The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association released its reclassification numbers Thursday morning, setting the lines that will separate all classes for the state’s high school athletic programs for the next four school years.
Still, not everything is settled in Southwest Washington.
The Class 4A Greater St. Helens League, a seven-team league this school year, will be a six-team or a five-team league in the fall. Evergreen is moving from 4A to 3A — that is a done deal — and The Columbian learned Thursday morning that Mountain View will appeal its enrollment numbers, believing it, too, should be a 3A school.
The 3A Greater St. Helens League also is in limbo. A four-team league the past two school years, the league will be a five-, six-, or even a seven-team league. The league must wait on Mountain View’s appeal, plus The Columbian confirmed that Capital of Olympia is “strongly considering” a move to try to get into the 3A GSHL.
Meanwhile, traditional 3A GSHL power Columbia River is dropping to the 2A ranks, while Hudson’s Bay is returning to the 3A GSHL from the 2A GSHL.
Mountain View’s appeal will be heard by the WIAA’s next executive board meeting, Jan. 24-25. That meeting will also officially finalize reclassification. Starting with this cycle, reclassification will now be on a four-year cycle rather than two. So when this is all settled, these will be the leagues for the next four school years.
“When the initial numbers came out, we didn’t believe any of our high schools would be close to the 3A cutoff,” said Cale Piland, athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools — Evergreen, Heritage, Mountain View, and Union. “But as a result of the high number of opt-ups, the domino effect pushed (Evergreen) down. They’re going to play where their number places them. They’re excited about joining the 3A league.”
In all, 22 schools opted up to play Class 4A, meaning 22 schools that had 4A numbers fell to the 3A ranks. Mountain View did not fall to 3A, but Piland said the WIAA’s enrollment numbers differ from the district’s numbers.
“We’re in the process of appealing the enrollment figure that the WIAA has assigned to Mountain View,” Piland said. “It’s our belief that the actual head count at Mountain View High School should also place them as a 3A high school.”
According to the WIAA, “the figures listed are the average enrollment, head count of students in grades 9-11, as reported to the Office of Public Instruction (OSPI)” for a total of eight months. The WIAA came up with 1,412.35 for Mountain View. Piland said Evergreen Public Schools has Mountain View at 1,341.75, which would put the Thunder as a 3A program.
Rory Oster, Camas’ athletic director and president of the 4A GSHL, said the athletic directors will “sit down and reorganize” at its next meeting, the first week of February, to look into scheduling and post-season set-ups. If the 4A GSHL is a six-team league, Oster believes the allocations to state tournaments will be the same as the past two seasons, with the league getting two one year and one the other. Oster said the league would be open-minded about negotiating with other districts to earn more allocations via bi-district playoffs.
There is no reason to get started on any plans before reclassification becomes official, he added.
That is the same approach in the 3A GSHL. Ray Cattin, Kelso’s athletic director and league president, said there have been too many scenarios to list the past few weeks. A four-team league this year, there was the possibility at one point that the league would be left with three teams. Now, it is definitely a five-team league and could grow to as many as seven.
“It’s so fluid,” Cattin said.
Jeff Carpenter, the athletic director for the Olympia School District, confirmed Capital’s interest in traveling south.
“We’re strongly considering it,” Carpenter said. “We’re looking for a good league, solid and stable, that we can be in for a number of years.”
Capital, now a WIAA District 3 team, would have to apply to return to District 4 (Southwest Washington) and then negotiate with the 3A GSHL.
Currently, Capital is a member of the eight-team 3A Narrows League.
However, Foss moved down to Class 2A and North Thurston was accepted into the 3A South Puget Sound League, leaving six teams in the Narrows.
Five of those teams — Lincoln, Wilson, Mount Tahoma, Shelton and Central Kitsap — along with Stadium, which moved from 4A to 3A, applied to join the 3A SPSL but were rejected. Those schools appealed that decision with District 3.
If those schools win the appeal, that would make Capital’s move to the 3A GSHL more viable.
Sam Reed, athletic director for Tacoma School District, told The Olympian on Tuesday that a scenario still exists in which the 3A Narrows League survives as a seven-team league that includes Capital.
Columbia River had opted-up in the last reclassification cycle. The Chieftains did not this time.
“It was pretty much a consensus that we would stay where we landed,” said Tony Liberatore, Columbia River’s athletic director, referring to coaches and administrators. “Let’s just play where we land.”
The 2A GSHL appears to remain steady as a seven-team league, with River taking the place of Hudson’s Bay.
The Trico League, a Class 1A league, lost a member when Kalama dropped to the 2B ranks. King’s Way Christian and Seton Catholic, as they have done for years, opted-up to remain in the Trico League.
Here are the league breakdowns for leagues that include schools from Clark County, along with their enrollment figures for grades 9-11:
CLASS 4A (2024-1343)
4A GREATER ST. HELENS LEAGUE
Union (1617.52)
Skyview (1593.71)
Camas (1568.75)
Battle Ground (1495.36)
Heritage (1428.93)
Mountain View (1412.35)
CLASS 3A (1343-971)
3A GREATER ST. HELENS LEAGUE
Evergreen (1336.71)
Fort Vancouver (1210.05)
Kelso (1160.25)
Prairie (1108.64)
Hudson’s Bay (1003.71)
CLASS 2A (971-461)
2A GREATER ST. HELENS LEAGUE
Columbia River (935.28)
Mark Morris (720.22)
Washougal (693.50)
R.A. Long (688.78)
Ridgefield (533.13)
Hockinson (486.13)
Woodland (476.75)
CLASS 1A (461-214)
1A TRICO LEAGUE
King’s Way Christian (142.88 – opt-up)
Seton Catholic (122.25 – opt-up)
La Center (405.50)
Columbia-White Salmon (290.13)
Castle Rock (279.38)
Stevenson (229.38)
CLASS 2B (214-83)
No Clark County schools
CLASS 1B (81-26)
1B COLUMBIA VALLEY LEAGUE
Columbia Adventist (70.0)
Pope John Paul II (57.50)
Three Rivers Christian (56.38)
Firm Foundation (48.88)
Cedar Tree Classical (32.75)
Washington School for the Deaf (28.00)
