 2017 for first time since 1998. A team dual record of 17-2 was also set in 2017 breaking the previous season record of 16–3. The program currently has successful youth and junior high teams as well.
Softball program
The 2018 season was one of the most successful in program history with the team going 14-9 and winning two games in the state tournament (defeating Licking Valley and London). The Lions advanced to the district semi-finals and fell to Hebron Lakewood.
Band program
Marching Band
Bexley High School Marching Pride is a show-style marching band that excels in entertaining a crowd, performs pop, rock, funk, and blues music at sports events, community parades, as well as public concerts throughout the year. The Marching Pride has performed at the Outback Bowl game, Walt Disney Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney Epcot, Chicago, IL, University of Cincinnati, and Honolulu, Hawaii at Pearl Harbor.
Concert Band
Concert Band begins at the conclusion of the football season. The students are split into two bands for the Concert Band Season - Symphonic Band and Prism. Concerts are graded performances, including OMEA Contests, and opportunities for OMEA Solo and Ensemble. The Concert Band is a Co-Curricular, Board of Education-supported class where students receive a grade and credit for participation.
Pep Band
Pep Band, considered an extension of the Marching Band, is an opportunity to perform for men's and women's home varsity basketball games. It is a volunteer band composed of students from the school band program.
Jazz Band
Jazz Band is a Co-Curricular, Board of Education-supported class where students receive a grade and credit for participation. It performs several concerts throughout the year. To join, auditions are necessary, and most instruments are accepted. The Jazz Band has traveled to conferences (Beaver Creek Jazz Festival and Capital University Jazz and World Music Festival).
Orchestra
The Bexley High School Orchestra is in two classes: Camerata Orchestra, which is the entry-level orchestra, and Sinfonia Orchestra, which is the higher level performance group in the program.
Camerata Orchestra
The Camerata Orchestra is the entry-level orchestra, having the same director as the Sinfonia Orchestra, but playing different pieces aimed at a high school level.
Bexley Sinfonia
The Sinfonia Orchestra is the higher level orchestra, which tends to play arrangements of Baroque and Classical pieces. Former students who have performed a solo with Sinfonia include Oliver Martin, performing Hoffmeister's Viola Concerto in D Major.
Performance
2024: U.S. News & World Report named BHS the top public high school in Central Ohio, second best in Ohio, and 147th nationally.
2023: U.S. News & World Report named BHS the top public high school in Central Ohio, best in Ohio, and 121st nationally.
2020: U.S. News & World Report named BHS the top public high school in Central Ohio, third best in Ohio, and 136th nationally.
2019: The Ohio Department of Education Report Card showed that, among high schools, BHS had the highest Performance Index Score in Franklin County.
2019: U.S. News & World Report named BHS the top public high school in Central Ohio, fourth best in Ohio, and 132nd nationally.
2018: The Ohio Department of Education Report Card showed that, among high schools, BHS had the highest Performance Index Score in Franklin County, the highest percentage of students scoring Advanced or Advanced Plus in Central Ohio, and the fifth highest Value Added score in the state.
2018: Niche.com named BHS the eighth best public high school in Ohio.
2018: U.S. News & World Report named BHS the top public high school in Central Ohio, fourth in Ohio, and 185th in the nation.
2016-2017: The Ohio Department of Education released results which showed BHS to have the highest Gifted Performance Index Score, and second highest Performance Index Score, among public high schools in Franklin County.Ohio School Report Cards
2017: The Washington Post named BHS the most challenging high school in Central Ohio, fourth in Ohio, and 250th in the nation.
Notable alumni
Marco Arment, founder of Instapaper and early Tumblr engineer
Natalia Fedner, fashion designer
Ross Friedman, former Harvard and Columbus Crew professional soccer player
Bob Greene, author (class of 1965; chronicled second semester of junior year and first semester of senior year in his book Be True To Your School)
Eileen Heckart (Listed as Anna Eileen Heckart), Class of 1937, Broadway, Movie and TV Academy and Tony Award-winning actress
Kevin S. Huffman, former Tennessee Education Commissioner
Charley Pettys, former professional soccer player
Daniel H. Pink, author
Josh Radnor, actor, How I Met Your Mother
Captain Willard F. Searle, Jr, U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage from 1964 to 1969
K. B. Sharp, former Women's National Basketball Association player
Gayle Smith, Coordinator of the global COVID response and health security at the U.S. Department of State
R. L. Stine, author
Andy Tongren, musician, Young Rising Sons
Les Wexner, CEO of L Brands and Ohio's richest person.