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Posts Tagged ‘WIAA’

La Conner appeals to play 1B football

Posted in Football, tagged , , , , on January 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Wolf fans keep an eye on all the gossip from La Conner. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The twists and turns keep coming.

With the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association currently conducting the process to classify schools for sports competition between 2024-2028, the Northwest 2B/1B League will likely look different next fall.

Not necessarily in terms of schools being added or subtracted, but in how the current occupants line up.

Projected numbers indicate Mount Vernon Christian and Orcas Island will move up from 1B to 2B, joining Coupeville, Friday Harbor, and La Conner, while Concrete and Darrington will remain at 1B.

Going from a 3-4 lineup to a 5-2 one helps 2B schools as it increases playoff opportunities in most sports.

Now, though, there’s another quirk, as La Conner has appealed to play down for football.

The Braves, who are a traditional gridiron powerhouse, have struggled in recent seasons, both in terms of wins and losses and roster numbers.

Schools can opt to play above their classification in any sport, but can play down only in football, and only if approved by the WIAA.

La Conner’s bid to move its pigskin program to 1B was confirmed by Coupeville High School Athletic Director Willie Smith, who is the President of the NWL.

Appeals will be heard Jan. 18-19, with the WIAA approving the full 2024-2028 plan Jan. 21.

After that leagues can set schedules, add or subtract schools, and get all their various plans hashed out ahead of the start of the 2024-2025 school year in August.

If La Conner’s appeal to play as a 1B football program is successful, it will leave Coupeville and Friday Harbor as the only 2B schools playing the sport in the current NWL lineup.

While Orcas and MVC are slated to move up, neither field a gridiron team, opting to focus on boys’ soccer instead.

With three 2B teams playing football previously, one earned a ticket to the state tourney. That will remain in effect, barring the NWL adding any other 2B football-playing members to its current lineup.

Darrington and Concrete, the league’s remaining 1B schools, play eight-man football. If La Conner is approved to join them, it’s likely the Braves will also pull three players from the field for future games.

How that would affect the status of future games with Coupeville is unknown at this time.

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Our computer overlords can’t agree

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville High School Principal Geoff Kappes anxiously awaits the next round of computerized basketball rankings. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

I trust the baby more than the bureaucrats.

As we head into the new year, the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball team sits at a spiffy 7-2, with its losses coming against always-tough non-conference foes Toledo and Kittitas.

But different computers view the Wolves in different ways.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, whose wheezing ‘n huffing computer recently had a team ranked #1 with a 1-0 record for a win it didn’t actually own, puts Brad Sherman’s squad at #11 among 2B schools.

Evans Rankings, however, is the gold standard for numbers crunchers in the state — especially now that the heir to the throne, wee whippersnapper Carter, has arrived to keep an eagle eye on things — and it places the Wolves at #9.

Both sites have undefeated Lake Roosevelt atop the standings at the moment.

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Get that sweet, sweet WIAA cash!

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on December 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Don’t leave money sitting on the table.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association is offering three $5,000 scholarships and 12 $1,000 scholarships to graduating seniors.

The Smart Choices Scholarship Program, which honors Class of 2024 students for athletics/activities, leadership, academics, and community service, is funded by Gesa Credit Union, the Dairy Farmers of Washington, and Les Schwab Tires.

Applications are due by Mar. 15, 2024.

To be eligible, you need to be a full-time student in grade 12 with a minimum GPA of 3.0.

If you receive a scholarship, you have to enroll as a full-time student at a college, university, community college, trade or vocational school for the 2024 fall semester.

The winners will be determined based on the following formula:

Athletic/Activity Excellence (30%)
Academic Achievement (30%)
Leadership (20%)
Citizenship/Community Service (10%)
Essay Originality/Creativity (5%)
Financial Need (5%)

 

To apply, pop over to:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YDJYSYT

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WIAA rankings favor Wolf boys

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Brad Sherman (right) has the Wolves clicking as they head into back-to-back games in Eastern Washington. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Currently just one of Whidbey’s six varsity high school basketball teams has a winning record.

That’s the Coupeville boys, who sit at 6-1 and are ranked #9 in 2B by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s RPI formula.

The “Rating Percentage Index,” a hotly debated topic, is “one of the tools utilized by the seeding committees to determine first round bracket pairings into the state tournaments.”

It’s also great for starting arguments, as when it puts Pacific Christian Academy (1-0) at #1 in 1B boys, over Cusick (8-0), Wellpinit (6-0), or Clallam Bay (6-0).

Especially since there’s virtually no info for PCA online, and its one supposed win, over South Eugene Dec. 15, is credited to an entirely different school — Pacifica Christian/Orange County — on MaxPreps.

But back to Coupeville, where the Wolves are a legit 6-1, with their only loss to Toledo, currently 2B’s #19 team.

Colfax (7-0) sits atop the 2B RPI, with Coupeville’s Northwest 2B/1B League mates La Conner at #25 and Friday Harbor at #31.

On the 1B side of things, Mount Vernon Christian is #29, Orcas Island #32, Concrete #36, and Darrington #50.

Whidbey’s other two high schools?

South Whidbey (1-5) is #57 in 1A, while Oak Harbor (2-6) is #67 in 3A.

In girls’ action, Rainier (7-0) and Neah Bay (5-1) are #1 in 2B and 1B respectively.

Coupeville (3-5) sits at #35 in 2B, with La Conner at #28 and Friday Harbor #49, though that number is skewed for the Wolves, as they are currently credited with a win they don’t actually own.

The score from the CHS vs. FH boys’ game, in favor of the Wolves, was entered twice, while in reality, Coupeville’s girls lost that night.

NWL top dog Mount Vernon Christian (8-1) is the highest-ranked team from the conference at #4 in 1B, with Concrete (#28), Darrington (#31), and Orcas Island (#61) following behind.

South Whidbey (2-5) is #51 in 1A, with Oak Harbor (3-4) at #24 in 3A.

This despite one of those Wildcat losses being to MVC, in a rare case of a 1B school bushwhacking a 3A institution.

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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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