SANDY -- At the end of their meeting Thursday, members of the Utah High School Activities Association Board of Trustees joked that the media might be a little disappointed about the lack of heated discussion during their daylong rendezvous.
Aside from a minor squabble over the last roast beef sandwich at lunch, there just wasn't much controversy at the Utah School Boards Association Office. Even the lengthy talks centering on the upcoming UHSAA classification realignment for the 2001-05 school years were relatively tame and productive.Of course, that's not to say there won't be some schools who don't exactly endorse the latest realignment proposal. But most of the trustees walked away from Thursday's meeting echoing the words of realignment chairman Richard Tranter, who ended the day saying, "That almost makes too much sense." The proposals for 4A and 5A appear to be quite logical.
In 5A, there would be three regions that are geographically sound. Region 1 would include the northern schools from Davis and Weber counties -- Clearfield, Davis, Fremont, Layton, Northridge, Viewmont and Weber (the Warriors were denied staying 4A). Region 2 would be an all-Jordan School District league with Alta, Copper Hills, Bingham, Brighton, Hillcrest, Riverton and West Jordan. That leaves all the large Granite District schools for Region 3, including Cottonwood, Granger, Hunter, Kearns, Olympus, Skyline and Taylorsville.
Class 5A requested Olympus step up a classification despite lower enrollment figures in order to make the current plan work. Lynn Davidson, the Granite Board of Education president, said Olympus principal Paul Hansen agreed to the move primarily because it would put the Titans back in a region with their biggest rival.
"Olympus is very competitive," Davidson said. "Their principal approved it. Olympus was willing to come back if Skyline was there."
That paved the way for a very regional 4A as well. Region 4 will remain the northern league with Bonneville, Box Elder, Logan, Mountain Crest, Ogden, Roy and Sky View. Ogden is a wild card here, because the trustees wanted to have more time to discus what should be done with the Tigers, who are pleading their case to stay in 3A. Logan also wanted to go 3A if Ogden stayed there, but the Grizzlies' wish isn't likely to happen.
Region 5 would stay the same as it is currently except for the loss of Olympus. That leaves Bountiful, Cyprus (although the Pirates have an invitation to go 5A and join the other Granite schools), East, Highland, Murray, West and Woods Cross.
The biggest change in 4A comes in Utah County. Sparked by an appeal by the Alpine School District, the newest proposal has two leagues made up solely of teams in Utah County. One concession made in order to accomplish this was moving Lehi up a classification. That might be met with some protest since Lehi has the enrollment of a 3A school (the Pioneers have 1,046 students, which is in the 3A "core" zone).
"I think Lehi High probably doesn't want to come 4A this round," said Timpview principal Randy Merrill, who represents the 4A principals. "But with their growth, I think they'll be OK. Alpine wanted to make an Alpine league, and the only way to make it happen was to bring Lehi in."
If it stands then, Region 6 would have Lehi, American Fork, Lone Peak, Mountain View, Orem and Pleasant Grove. Region 7 would be composed of Payson, Provo, Spanish Fork, Springville, Timpview and Timpanogos.
That is likely to please the folks in the Uintah and Tooele boundaries since they had been slated to be bumped up but apparently will not be after their appeals. It might, however, not sit well with Granger. The Lancers were supposed to go 4A in the last proposal, but they were put back in 5A this time after Alpine's suggestion was heeded. It's also expected that Timpanogos will try to get into the league with the other Orem schools.
The only "nay" to come during the alignment motions was in Class 3A from North Sanpete's Bruce Irons. North Sanpete wanted to be dropped to 2A along with Delta, but that didn't happen. North Sanpete will be in Region 10 with Carbon, Emery, Park City, Union, Wasatch and Uintah.
Another interesting thing about this region is that Park City actually appealed to be put into a different region than Uintah. A bitter rivalry has erupted between the two schools in the aftermath of a lawsuit some Park City parents filed and lost concerning Uintah being moved into 4A. The trustees concurred that the two schools were just going to have to try to rebuild bridges.
"The principals and coaches should just meet in Heber City, have a steak dinner and work it out," suggested one trustee.
Region 8 will have Bear River, Ben Lomond, Granite, Grantsville, Judge Memorial, Morgan and Tooele. Region 9, meantime, will stay the same with Delta joining the Cedar City and St. George area schools.
The only change in the smaller classifications was the relocation of Waterford down to Region 17 with the bulk of the private 1A schools.
The finalization of the realignment is scheduled for June 8, but the trustees agreed to allow dissatisfied schools affected by this latest change to make their case at a hearing on May 1.
Also discussed Thursday:
--As suggested by the athletic directors and the UHSAA executive committee, the trustees approved the creation of a committee to study the heated "Play Where You Live" idea. The trustees, however, were staunch about how this did not mean the concept in its current form would work. Rather, they agreed to examine it in greater detail, especially to dissect the already stringent transferring rules.
--The little-school football proposal was given the official go-ahead. Beginning in 2001, the nine smallest football-playing schools will play for the 1A title. Three 1A divisions will exist, with Altamont, Duchesne and Rich in the North; Enterprise, Milford and Parowan in the Southwest; and Monticello, Monument Valley and Whitehorse in the Southeast. Each school will play both teams in its area along with two crossover games on a rotating basis. The remaining five games will be scheduled individually.
--In conjunction with the 1A football plan, it was voted that 2A football be divided into two regions of seven. The top four teams from each league would make the playoffs. The regions would include: Beaver, Kanab, Millard, North Sevier, Richfield, San Juan and South Sevier in one. And Grand, Gunnison, Juab, Juan Diego, Manti, North Summit and South Summit in the other.
--It was reported to the group that an unprecedented amount of damage was done during the state tournaments at UVSC's McKay Events Center. The bill for repairing restrooms and locker rooms was evenly split among all the schools in the state -- about $25 per school.