What happened to Mark Harden? Tributes pour in as Sycamore athletic director dies aged 52

In a letter to families, the school district confirmed Mark Harden, a 52-year-old athletic director of Sycamore High School, was killed in a four-vehicle crash in Sharonville on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

Detailing the crash, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said on Wednesday afternoon, a 2019 Chevrolet Equinox driven by Mark Harden was traveling in the right lane on I-75 South when he struck a 2020 Toyota Camry driven by a 40-year-old in the rear near milepost 17.

The impact resulted in Harden losing control of his car, which traveled to the left across all lanes of traffic. A 2014 Volvo tractor-trailer driven by a 67-year-old struck Harden's car, which then spun out of control and was struck by a 2021 Chevrolet Equinox driven by a 19-year-old.

The three unnamed drivers were not injured in the crash but Mark Harden died at the scene, the Hamilton Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said in a release.

---

Community mourns death of Sycamore High School athletic director Mark Harden

The Sycamore community is mourning the loss of Sycamore High School athletic director Mark Harden, killed in a devastating crash on Wednesday afternoon.

In a news release in 2019, Sycamore Community Schools announced his appointment as the new athletic director. At the time they said he had served as athletic director at Greater Miami Conference school, Fairfield for a decade before his appointment. Under Mark Harden’s Leadership, Sycamore School added “Fairfield obtained the highest GMC All-Sport finish in over 15 years.”

Harden, who also taught English at Fairfield High School from 2005 to 2009, was also the associate athletic director for Cincinnati Christian University around the same time.

In a letter to families, the Sycamore community confirmed Harden was killed in the accident, adding they will be closing Sycamore High School on Thursday as the community grapples with the loss.

"On behalf of the entire Sycamore Community Schools family, we want to extend our deepest sympathies to the Harden family, staff, students, coaches, and families.”

Greater Miami Conference School also expressed their grief over the incident while remarking on his exemplary leadership quality. In a post on X, they wrote:

“Mark was involved in an auto accident this afternoon on I75 which took his life. His presence and leadership will be difficult to replace.”

Harden had been working with student-athletes for over three decades. A friend, Mark Braam, who is also a journalism teacher at Fairfield School, said he was stunned at the sudden violent death of Harden and shared an anecdote saying he had spoken to the victim just two weeks before the crash. In a Facebook post, he wrote:

“It was just a couple of weeks ago that I last spoke with Mark. He had dropped by Fairfield's athletic department one afternoon while I was taking care of some business. He joked around with Jeff Sims, saying that they needed to start their own podcast -- a podcast that I guarantee you would have been very funny.”

He added he would add Harden to his prayers at his church.

“Sycamore is completely closing down Thursday. I know that it will be the topic of the day at Fairfield, as anyone who has been there for more than a few years will be stunned. I think I will save any more thoughts that I have for those conversations tomorrow. Meanwhile, rest in peace, Mark. I will add you to the list of prayers and Masses at my church.”

According to the Ohio Department of Transportation Cincinnati, the crash closed all southbound lanes past Union Centre Boulevard for hours.