Diana has been the most decorated Chagrin athlete winning a gold and silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics and a bronze at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. In 2000, Diana was a member on the American record-breaking 800-Meter Freestyle Relay Team, which won the gold & individually won silver in the 400-Meter freestyle. Her bronze medal in 2004 was in the 800-Meter Freestyle. She would participate in her first Olympic Trials in 8th grade at age 13 in the 400 & 800 Meter Freestyle Events. Over the years Diana won 21 national swimming titles and 7 medals in world championships. She was honored with the Kiphuth Award at the 2002 U.S. Spring Nationals as the highest individual women’s scorer. Diana was a 2-time State Champion (’97 & ’98) and Div. I record holder in the 500-yard Freestyle (4:45.54), while swimming for Chagrin.
Jimmy Leffler
Jimmy would finish his Chagrin athletic career with 11 varsity letters [Soccer (2), Football (2), Basketball (3), Baseball (4)] and All-CVC honors in each of the four sports. He would earn 1st Team CVC in Baseball & Football (’97) & 2nd Team in Basketball (’98, ’99) & Soccer (’96). Although he would gain Honorable Mention All-Ohio as Wide Receiver in football (’97), he would garner his greatest success on the baseball field. Jimmy is still the CFHS record holder in Home Runs, RBIs, Doubles and Complete Games. His baseball career continue at Baldwin Wallace College. As a 4-year starter, he was selected for the Outstanding Freshman Award (’00), “Big Stick Award” (‘01) and “Gold Glove Award” (‘03). He would be selected 3-time All Mideast Region, 1st Team All-Conference, & All-Academic Ohio Athletic Conference in Baseball. He is the BW career leader in games (143) & Assists (404), and Season Leader in Assists (128).
Katie Kruse
Katie was a 3-sport star at Chagrin earning 11 varsity letters [Soccer (4), basketball (4), & softball (3)]. She started all four years on the soccer squad that included a state title, four state final four appearances and four conference championships with an overall record of 75 – 6 – 6. During Katie’s senior soccer season she would earn 1st Team All-Ohio and MVP honors from the News-Herald, Sun Newspaper, Chagrin Valley Conference, All-Greater Cleveland. In basketball, Katie would be a 3-year starter for a program that won a state title, finished as state runner-up and made the state final four all 3 seasons. The basketball team went 85 – 18 over her four year high school career. Katie would also earn All-District, 1st Team All-CVC and 1st Team News-Herald honors. Katie would further her soccer career at the University of Maryland where she was a 4-year letter winner and 2-year starter. Her teams qualified for three NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournaments, and Katie earned ACC All-Academic honors from 2001 – 03.
Brooke Roeper
Brooke was a success on the tennis court at Chagrin and during her college years at Kenyon College. She was 1st team all-conference during all of her high school and college years. The highlight of her high school career was a state runner-up finish in her senior year. Brooke was further recognized as the Plain Dealer “Player of the Year.” She was also a 4-year starter on the softball team and had the CVC highest batting average during her senior season (.786). Her tennis career continued at Kenyon where she earned many honors: Div. III All-American in (’02), North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year (’02) and Newcomer of the Year (’99). Brooke is tied for 11th in career singles wins with 70. She finished her collegiate career with a singles record of 70 – 29, a winning percentage of .707. Her doubles career record of 64 – 30 (.681) places her 9th in the Kenyon record books. She also qualified for the NCAA Div. III Tournament in 2000 & ’02 in singles.
Kelly Haase Sedlak
Kelly was a 3-sport star at Chagrin earning 12 varsity letters (volleyball, basketball, & softball) and captaining each of the teams in her senior year. She would earn CVC 1st Team honors in all three sports: Basketball (’95, ’96, ’97), Volleyball (’96), & Softball (’97). In basketball, she would further earn 2nd Team All-Ohio (‘97), Honorable Mention All-Ohio (‘95, ‘96) and CVC & News-Herald Basketball MVP (’97). During her senior year, she would score her 1,000th point and help lead the 1997 squad to a state runner-up finish in girls basketball.
Andrew Rosette
Andrew finished his high school running career as one of the most decorated runners in Chagrin history. He was a state runner-up in the 3200M run (9:32.02) and in cross country in 1989. The latter race produced the 2nd fastest time of all divisions. Andrew would go on to represent Team Ohio in the Mideast Meet of Champions in cross country placing 2nd overall, which qualified him for nationals. At the Kinney National Championships, Andrew would finish 23rd in the country. He would also find the podium with a 4th in the 1600M (4:20.58) and a 6th in the 3200M (9:37.26) in 1990. Andrew’s time of 15:31 for the 5000M race still stands as the school record at Chagrin.
Adam Lechman
Adam was a two-sport star both at Chagrin and later at Allegheny College. He was a 2-way starter (plus special teams) on the 1987 CVC Championship team that made the 1st ever play-off appearance for the Chagrin Falls football program. He earned CVC and Geauga County 1st team awards as an offensive guard and represented Chagrin Falls as a starting guard in the 1988 East-West All Star game. In wrestling, Adam would place 4th in the OHSAA State Championships at 189 lbs. Besides county and conference awards, he could boast that he was never pinned in his high school career and only allowed 3 back points in his senior season. At Allegheny, Adam was the starting offensive center for the #1 ranked Division III football team that recorded the first ever perfect regular season in school history. During his four years, his teams recorded three conference and one NCAA national championship. In his senior season, he earned 1st Team GTE Academic All-America and 2nd Team Offense North Coast Athletic Conference honors. On the collegiate mat, Adam would place 4th (’89) and 5th (’91) in the NCAA Regional Tournaments and be honored as Allegheny College’s Outstanding Freshman (’89) and Outstanding Student-Athlete (‘91).
Chan Diamond
Chan was a standout athlete in 4 sports earning 12 varsity letters in his Tiger career. His letters were two in football and basketball, three in track and a remarkable five in baseball. Originally baseball was a summer sport and with the eventual change to a spring sport, it allowed Chan the fortunate opportunity to earn five letters in baseball. The spring season was certainly a busy one for Chan would sometimes compete in both baseball and track on the same day. He would typically have to pass on heights in the pole vault until the game ended or the Tigers were up to bat. At that point he would change uniforms and make a jump. Chan would be a CVC placer in both the long jump and pole vault and finished his senior year with a 6th place in the OHSAA tournament in the pole vault. He would later compete in football and track at Baldwin Wallace College.
Jim Hoppel
A 1961 NCAA Qualifier from Bowling Green State University would come to Chagrin Falls later that year to teach and coach at Chagrin Falls and establish the Tigers as a dominant wrestling program. While at Chagrin, Mr. Hoppel was also on the coaching staff of the football program. Under Hoppel’s guidance the wrestling team won 4 CVC titles in 5 years (’65 – ’67 & ’69). Four individuals made it to the state tournament (Reed Carpenter, Ray Slaybaugh, Warren Wise & Bob Camarato) during an era when there was only one division in wrestling. Over a dozen of his grapplers would go on to compete at Division I colleges. Also under his leadership, the team had a 25 match unbeaten streak which included 22 straight wins and two 10 – 0 seasons(65 – 66 & 66 – 67). During this streak, the Tigers dual events were so popular that not only would there be sellout crowds against our rivals Solon, Kenston and Twinsburg, several of the matches were also televised. After 1969, Coach Hoppel would go on to coach at his alma mater, BGSU, and other schools before helping to revive the nationally recognized St. Edward’s program. Jim has been inducted into the East Liverpool School and BGSU Athletic Halls of Fame and his family, which includes four brothers, has been recognized by the OHSAA for having the largest influence on wrestling during the 1950s.