Alphabet Soup Could Swamp Some Schools

It is the beginning of the end for Washington high school athletics as we know it.

The new year has started and it is the last for the four classification alignment. After state champions are crowned in Class AAA, AA, A and B spring sports next May, the focus shifts to 4A, 3A, 2A, A and B.

Schools can’t wait until next year to see what happens, their fate is determined by their average enrollment on Oct. 1, Nov. 1 and Dec. 1.

No matter how good the idea is for the state, it is a bad idea for Eastern Washington, which has less than 140 of the almost 380 schools in Washington.

So decisions have to be made and it seems East Valley is holding the key to start the dominos toppling.

The Greater Spokane League plans to stick together, and welcome the Mount Spokane-Mead Wildcats to the fold next year. East Valley is considering joining the GSL, as the Knights were scheduled to do before the large classification cutoff was bumped from 1,001 to 1,201.

It wouldn’t be a stretch for EV to compete in 4A - the area isn’t going to quit growing and about half of the 10 GSL schools will be under 1,200 students in grades 10-12.

If the Knights jump, the Frontier League could collapse because half would be above the 3A cutoff, half would fall into 2A. If the Knights stay, the FL should survive and the pressure falls on the Northeast A.

Again, about half the NEA schools are 2A size, the other half are A. If the Northeast A stays intact, the schools forced to move from B to A might not have a league to go into. If the small schools from the NEA stay down, joining forces with the old Bs/new As, the bigger Northeast A schools (new AA schools) are probably facing a forced move to the Frontier League (new AAA schools) or bus trips that defy imagination.

If it sounds confusing, it is.

It is an issue that will be addressed numerous times in the near future.

Schools need to be open and honest when they meet next week to begin looking into the future.

And that’s just one change of many on the horizon.

The AAA schools have doubled the size of their football playoffs, sidestepping the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. Now four GSL teams make the playoffs.

That’s another idea that may work but the plan was implemented so quickly, there are many warts to take away some of the luster.

The additional round of playoffs will be played on Tuesday, after the season ends on Friday and before the traditional first round - now second-round - games on Saturday.

Again, more on that later.

Mead is beginning its last year as not only the bully of the GSL, having won 15 straight league all-sports titles, but also as the state’s top cat. The Panthers have won 10 straight state-wide all-sports titles.

Next fall, Mount Spokane opens and both Meads school will house grades 9-12.

Speaking of Mead, soccer coach Dick Cullen is in his last year before he becomes activities director. Cullen stays at Mead, current Mead A.D. John Miller moves to the new school. Cullen’s girls teams have won 10 straight titles, the boys 13. It is uncertain if he will be the boys coach next spring or concentrate on the A.D. duties. Last school year, the girls were third and the boys second at state.

Three coaches with strings almost as impressive, are also nearing an end at Mead. Mike McLaughlin, Jeanne Helfer and Pat Tyson are scheduled to move to the new building.

McLaughlin has guided the Panthers into the football playoffs the last seven years. Helfer’s girls basketball teams have won or shared five of the last six GSL titles, picked up top-five state placing trophies the past seven years and won state titles in 1990, 91 and 96. Tyson’s boys cross country teams have won the last eight GSL and state championships.

The GSL is playing football in new digs, or like-new, anyway. Refurbished Albi Stadium is supposed to be ready when games begin a week from today. The field is also wider, in hopes of drawing soccer to the facility.

And, a few GSL football and basketball games could be televised, something which hasn’t been done in almost 10 years.

Many other changes aren’t quite as noticeable but one thing that won’t change is the East holding its own against the West - in everything except population.

Just counting team titles, area schools won 12 and placed in the top four 36 times.

, DataTimes MEMO: You can contact Dave Trimmer by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 5501.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Dave Trimmer The Spokesman-Review