Canton Timken senior tight end Rakim Reed has reportedly made a verbal commitment to play at Marshall, according to ScoutingOhio.com. Reed, who is 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, also reportedly had offers from Pittsburgh and Buffalo.

OhioVarsity.com announced its Class of 2011 Preseason Top 150 high school football players in the state of Ohio.

Doran Grant is ranked No. 1 and Steve Miller is ranked No. 5 on the list that has several area players on it.

The local players on the list are:

1. Doran Grant, DB, St. Vincent-St. Mary

5. Steve Miller, DE, Canton McKinley

22. Devin Smith, WR, Massillon Washington

29. Tommy Brown, OL, Firestone

44. Max Pirman, LB, Orrville

57. Mark Murphy, DB-RB, St. Vincent-St. Mary

60. Justin Olack, WR, Massillon Washington

63. Connor Cook, QB, Walsh Jesuit

78. Evan Shimensky, QB, Kent Roosevelt

80. Rakim Reed, TE, Canton Timken

104. Aaron Macer, DB, Twinsburg

107. Johnny Lowdermilk, LB-QB, Carrollton

108. Terrence Pegram, DB, Aurora

129. Kevin Brewton, TE, Garfield

132. Drew Kaser, K/P, Walsh Jesuit

The staff of OhioVarsity.com, along with support from other Rivals.com network sites and recruiting analysts, evaluated hundreds of Ohio’s top prospects before finalizing the preseason rankings. Included in the evaluation process was a review of each prospect’s highlight film, personal observations and camps and combines and recommendations from high school and college coaches. Rivals.com is owned by Yahoo!

The rankings will be revised midway through the 2010 season.

Canton Timken TE/DE Rakim Reed has reportedly been offered by Marshall, according to ScoutingOhio.com.

Reed, who is 6-4 and 205 pounds, also reportedly has an offer from Pittsburgh.

Canton Timken junior tight end Rakim Reed has reportedly been offered by Pittsburgh, according to ScoutingOhio.com.

It is the first offer for Reed, who is 6 feet 4 and 205 pounds.

Hey everyone! This is my column that’s running in the Akron Beacon Journal Friday, but it’s posted on Ohio.com now, as you can see. Thanks to everyone who submitted votes for their favorite high school nicknames. If there are other crazy nicknames from out of state, post them so we can all get some laughs. Thanks again!

When it comes to track, it’s always about who ran the fastest, jumped the highest or threw the shot or the discus the farthest. But sometimes there are stories, GREAT, INSPRATIONAL STORIES, that don’t have to do with who won.

For instance, I remember watching the local news in the fall, I think it was, and there was an amazing story about a young lady (she may have been from the Youngstown area), who was competing in the state high school cross country meet and was almost near the finish line. Then came a gruesome sight. She broke her leg on the course and fell to the ground.

But this young lady had the courage and fortitude to crawl and limp her way to the finish line, despite being in obvious pain.

It was a story of incredible self-will. This young lady needed medical help, but she didn’t want it. She was withering with pain but she wanted to finish that race, and if you watched the video, you couldn’t help but get a little emotional, knowing she was in a world of pain. But watching her will her way to that finish line, regardless of the pain she was experiencing, was breathtaking and moving.

The yound lady gave a great television interview a few days later and it was great to see she was doing well and was in good spirts. I think she even joked that all she was thinking about, when she went down, was that she wasn’t going to be able to dance at her sister’s wedding later that night.

I witnessed another incredible story, but it didn’t involve injury. A few years ago I was covering a regional track meet at Ravenna and the Copley girls were favored in this particular relay event. As the race began, Copley was right there, as expected. But during one of the exchanges, the baton was dropped and the team was out of the race.

The young lady who dropped the baton was devasted. I mean, I had never seen an athlete more distraught. What I found out later was that the young lady was only a sophomore and there were two seniors on that relay team. The sophomore felt she had blown it for the seniors because it was their last chance to make it to state.

She was on the infield of the track, as the race was still going, slumped over an emotional ball.

She just shuddered and shook as she cried.

Then, former Copley standout Carrie Dyer, who was a senior and on that relay team, ran to the young runner to comfort her.

Then the rest of the realy team followed.

To me, that was one of the most inspirational stories I had ever witnessed.

The sophomore was heartbroken. But she was heartbroken because she cared about her teammates and wanted to perform at her best so that it would help the seniors.

It didn’t happen. But when it didn’t happen, the seniors weren’t mad, bitter or upset. They showed support for their younger teammate because they loved her. And in the end, winning didn’t matter.

So, with that, I’m asking readers to post any inspirational stories you witnessed, in track or any other sport, that didn’t involve someone winning.

A story where someone overcame odds to get where they are. Or a story about teammates helping one another.

Those are the most compelling stories.

The perfect season for the Canton Timken boys basketball team came to an end Monday night.

The Toledo Whitmer Panthers defeated the previously unbeaten Trojans 62-47 in a Division I regional championship game at Rhodes Arena on the campus of the University of Akron.

Whitmer improved to 20-5 and advanced to the state final four in Columbus behind a solid showing offensively and defensively.

Senior Christian Alston paced the Trojans with 15 points and senior Johnie Davis had 10 points. The Trojans were plagued by poor shooting.

Timken ends the season with a 24-1 record.

The Canton Timken boys basketball team will play Toledo Whtimer tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Rhodes Arena in a Division I regional championship game at the University of Akron.

The winner of tonight’s game advances to Columbus for the state final four at Value City Arena on the campus of Ohio State University.

Timken, 24-0 this season, is seeking its first appearance in the state final four since 1960.

Timken and Whitmer have had to wait to play this game, orginally scheduled for Saturday, due to the heavy snowfall that recently hit Northeast Ohio.

Timken has defeated Massillon Washington, Jackson, Perry and Firestone so far in the tournament.

Senior guards Johnie Davis and Christian Alston and junior forward Chaz Moore led the Trojans past the Falcons this past Thursday.

If Timken wins the regional title it will mark the fifth consecutive season the Canton district winner will qualify for the state final four. GlenOak advanced to state in 2007 and Canton McKinley advanced to state in 2004, 2005 and 2006. McKinley won state titles in 2005 and 2006.

The Canton Timken football team ended a 28-game losing streak this afternoon by defeating Cleveland Heights Lutheran East in convincing fashion — 41-0.

The victory ends a frustrating streak. The Trojans were winless the past two seasons and last won on Sept. 4, 2004 against Field.