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Archive for the ‘Classification’ Category

Embrace that 2B life, Wolves

Posted in Classification, tagged , , , , on January 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville Athletic Director Willie Smith contemplates a future in which his school will have increased playoff opportunities. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Get comfortable, cause no one is going anywhere.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association finalized its classification numbers Sunday for the 2024-2028 cycle, and the seven-team Northwest 2B/1B League won’t be affected at all.

Well, a little bit, but in a pro-Coupeville way.

The Wolves, Friday Harbor, and La Conner remain as 2B schools, while Mount Vernon Christian and Orcas Island go from 1B to 2B.

Darrington and Concrete remain as 1B institutions.

With the NWL going from a league where 1B schools held the edge at 4-3, to one where 2B schools now dominate 5-2, will increase playoff opportunities in most sports for the bigger schools.

So, a positive for Coupeville, which has the largest student body in the league.

Now, the change won’t affect football, as MVC and Orcas don’t practice the dark arts of the gridiron, but God’s Chosen Sport — basketball — will definitely benefit.

When setting numbers, the WIAA takes into consideration each school’s free and reduced lunches, though it calls that “Direct Cert” now.

If a school has a rate greater than the state average of 34%, its enrollment number is reduced, with a cap at 40%.

Two NWL schools — La Conner and Concrete — had their numbers adjusted for this reason.

Schools with an adjusted student body of 1-104 land in 1B, with 105-224 calling 2B home.

Going forward, there are 54 schools in 2B and 105 in 1B.

For those that care, the other numbers are 60 schools in 4A, 73 in 3A, 63 in 2A, and 55 in 1A.

Whidbey Island’s two other schools, Oak Harbor (1,179.88 students) and South Whidbey (273.63) remain 3A and 1A schools in the next cycle.

Where NWL schools currently sit:

Coupeville — 192.50
Friday Harbor — 185.63
Mount Vernon Christian — 134.63
Orcas Island — 123.00
La Conner — 108.36 adjusted from 129.00
Concrete — 87.31 adjusted from 93.88
Darrington — 85.38

The next classification cycle begins in August and runs through the 2027-2028 school year, assuring current Coupeville Middle School 8th graders will be 2B athletes for the entirety of their high school careers.

 

To crunch all the numbers, pop over to:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10QWzZeJ2LOeHhIMS3waPTz7SXEAXWWHxuUXJ2qI4RAw/edit#gid=0

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More 2B, less 1B?

Posted in Classification, tagged , , , , on December 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »

All these Coupeville students will play their high school athletic days in the 2B classification. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Nothing is official yet, but it looks like the Northwest 2B/1B League is shifting from a conference led by 1B schools to one dominated by 2B institutions.

If so, that’s a win for Coupeville.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association reclassifies schools every four years, with the next cycle covering 2024-2028.

The first numbers were released Tuesday, and they show Coupeville, Friday Harbor, and La Conner remaining as 2B schools, with the latter barely squeaking through.

At the same time, Mount Vernon Christian and Orcas Island will likely move up from 1B to 2B, leaving just Darrington and Concrete as 1B schools.

With the NWL going from a 3-4 setup to a 5-2 setup in favor of its larger schools, that creates increased playoff opportunities for the 2B schools.

The state’s classifications place schools with 1-104 students in 1B, and 105-224 in 2B.

To determine classification, the WIAA takes average enrollment, then applies what it calls “Direct Certification” to account for the number of students in a district eligible for free or reduced lunch.

Two of seven NWL schools — La Conner and Concrete — have a high enough “Direct Certification” number to have their enrollment reduced.

That made it close for La Conner, as, once the reduction was added, it finished just four-and-a-half students above the cutoff for 1B.

La Conner can appeal its classification or petition to play down in football only, and that deadline is Dec. 22.

LHS Athletic Director Christine Tripp declined comment on whether the Braves will opt to go that route.

Appeals will be heard Jan. 18-19, with classification numbers officially approved by the WIAA Executive Board Jan. 21.

The official classification cycle begins Aug. 1, 2024, and covers the next four school years.

Oh, and any hopes of South Whidbey’s enrollment sliding far enough to give it a chance to join Coupeville in the NWL seems like a no-go.

Current numbers have the Langley folks at 273.63 students, which would keep SWHS as one of the smaller 1A schools in the state and likely bound together with rivals like King’s, Granite Falls, and Cedar Park Christian.

And the big school to the North? Oak Harbor is at 1,179.88 students, which keeps it firmly in 3A.

 

Average enrollment for NWL schools as of Dec. 5:

Coupeville — 192.50
Friday Harbor — 185.63
Mount Vernon Christian — 134.63
Orcas Island — 123.00
La Conner — 108.36 (129.00 pre adjustment)
Concrete — 87.31 (93.88 pre adjustment)
Darrington — 85.38

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Coupeville’s move to 2B set in stone

Posted in Classification, tagged , , , , on January 26, 2020| Leave a Comment »

“We’re going to 2B. It’s right over there!” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It’s official-official.

Coupeville High School will leave the 1A classification behind and drop to 2B beginning with the 2020-2021 school year.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association finalized classification numbers Sunday, locking in state schools for the 2020-2024 cycle.

After years of being one of the smallest 1A schools, Coupeville will now be the fifth-biggest out of 61 schools in the 2B classification.

With an adjusted enrollment of 206 students in grades 9-11, CHS trails just Okanogan (212.03), Kittitas-Thorp (212.12), Kalama (217), and Goldendale (224.73).

In years past, the WIAA attempted to keep the number of schools in each classification, which run from 4A down to 1B, fairly even in size.

That meant Coupeville, despite having 2B numbers, was bumped up to pad out the bottom of 1A.

Things changed this time around, however, as the WIAA has gone to hard numbers. This time around, if you fall between 105 and 224 students, you’re 2B and no one can move you.

After numbers were finalized Sunday, the classifications for 2020-2024 will be:

4A — 1300+ students — 51 schools
3A — 900-1299 students — 79 schools
2A — 450-899 students — 62 schools
1A — 225-449 students — 60 schools
2B — 105-224 students — 61 schools
1B — 1-104 students — 85 schools

One other change is the number of state tournament entries per classification.

For 4A, 2A, 1A, and 2B, it will remain 16 teams.

Under new guidelines, 3A will have 20 state entries, while 1B will have 24, in an effort to give the same percentage of schools a chance to qualify in each classification.

With the drop to 2B, Coupeville leaves the 1A North Sound Conference after this school year and returns to its former stomping grounds, the Northwest 2B/1B League.

Their new/old rivals will be La Conner, Darrington, Concrete, Orcas Island, Friday Harbor, and Mount Vernon Christian.

Coupeville, La Conner, and Friday Harbor will be 2B, while the other four league schools will be 1B schools.

Whidbey Island’s other two schools, South Whidbey and Oak Harbor, remain in the same classifications as before – 1A and 3A, respectively.

 

To see the 2020-2024 classifications, pop over to:

http://wiaa.com/ardisplay.aspx?ID=1898

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2B or not 2B?!?!

Posted in Classification, tagged , , on January 9, 2014| 5 Comments »

Will Gabe Wynn's sophomore and junior season be as a 1A player or as a 2B player? (John Fisken photo)

   Will Coupeville High School be a very small 1A school or a big 2B school during Gabe Wynn’s sophomore and junior seasons? (John Fisken photo)

Alright. Which underclassman at Coupeville High School is willing to lose an arm or a leg?

Seriously. That’s the difference right now between the Wolves being the smallest 1A school in Washington state or the largest 2B school — .10 of a student.

We sit 18 days away from the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association finalizing classification numbers for 2014-2016, and the numbers released on their web site Wednesday show Coupeville with 225 students (counting freshman to juniors).

The cutoff for 2B is 224.9.

So, if the enrollment numbers are stamped and certified Jan. 27, Coupeville will be tied with Columbia (Burbank) as the smallest of 64 schools in the 1A division (which runs from 225-471.9).

They would also remain in the Cascade Conference, a 1A/2A league where the next smallest school, King’s, has 368 students, and the biggest, Cedarcrest, has 691.

You can add Coupeville and King’s student body together and still be almost 100 students short of the Red Wolves.

Current numbers for the Cascade Conference:

Cedarcrest — 691
Lakewood — 554
Granite Falls — 491
Sultan — 428
South Whidbey — 398
Archbishop Thomas Murphy — 369
King’s 368
Coupeville — 225

Cedarcrest, Lakewood and Granite Falls are 2A and ATM opts up (a school can play above its enrollment, but not below), while Sultan will drop to 1A, joining South Whidbey, King’s and Coupeville.

Now, of course, King’s and ATM are private schools, can offer scholarships to student athletes from outside their school districts and, surprise, are generally the most successful of the Cascade Conference teams at producing sports champions.

I am shocked by that. Shocked I say.

If CHS officials choose to appeal, however, they could join Warden (224) as the largest of what would than be 60 schools at the 2B level.

It would also mean a move out of the Cascade Conference, with the most logical landing spot being their old stomping grounds in the Northwest League. If, and it’s a big if, that league is open to such a move.

That league currently has one 1A school (Friday Harbor), four 2B schools (La Conner, Darrington, Concrete, Orcas Island) and three 1B schools (Mount Vernon Christian, Shoreline Christian, Cascade Park Christian-MTL).

Might I be the first to propose a straight-up swap?

If Friday Harbor is still 1A — and their numbers seem to be missing from the WIAA site, or I’m blind — move them into the Cascade Conference, and send Coupeville back to the Northwest League.

Bam. Done. Both leagues are still eight teams, and, in the case of the Wolves, they get a shot in the arm.

Numbers do not tell the whole story. Schools with smaller student bodies can, and do, beat big schools. La Conner has 164 students and is the gold standard for athletic excellence.

Coupeville, which has struggled mightily as the smallest school, might not immediately become a powerhouse if they’re the largest.

But, it would give them a fighting chance.

In a sport like football, when the big schools can roll 60-70 players off the bus — all weight-room-carved juniors and seniors (if there’s a freshman, you know he’s a beast) and Coupeville has to call on every 110-pound ninth grader they have to barely top 30 players, something is askew.

The answer, to me at least (and I am usually short on facts and quick on half-cocked opinions) is to move back down, if at all possible.

Let’s go back to 2B and give the Wolf athletes a more level playing field.

WIAA numbers (as of Jan. 8) — http://www.wiaa.com/subcontent.aspx?SecID=1039

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