YAKIMA -- A vote Thursday by Columbia Basin Big Nine principals will result in a dramatic restructuring of the CBBN beginning in fall 2012.
The new structure of the CBBN will feature two 4A/3A divisions -- North and South -- designed to cut travel costs and students' time away from school, and encourage friendly rivalries between schools within each division.
"There was emotional discussion for everybody involved, but it was a discussion we had to have, and we got through it," Hanford principal Ken Gosney said.
Gosney said discussion leading up to the vote, held at West Valley High School, lasted between 11/2-2 hours.
"Not everybody was happy, but everybody was very professional in the way they handled it," he said.
The CBBN South Division will feature eight schools: Chiawana, Hanford, Kamiakin, Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, Southridge and Walla Walla. The North Division will feature Eastmont, Eisenhower, Davis, Moses Lake, Sunnyside, Wenatchee and West Valley.
The current structure of the CBBN includes a seven-team 4A division and an eight-team 3A division.
"With every model, there are pros and cons. There has yet to be a model presented that everybody was happy with. A lot of that is based on geography," Gosney said. "One of the driving factors was to have a consistent model that fans can understand."
From fall 2006 until spring 2009, the CBBN operated under a similar structure in which one mixed-class league of 4A/3A teams were split into two divisions -- the Columbia and Cascade. However, there was no attempt at a regional grouping.
w Jack Millikin; 582-1406; jmillikin@tricityherald.com
