Some Mid-Columbia sports leagues will look different under a new Washington reclassification

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association released the final classifications for 2020-24.

For the first time, the WIAA factored in the free and reduced lunch counts into the process.

A school with a free and reduced lunch rate greater than the state average of 47 percent had its enrollment number reduced for each percent that the school exceeded the state rate.

This excluded 1B and 2B classification numbers.

As a result, Walla Walla is dropping from Class 4A to 3A, while Kamiakin moves up from 3A to 4A.

But it won’t change the face of the Mid-Columbia Conference.

Chiawana, Hanford, Kamiakin, Pasco and Richland will be Class 4A in the MCC.

And Hermiston, Kennewick, Southridge and Walla Walla will be 3A.

But all nine schools will remain together in the MCC, playing each other in conference games, only to separate into classifications when post-season play begins.

The big difference is the Greater Spokane League is down to just three 4A schools, meaning there are eight Class 4A schools in District 8.

“We will have eight schools in the 4A (including the GSL), so we will garner at least two berths in state — possibly getting a third berth in one of the years because of the lower number of schools,” said Kamiakin athletic director Casey Gant. “But we won’t see that until they produce allocations.”

What’s interesting is Class 4A will be the smallest classification, as far as schools, when this takes effect next fall.

Class 4A (enrollment of at least 1,300 students, unless a school decided to opt up) will have just 51 schools. That’s still enough to have 16-team state tournaments.

What’s really large is Class 3A (schools with enrollments of 900 to 1299 students, unless a school decides to opt up). There are 79 Class 3A schools starting in the fall.

The GSL will have six 3A schools. Ferris, University and Mead — all currently 4A schools —will become 3A schools, along with Mt. Spokane, Cheney and North Central (although North Central was given the OK by the WIAA to play 2A in football only).

Because of the numbers, District 8’s state playoff berths are up in the air right now.

“The 3A berths to state will be interesting because of the large number of schools across the state,” said Gant.

Outside of playoff berths, everything seems to remain static with this region’s large-school league.

Where it gets interesting is the smaller-school leagues around here.

2A Central Washington Athletic Conference

The 10-school league is dropping down to seven: East Valley of Yakima, Ellensburg, Ephrata, Grandview, Othello, Prosser and Selah.

Quincy, Toppenish and Wapato are dropping down to 1A.

“Hopefully, the CWAC will get two state allocations each year,” said Grandview athletic director Scot Parrish. “I believe the GNL (Great Northern League) has six teams. They may request to continue gluing with us if we have two allocations each year.”

Class 2A is considered schools with enrollment numbers between 450 and 899 (unless a school decides to opt up). With 62 schools in that classification, that’s enough to hold 16-team state tournaments.

1A South Central Athletic Conference

The SCAC is dropping from 14 schools it currently has down to 10.

Connell athletic director Stephen Pyeatt says the SCAC will maintain an east division and a west division.

The East will consist of College Place, Connell, Kiona-Benton, Royal and Wahluke.

The West will be La Salle, Naches Valley, Toppenish, Wapato and Zillah.

As far as football and basketball, “no crossover games count toward league standings,” said Pyeatt. “If we have nine or less schools in a sport, then we will have one league.”

Class 1A schools number 60 for the new period, and consist of enrollments of 225 to 449 (unless a school has decided to opt up). Class 1A will also have 16-team state tournaments.

2B Eastern Washington Athletic Conference

The EWAC is expanding to 13 schools, said Jay Aune, Columbia-Burbank athletic director.

“These will be two divisions,” said Aune.

In the East, it will consist of Columbia-Burbank, Dayton/Waitsburg, River View (dropping down from 1A), Tri-Cities Prep, Warden (also dropping down from 1A), and Walla Walla Valley Academy.

The West lineup is Cle Elum-Roslyn, Goldendale, Granger, Highland (all four dropping down from 1A), Kittitas/Thorp, Mabton and White Swan.

“Since WWVA does not have football, Mabton will move to the East for football only,” Aune added.

Crossover contests between East and West teams are not expected to count in the conference standings.

A total of 61 statewide schools are in Class 2B (schools with enrollment figures between 105 and 224), which means there will be 16-team state tournaments.

Class 1B question

There are 85 schools in the state that will be considered Class 1B (schools with enrollment numbers between 1 and 104). That alone would normally allow the 1B classification to hold 24-team state tournaments.

But many 1B schools don’t have sports teams, so it’s more likely to be 16-team state tournaments.

Among the schools in the Mid-Columbia that will be Class 1B are DeSales and Liberty Christian (both dropping out of the 2B EWAC), Prescott, Riverside Christian, Sunnyside Christian, Touchet and Yakama Tribal.

School athletic directors are still exploring how the leagues around here will work.

“We are still in communication with leagues regarding where everything is going to fall and where all the teams are going to end up league-wise,” said DeSales athletic director Nick Hazeltine.

“Right now there are still schools and leagues forming and taking shape, so we should have a more concrete answer in the next month or so on where everything will fall.”