In advance of the first quarterly meeting of the Wyoming High School Activities Association’s Board of Directors on Sept. 29-30 in Casper, the WHSAA has released the enrollment numbers it will use to classify schools for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 sports seasons to the state’s high schools.

And the potential changes are numerous.

Although larger changes could be made to the classification structures of various sports — such as changing the number of schools in each classification — the following changes are on tap if no such changes are made:

Football

Class 4A and Class 3A will remain the same.

Class 2A will see Moorcroft jump back into the classification after two years in Class 1A 11-man. WHSAA Commissioner Ron Laird said via email to wyoming-football.com that Moorcroft has filed a petition to stay in Class 1A 11-man. Even if it’s approved, such a move might make the Wolves ineligible for the postseason.

Class 1A 11-man will see Wright come down from Class 2A to take Moorcroft’s prior place in 1A.

Riverside will be the 11th-largest Class 1A 11-man school but has asked to play six-man. Lingle, meanwhile, is the 14th-largest 11-man school but has also asked to play down in six-man. Class 1A 11-man’s size is designated as 14 schools.

Previously, when schools have asked to opt down a classification, if the WHSAA approved the option, those schools have been ineligible for the playoffs.

Cokeville, which came in 51st place — just below the cutoff for 11-man football — opted up to Class 1A 11-man again, Laird said.

Burlington, meanwhile, will be below the six-man/11-man cutoff and will move to six-man, coach Aaron Papich said via email Thursday.

Upton and Sundance are slated to continue their co-op for football, Laird said. Laird also said the Patriots’ playoff eligibility for the 2016 season won’t be determined until hard enrollment figures come in prior to that school year. Their decision to join football programs will not affect the classification of any other schools.

Other sports

Other sports will see significant shifts, too.

Jackson has supplanted Riverton as the state’s 12th-largest school and, because of that, will be scheduled to enter Class 4A for all sports except football in the fall of 2016. The difference between Jackson (742.26) and Riverton (741.70) ended up being less than one student.

Thermopolis and Lyman are scheduled to move from Class 2A to Class 3A, while Glenrock and Lovell are scheduled to move from Class 3A to Class 2A.

Upton is scheduled to move from Class 1A to Class 2A, while Saratoga is scheduled to move from Class 2A to Class 1A.

Gillette’s new school

The ADM figures do not account for the proposed second high school in Gillette, which is tentatively scheduled to open in the fall of 2017.

Districts

Tentative district alignments set by the WHSAA are as follows, as noted in information provided to the schools:

Football
4A and 3A: Unchanged
2A East: Wheatland, Newcastle, Thermopolis, Moorcroft, Glenrock, Big Horn, Burns.
2A West: Pinedale, Mountain View, Lyman, Lovell, Big Piney, Kemmerer, Greybull.
1A 11-man East: Tongue River, Wright, Upton/Sundance, Pine Bluffs, Southeast, Lusk.
1A 11-man West: Wyoming Indian, Rocky Mountain, Wind River, Shoshoni, Saratoga, Cokeville.
1A six-man East: Lingle, Guernsey, NSI, Midwest, Hanna, Hulett, Kaycee, Rock River.
1A six-man West: Riverside, Burlington, Dubois, Snake River, Farson, St. Stephens, Meeteetse, Ten Sleep.

Non-football
4A East: Gillette, Cheyenne East, Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne South, Laramie, Sheridan.
4A West: Kelly Walsh, Natrona, Rock Springs, Evanston, Green River, Jackson.
3A East: Douglas, Rawlins, Worland, Torrington, Buffalo, Wheatland, Newcastle, Thermopolis.
3A West: Riverton, Star Valley, Cody, Lander, Powell, Pinedale, Mountain View, Lyman.
2A East: Moorcroft, Glenrock, Burns, Big Horn, Tongue River, Wright, Sundance, Pine Bluffs, Southeast, Lusk, Upton.
2A West: Lovell, Big Piney, Kemmerer, Greybull, Wyoming Indian, Rocky Mountain, Wind River, Shoshoni, Riverside.
1A East: Lingle, Guernsey, NSI, Midwest, Hanna, Hulett, Kaycee, Rock River, Arvada-Clearmont, Glendo, Chugwater.
1A West: Saratoga, Cokeville, Burlington, Dubois, Snake River, Farson, St. Stephens, Encampment, Meeteetse, Ten Sleep.
(North and South conferences for non-football sports will be set by participating schools in 3A, 2A and 1A.)

+++

The “Average Daily Membership” enrollment numbers for grades 9-12, rounded to the nearest full number:

  1. Gillette, 2,519
  2. Kelly Walsh, 1,893
  3. Natrona, 1,870
  4. Rock Springs, 1,588
  5. Cheyenne East, 1,541
  6. Cheyenne South, 1,340
  7. Cheyenne Central, 1,267
  8. Laramie, 1,066
  9. Sheridan, 965
  10. Evanston, 857
  11. Green River, 837
  12. Jackson, 742
  13. Riverton, 742
  14. Star Valley, 724
  15. Cody, 613
  16. Douglas, 522
  17. Lander, 520
  18. Powell, 514
  19. Rawlins, 492
  20. Worland, 415
  21. Torrington, 361
  22. Buffalo, 332
  23. Pinedale, 299
  24. Wheatland, 272
  25. Mountain View, 236
  26. Newcastle, 224
  27. Thermopolis, 215
  28. Lyman, 210
  29. Lovell, 204
  30. Moorcroft, 193
  31. Big Piney, 192
  32. Glenrock, 191
  33. Burns, 187
  34. Kemmerer, 177
  35. Greybull, 174
  36. Big Horn, 159
  37. Tongue River, 150
  38. Wyoming Indian, 146
  39. Wright, 145
  40. Rocky Mountain, 125
  41. Wind River, 120
  42. Sundance, 118
  43. Pine Bluffs, 111
  44. Southeast, 108
  45. Lusk, 106
  46. Shoshoni, 106
  47. Riverside, 90
  48. Upton, 87
  49. Saratoga, 85
  50. Lingle, 83
  51. Cokeville, 78
  52. Guernsey-Sunrise, 71
  53. Burlington, 67
  54. NSI, 65
  55. Midwest, 55
  56. Arapaho Charter, 53
  57. Hanna, 52
  58. Dubois, 51
  59. Hulett, 49
  60. Snake River, 48
  61. Farson, 48
  62. Fort Washakie, 48
  63. St. Stephens, 45
  64. Kaycee, 45
  65. Encampment, 44
  66. Rock River, 32
  67. Meeteetse, 32
  68. Arvada-Clearmont, 30
  69. Ten Sleep, 27
  70. Glendo, 19
  71. Chugwater, 13

–patrick

Edited 8:10 a.m. Sept. 18 to fix a typo in Burns’ ADM.

7 Thoughts on “Reclassification numbers for 2016-17 released to schools

  1. Well conceived, very comprehensive and it all flows nicely. Just what we always expect from you, Patrick, and you always deliver! Thanks!

  2. Thanks, Mark! I appreciate hearing that.

    –patrick

  3. Mike Williams on September 18, 2015 at 1:22 pm said:

    IS there any discussion of going to a format where you go to 14 teams in each classification for football? This would leave a total of 15 teams in 6 man but each of the other classifications would have two conferences of 7 teams each. Seems like it would even things out a little more. Plus, I would think it would be a lot better because those schools would be in the same classification for all sports. I never have understood how it can be fair to be 3A in everything but football.

  4. Hi Mike,

    I haven’t heard any of those rumors, but it’s an interesting idea. It also sounds like you’re suggesting five classes for all sports, not just for football — an idea the WHSAA rejected a few years ago after delaying reclassification for a year. I’d say the WHSAA isn’t interested in pursuing that idea again any time soon.

    –patrick

  5. dogger backer on September 22, 2015 at 10:39 am said:

    I find it interesting that the U/S coop raises their enrollment to over 200 kids. While I understand that the may not reflect the total number of boys in both schools how is it even remotely close to what the rest of 1A 11 man has for enrollment. I think they should be bumped to 2A or split back up and Upton can play up or play 6 man and Sundance can play 1A because of their enrollment of 118. Thoughts?

  6. dogger, I agree with your overall sentiment. The WHSAA tried to close this loophole (last year? two years ago?) but grandfathered in the existing co-ops. A lot of people were upset four years ago when this co-op got set up… and that’s being amplified now because the team is successful.

    This isn’t just a football issue — e.g. how can Burns-Pine Bluffs stay 2A as a cross country co-op? But in Wyoming this is fairly new, especially for football.

    The Upton coaching staff has no interest in six-man. None.

    –patrick

  7. Pingback: Burlington all but one remaining 11-man game, schedules six-man games | WHSFB HQ — The Wyoming high school football blog

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post Navigation