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Alignment next year could look like today's conferencesArizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.05.2008
The latest enrollment numbers for Arizona high schools are in the hands of the Arizona Interscholastic Association. Those figures will be used to group high schools by size into seven conferences for the next two school years.
A draft of the realignments will be announced this week, but seven local schools are likely to appeal their assignments. They will either ask to play with smaller schools to stay competitive or with larger schools for more of a challenge.
If that happens, Southern Arizona teams could remain in their current regions in the 4A-I, 4A-II, 5A-I and 5A-II conferences. Here's why some schools say they will challenge their placement:
1. Ironwood Ridge, with 1,920 students, has the lowest enrollment of any school in the 5A-II, a conference with a typical school size between 2,250 and 2,300.
The newest enrollment figures may force the Nighthawks back down to the 4A-I level — which would reignite a rivalry with Oro Valley neighbor Canyon del Oro.
"I really won't know what we're doing until we hear from the AIA, but this I can tell you: Before we went up to the 5A, Ironwood Ridge didn't have any state championships. Now we have three, all just last year," IR athletic director Will Kreamer said. "The sense I get is that the coaches are fine with being in the 5A-II and would rather stay up."
2. Salpointe Catholic always appeals to play against the biggest schools in the state, in the 5A-I conference — the largest of all levels — even though the Lancers have 1,192 students and would naturally fall into the 3A classification.
By comparison, 11 of the 28 schools in 5A-I during the last alignment had enrollment figures of more than 3,000, including 3,757 at Mesa High School.
3. Sabino, with 1,373 students, has chosen to stay at the 4A-I level despite having a lower population than four of the seven local 4A-II programs. The average 4A-I school size is 1,800.
"If we end up in the 4A-II by the numbers, we're probably going to request to stay in the 4A-I, same as last time," first-year Sabino athletic director John Kramkowski said. "The coaches here like the fact that state championships are a real test at this level. And we haven't had trouble staying competitive, so success is another factor that points at staying in the 4A-I."
4. For Sahuarita, it is going to be a matter of a newcomer invading its turf. A new high school is planned for the area in the next five years or so, and the new school should cap the enrollment right around the current level: 1,442.
"The new school is going to alleviate some of that crowding, and after that I think we're going to be pretty stable around a 4A-II size," said athletic director Chris Fanning. "In terms of travel, this region is the right fit. And we're getting more competitive every year."
5. Palo Verde won its first football state championship since 1973 when it dropped to 4A-II in 2005, and the Titans have been contenders in various sports every year since.
6. Pueblo is large enough to be a 5A-II school but is not quite ready competitively to make that leap in most sports.
The Warriors were last year's 4A-I wrestling state champions, but a move up to 5A-II would mean they would have to go toe-to-toe with a nationally renowned program in South Side rival Sunnyside. That's not a tantalizing proposition.
In 2006, Pueblo successfully appealed down from 5A-II to remain in 4A-I.
7. Desert View is one of only five schools in Southern Arizona with an enrollment that tops 2,000 students. But the Jaguars are similar to Pueblo; competitive but not prepared to advance upward.
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