When Marietta High School departed the Southeastern Ohio Athletic League at the end of the 2010-11 school year, MHS officials left the William E. (Bill) Thomas All-Sports Trophy in the hands of their Washington County neighbors at Warren High School until a new winner was determined.

Looks like the Warriors and Lady Warriors want to hold onto it for a little while.

After winning boys soccer, boys cross country and volleyball championships, Warren has a solid lead over runner-up Gallipolis through the fall portion of the SEOAL schedule.

Warren has 29.5 points, good for a 6.5-point lead over runner-up Gallipolis (23), followed closely by Chillicothe (22), Jackson (20.5) and Logan (19). Portsmouth (9) rounds out the standings.

Marietta won the last three and seven of the last eight All-Sports Trophy titles before departing for the East Central Ohio League.

In addition to its three first-place finishes, Warren placed second in boys golf and girls cross country and tied Logan for second in girls soccer.

Gallipolis claimed titles in boys golf — the Blue Devils finished third in the state Division II tournament as well — and girls cross country, was second in football and third in both boys cross country and volleyball.

Chillicothe claimed the girls soccer crown, took runner-up finishes in volleyball and girls tennis and tied Portsmouth and Warren for third place in football.

Jackson, which won its second-straight football championship, also had a second-place finish in boys soccer.

Logan didn’t win any championships but placed second in boys cross country, tied for second in girls soccer, and placed third in both boys golf and girls cross country.

Portsmouth, which doesn’t have soccer teams and didn’t have enough runners to score in the cross country meets, won the girls tennis championship — the school’s first title since re-entering the league in 2005-06 — and was involved in the aforementioned three-way tie for third in football.

All-Sports Trophy points are determined on an 6-5-4-3-2-1 basis in sports where all six schools field full teams. In other sports, points are determined as to how many teams competed for the title, with fractional points awarded in case of ties.

Since Portsmouth doesn’t have boys soccer, for example, those points were determined on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis. Team points are awarded in cross country only if a school has enough runners to register a team score.

The SEOAL, one of the longest-running prep conferences in the state, was formed by William E. (Bill) Thomas of Wellston in 1925 and began competition with a boys track meet that spring, with 1925-26 being the first full season of conference competition.

Craig Dunn is the sports editor of the Logan Daily News in Logan, Ohio.