COLORADO SPRINGS — After getting dominated in the third set, Cheyenne Mountain knew it just had to calm down a bit.
The entire league schedule was always going to be a gauntlet, but a win over Class 5A No. 2 Rampart could do wonders for confidence down the road. Cheyenne had already grabbed a win in the second set, so coach Ellen Senf knew her girls were capable of gettin it done. They battled and they rallied and eventually walked away with a 19-25, 25-22, 15-25 25-19, 15-13 win over the Rams.
“Just seeing the rankings and knowing they were No. 2, I think we came out fearful tonight,” Senf said. “But we showed that we can battle no matter what. In a month when we get to the state tournament we’ll look back at this game and know we can battle.”
For both teams, the match is a testament of just how tough the newly constructed Pikes Peak Athletic Conference is in certain sports, volleyball among them. From the 4A side, the last time neither Cheyenne Mountain or Lewis-Palmer claimed the state title was when Mountain View won it in 2007.
Air Academy and Palmer Ridge, also PPAC teams, have also made their way to the state finals, both losing to Lewis-Palmer.
When factoring in 5A schools such as Rampart and Pine Creek, not a night will go by in league competition where teams won’t be tested.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
“It’s great in the fact that we have that competition,” Rampart coach Nikki Bloemen said. “And our regular season being a shortened season, we really only have our league matches and our tournament at the end of the year so if we can see teams like this now, it’s going to benefit us down the road.”
Each team learned valuable lessons at the conclusion of the match. Cheyenne Mountain (4-0 overall, 4-0 5A/4A PPAC) learned that down 2-1 against a hard hitting team doesn’t necessarily spell of the match.
“In that third set everyone got down on themselves,” Cheyenne Mountain hitter Emma Delich said. “Nobody was playing together. They were playing for themselves and not for the team. After that third set, we came together and decided to play together and play for each other. We wanted to show that we care about each point and that we’re in it to win it.”
The Rams (1-1, 1-1) saw how limited they could be in certain spots. Even with a pair of Division I-bound standouts in Riley Simpson and Anjelina Starck, nothing will be given to them.
That was especially the case on Wednesday as Starck was somewhat limited in the match and saw no time in the front row, which is where she thrives for the Rams.
“We can’t get comfortable,” Bloemen said. “I think we were more than capable with the tools we had tonight, we just got comfortable there at the end and we let them back in it. We have to keep the pedal down and that’s something that we’re learning.”
They’ll have plenty of opportunities to learn it. The beauty of the league makeup for now is that four of the top five teams in the 4A CHSAANow.com rankings all reside in the PPAC. And Rampart will see them all, as will Cheyenne Mountain.
Thursday was a great match between two talented squads, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg for the display of volleyball talent the league will showcase this year.
Voted upon by coaches around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings are part of the postseason seeding process.
Class 5A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Chaparral (5)
1-0
154
1
1-0
2
Rampart (5)
1-0
138
3
1-0
3
Valor Christian (1)
0-0
131
4
0-0
4
Cherokee Trail
2-0
130
7
2-0
5
Cherry Creek
1-1
122
5
1-1
6
Grandview (1)
1-1
114
6
1-1
7
Mountain Vista
2-0
107
8
2-0
8
Legend
0-2
105
2
0-2
9
Eaglecrest
2-0
62
14
2-0
10
Fort Collins
0-0
52
8
0-0
11
Ralston Valley
1-0
49
11
1-0
12
Chatfield
0-0
34
15
0-0
13
Highlands Ranch
1-1
30
12
1-1
14
Heritage
2-0
28
–
2-0
15
Pine Creek
1-0
25
–
1-0
Others receiving votes:
Columbine 24, Rock Canyon 20, Pueblo West 17, Broomfield 16, Denver East 14, Regis Jesuit 13, Castle View 12, Liberty 9, Dakota Ridge 7, Rocky Mountain 6, Doherty 5, Arapahoe 4, Lakewood 3, Boulder 3, Ponderosa 2, Fossil Ridge 2, Horizon 1, Douglas County 1
Dropped out
Broomfield (10), Castle View (13)
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Palmer Ridge (11)
1-0
195
2
1-0
2
Cheyenne Mountain
2-0
192
4
2-0
3
Coronado
2-0
190
3
2-0
4
Lewis-Palmer (3)
0-1
159
1
0-1
5
Discovery Canyon
1-1
145
7
1-1
6
Mead
0-0
142
5
0-0
7
Montrose
0-0
92
6
0-0
8
Windsor (1)
0-0
86
10
0-0
9
Erie
0-0
72
8
0-0
10
Niwot
0-0
71
–
0-0
11
Thomas Jefferson
0-0
67
11
0-0
12
Holy Family
0-0
60
13
0-0
13
Pueblo County
1-0
56
8
1-0
14
Woodland Park (1)
1-0
54
15
1-0
15
D’Evelyn
0-0
51
14
0-0
Others receiving votes:
Mullen 31, Frederick 25, Longmont 18, Fort Morgan 18, Thompson Valley 17, Durango 15, Battle Mountain 15, Glenwood Springs 14, Pueblo South 13, Berthoud 12, Pueblo East 12, Roosevelt 8, Weld Central 7, Eagle Valley 6, Littleton 6, The Classical Academy 4, Riverdale Ridge 4, Evergreen 3, Palisade 3, Steamboat Springs 3, Skyview 2, Severance 2, Skyline 2, George Washington 1
Dropped out
Longmont (12)
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Eaton (3)
0-0
244
2
0-0
2
Sterling (10)
0-0
226
1
0-0
3
Lutheran (2)
1-0
219
3
1-0
4
Colorado Springs Christian (2)
0-0
165
4
0-0
5
Alamosa
1-0
162
7
1-0
6
University
0-0
134
6
0-0
7
Faith Christian
1-0
133
8
1-0
8
Lamar
2-0
123
5
2-0
9
Bayfield (1)
0-0
111
11
0-0
10
Platte Valley
0-0
102
8
0-0
11
Resurrection Christian
0-0
85
12
0-0
12
Valley
0-0
65
14
0-0
13
DSST: Montview (1)
1-0
53
10
1-0
14
Coal Ridge
0-0
52
13
0-0
15
Manitou Springs
0-0
42
–
0-0
Others receiving votes:
Prospect Ridge Academy 36, Eagle Ridge Academy 34, Cedaredge 29, Fort Lupton 28, SkyView Academy 28, Delta 27, St. Mary’s 25, Frontier Academy 20, Pagosa Springs 18, Montezuma-Cortez 15, La Junta 15, Strasburg 15, The Academy 14, Centauri 14, Englewood 13, Bishop Machebeuf 13, Peak to Peak 12, Arrupe Jesuit 12, Buena Vista 12, Basalt 11, DSST: College View 10, Bennett 10, Estes Park 10, Colorado Academy 9, Middle Park 8, Lake County 8, James Irwin 7, Roaring Fork 6, DSST: Byers 5, Jefferson 4, St. Mary’s Academy 4, The Vanguard School 3, Highland 3, Grand Valley 3, Kent Denver 1, Salida 1, Ellicott 1
Dropped out
Prospect Ridge Academy (15)
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Denver Christian (9)
0-0
176
1
0-0
2
Limon (1)
0-0
173
2
0-0
3
Wiggins (1)
0-0
154
3
0-0
4
Meeker (1)
2-0
150
5
2-0
5
Fowler
0-0
124
4
0-0
6
Yuma
0-0
92
6
–
7
West Grand
0-0
85
7
0-0
8
Union Colony Prep
0-0
81
8
0-0
9
Dolores
1-1
71
10
1-1
10
Hoehne
0-0
63
13
0-0
11
Del Norte
0-0
61
8
0-0
12
Sedgwick County
0-0
60
11
0-0
13
Dayspring Christian Academy (1)
3-0
54
–
3-0
14
Swink
0-0
45
12
0-0
15
Rocky Ford (1)
0-0
44
14
0-0
Others receiving votes:
Rye 38, Holyoke 30, Sargent 25, Fountain Valley 17, Custer County 16, Gilpin County 14, Clear Creek 13, Wray 10, Soroco 10, Ignacio 10, Vail Mountain 9, Akron 9, Olathe 8, Sanford 8, John Mall 6, Dawson School 5, Telluride 5, Rangely 4, Lyons 3, Platte Canyon 3, Heritage Christian 2, Ridgway 2
Dropped out
Rye (15)
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Fleming (6)
0-0
112
1
0-0
2
Briggsdale (1)
0-0
101
2
0-0
3
Kit Carson
0-0
97
3
0-0
4
Otis
0-0
70
4
0-0
5
Merino (1)
0-0
68
5
0-0
6
Simla
0-0
64
6
0-0
7
Sangre de Cristo
0-0
58
7
0-0
8
Dove Creek
1-0
53
8
1-0
9
South Baca [Campo/Vilas/Pritchett]
0-0
49
8
0-0
10
Springfield
0-0
44
10
0-0
11
La Veta
0-0
40
11
0-0
12
Haxtun
0-0
37
12
0-0
13
Genoa-Hugo/Karval
0-0
36
13
0-0
14
Wiley
0-0
20
14
–
15
McClave
0-0
14
15
0-0
Others receiving votes:
Prairie 13, Kim/Branson 13, Flatirons Academy 13, Weldon Valley 12, Cotopaxi 10, Lone Star 9, Belleview Christian 8, Elbert 6, Shining Mountain 5, Idalia 4, Pikes Peak Christian 3, Nucla 1
Voted upon by coaches around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings are part of the postseason seeding process.
Class 5A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Chaparral (5)
0-0
151
2
Legend (3)
0-0
125
3
Rampart (2)
0-0
122
4
Valor Christian
0-0
117
5
Cherry Creek
0-0
93
6
Grandview
0-0
92
7
Cherokee Trail (1)
0-0
89
8
Fort Collins
0-0
80
9
Mountain Vista
0-0
77
10
Broomfield
0-0
50
11
Ralston Valley
0-0
48
12
Highlands Ranch
0-0
45
13
Castle View
0-0
44
14
Eaglecrest
0-0
36
15
Chatfield
0-0
30
Others receiving votes:
Pine Creek 16, Rock Canyon 14, Arapahoe 13, Loveland 12, Pueblo West 12, Ponderosa 9, Columbine 9, Fossil Ridge 8, Rocky Mountain 7, Heritage 5, Denver East 4, Horizon 4, Liberty 3, Air Academy 2, Fairview 2, Silver Creek 1
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Lewis-Palmer (6)
0-0
155
2
Palmer Ridge (5)
0-0
146
3
Coronado
0-0
133
4
Cheyenne Mountain
0-0
122
5
Mead
0-0
102
6
Montrose
0-0
90
7
Discovery Canyon
0-0
87
8
Pueblo County
0-0
71
9
Erie
0-0
69
10
Windsor
0-0
51
11
Thomas Jefferson
0-0
42
12
Longmont
0-0
34
13
Holy Family
0-0
28
14
D’Evelyn
0-0
24
15
Woodland Park
0-0
20
Others receiving votes:
Glenwood Springs 19, Battle Mountain 15, Eagle Valley 12, Niwot 11, The Classical Academy 11, Thompson Valley 10, Frederick 9, Mullen 9, Evergreen 8, Palisade 7, Durango 7, Wheat Ridge 7, Littleton 6, Berthoud 5, Skyview 4, Centaurus 4, Fort Morgan 2
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Sterling (10)
0-0
238
2
Eaton (1)
0-0
218
3
Lutheran (2)
0-0
188
4
Colorado Springs Christian (1)
0-0
148
5
Lamar
0-0
140
6
University
0-0
136
7
Alamosa
0-0
126
8
Faith Christian
0-0
109
9
Platte Valley
0-0
89
10
DSST: Montview (1)
0-0
68
11
Bayfield
0-0
64
12
Resurrection Christian
0-0
47
13
Coal Ridge
0-0
42
14
Valley
0-0
40
15
Prospect Ridge Academy
0-0
36
Others receiving votes:
SkyView Academy 35, Eagle Ridge Academy 34, Cedaredge 30, Manitou Springs 28, Middle Park 22, Centauri 20, Fort Lupton 18, Peak to Peak 18, Englewood 17, Liberty Common 15, DSST: College View 15, Buena Vista 15, St. Mary’s 14, The Academy 14, Aspen 14, La Junta 14, Bishop Machebeuf 13, Delta 13, Arrupe Jesuit 12, Bennett 11, Estes Park 10, Colorado Academy 10, Montezuma-Cortez 9, Arvada 9, Pagosa Springs 8, Frontier Academy 8, Lake County 8, James Irwin 7, Roaring Fork 6, DSST: Byers 5, St. Mary’s Academy 4, Grand Valley 4, Basalt 3, The Vanguard School 3, Strasburg 2, Ellicott 1, Highland 1, Moffat County 1
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Denver Christian (6)
0-0
108
2
Limon
0-0
107
3
Wiggins
0-0
102
4
Fowler
0-0
88
5
Meeker (1)
0-0
72
6
Yuma
0-0
57
7
West Grand
0-0
54
8
Union Colony Prep
0-0
52
9
Del Norte
0-0
47
10
Dolores
0-0
42
11
Sedgwick County
0-0
28
12
Swink
0-0
25
13
Hoehne
0-0
24
14
Rocky Ford (1)
0-0
23
15
Rye
0-0
22
Others receiving votes:
Holyoke 20, Clear Creek 16, Fountain Valley 15, Ignacio 11, Akron 10, Wray 10, Telluride 8, Dawson School 6, Dayspring Christian Academy 4, Platte Canyon 3, Heritage Christian 2, Lyons 2, Paonia 1, Sanford 1
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Fleming (6)
0-0
112
2
Briggsdale (1)
0-0
101
3
Kit Carson
0-0
97
4
Otis
0-0
70
5
Merino (1)
0-0
68
6
Simla
0-0
64
7
Sangre de Cristo
0-0
58
8
Dove Creek
0-0
53
9
South Baca [Campo/Vilas/Pritchett]
0-0
49
10
Springfield
0-0
44
11
La Veta
0-0
40
12
Haxtun
0-0
37
13
Genoa-Hugo/Karval
0-0
36
14
Wiley
0-0
20
15
McClave
0-0
14
Others receiving votes:
Prairie 13, Kim/Branson 13, Flatirons Academy 13, Weldon Valley 12, Cotopaxi 10, Lone Star 9, Belleview Christian 8, Elbert 6, Shining Mountain 5, Idalia 4, Pikes Peak Christian 3, Nucla 1
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has approved variances for Season C sports, paving the way for those sports to begin practice over the next week.
Sports in Season C include: field hockey, football, gymnastics, boys soccer, unified bowling and girls volleyball. This will mark the first-ever sanctioned season for unified bowling.
Field hockey, gymnastics, boys soccer, unified bowling and girls volleyball begin practice on March 8, and competition on March 15. Football begins practice on March 4 for the 48 teams that did not participate during Season A, and competition on March 18.
CDPHE variance approvals are required for a high school sport season to begin outside of the current participant dial levels. This allows student participants statewide to participate aligned with education-based models.
The complete letter from CDPHE, including information regarding safety implementations mandated by CDPHE for each sport, is available here.
With girls volleyball’s move to the spring, we thought it was a good idea to take a glance at more info about the move.
So we caught up with Bethany Brookens, the assistant commissioner who oversees volleyball, to ask her some questions.
[divider]
Question: What was the reasoning behind moving volleyball to the Season C in March?
Brookens: We worked really hard to try to offer girls volleyball this fall, and I was very optimistic that it would be approved. There are 346 of our 363 member schools that offer girls volleyball. That’s 95 percent of our membership. We wanted to give them an opportunity to fully participate and engage with a sport at the start of school.
With that being said, when we found out on Tuesday that volleyball was not approved to move forward in Season A, we placed it in Season C to maintain consistency with sports that traditionally compete in the same season. So volleyball is with other traditional fall sports, like football, boys soccer and field hockey.
Q: Why wasn’t volleyball placed in another season, such as D, or B?
Bethany Brookens. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
Brookens: When looking where to place volleyball, we had to take a global approach to figure out what was best for all high school participants across the state. The reality is that this is not just about volleyball. Knowing that facility space would be tough, as well as overlap of student-athletes, made the process tricky.
With all the winter sports being moved to Season B, we could not place volleyball there due to a lack of gym space, and the fact that many smaller and rural schools have a high number of basketball players who also play volleyball.
We did look to try to move girls volleyball to Season D, where our traditional spring sports are now offered. We wanted to offer volleyball during a season that would allow girls to have as many opportunities for participation as possible, which aligns with Title IX. If we were to move it to Season D, this would only limit participation opportunities for girls.
There are five other girls sports offered in Season D — most notably, track and field, which is a huge sport for our small schools and rural communities. Again, this is a state-wide decision. We are not just making decisions for metro-area volleyball players.
There are nearly 17,000 girls who play volleyball as part of our school programs across the state. We looked to do what is best for all female student-athletes interested in playing volleyball and all of our sports as a whole. We didn’t want to limit participation opportunities in other high school activities.
Q: What about club volleyball and high school volleyball now sharing a season?
(Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)
Brookens: It’s unfortunate that the main club volleyball season overlaps with Season C. Colorado state law, and our bylaws, allow students to participate in both a high school season and a club season concurrently, with permission from their principal.
With that being said, realistically, it may be tough for some players to do both. I know that club coaches and high school coaches have high expectations for their players, and they should. I do not view us as in competition with club volleyball.
Families and student-athletes may ultimately have to make a choice and a decision that is best for them. We are in the midst of a pandemic, and things are not going to be normal, or fair. We are living through challenging times.
If athletes choose to play club instead of high school this year, we understand their decision. At the same time, this may open up other opportunities for high school student-athletes who may not have had an opportunity to participate for the high school team otherwise.
CHSAA is an organization for all student-participants, not only the high-profile players who may have college opportunities after they graduate.
During the 2019 volleyball season, Sterling had no reason to feel any pressure on its shoulders. It wasn’t the Class 3A defending champion and despite being undefeated during the regular season, wasn’t the team that everyone felt they needed to beat to win a state title.
That’s a big reason why it was the Tigers celebrating and hoisting the championship trophy when all was said and done. They have hopes of of repeating that task, but the reality is they won’t be able to fly under anyone’s radar from here on out.
“Last year, the pressure wasn’t on us,” coach Lisa Schumacher said. “We didn’t have any pressure and we talked about that all the time. We were undefeated and hadn’t dropped a set heading into a match with Eaton and someone would ask what happens if we drop a set? So what? What happens if we lose to Eaton? Doesn’t matter.”
The Tigers dropped a set, but there was no dropping a match that day or any day through the course of the year.
Sterling proved to be a deep overall team through the state tournament. They were led defensively by then-senior Jade Feather who led the team with 587 digs. The team’s only other senior, Paige Pratt, contributed on the defensive effort and added solid service numbers to the Tigers overall statline.
With those two gone, the attention now turns to players such as Allie Schumacher, Aubree Long, Valerie Allen and Harley Gareis who will be entering their senior seasons. They’ll be flanked by a talented junior class which includes hitters Sydney Henry, Kaylee Johnson and Emerie Rios.
Each player has their own strength on the floor. Coach Schumacher cites serve receiving as one of the team’s biggest strengths this year, but defense and hitting will have to play roles if the Tigers want to defend their title.
“It all has to mesh together,” Henry said. “We couldn’t (hit or pass) without our serve receive or defense.”
A shift in mentality is also going to play a key role for the team. As they built momentum last year, it was very clear that the Tigers enjoyed the thrill of the hunt when it came to closing out the season with a championship win.
The tables will be turned when everyone returns to the floor as opponents will be hunting the big cats rather than being hunted by them.
“It’s different because last year we seemed liked the underdogs,” Allie Schumacher said. “We had to fight our way through and now we’re considered to be on top. The biggest thing is we have to not get in over our heads and keep that underdog mentality.”
Hanging on to that mentality can play a key role in Sterling battling to stay at or close to the top of the 3A volleyball world for a few years. The majority of the players return to the team and they’ve now seen what it takes to survive the grind of the regular season, regionals and an intense state atmosphere at the Denver Coliseum.
“We try to spend a lot of time in our own gym preparing,” Coach Schumacher said. “We know what it takes to play in our league and we know what it takes to compete against the other teams in our state.”
The Tigers showed they could compete and win last year. This year, they’ll have to do the same thing, only this time it will be every team in the state hunting for them.
One look at an activity log for either Kate or Anna Griffin and one thing is clear and obvious: Neither one seems to crave downtime.
The (non-identical) twins are constantly busy whether it’s on the athletic fields, in the classroom or volunteering for their community. They do it all and they do it all very well.
And they mostly do it at different schools. Anna spent her high school days at Coronado where she played volleyball and tennis. She qualified for the Class 4A state tennis tournament three times and helped the Cougars reach the 4A volleyball semifinals this previous fall.
Like her sister, Kate is a multi-sport athlete, only she competes at the Colorado Springs School after figuring out that she preferred a small-school environment. Kate runs cross country, plays basketball and in the spring plays both tennis and golf. As the Kodiaks don’t have a golf team, Kate played for Coronado.
She took 12th at the 2019 2A girls state cross country meet before placing third at the 3A girls tennis tournament and turning around less than two weeks later to take sixth at state golf.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
“She excels at every sport but she has more accolades in golf, tennis and cross country over her career,” CSS girls basketball coach and athletic director Vicki Vaughn said. “She was all-state in all three of those sports, but basketball always resonated with her because of the team aspect.”
That right there is the true spirit of both Griffin sisters. They prioritize others over self and that’s especially true outside of athletics.
They’re both members of the National Honor Society and spent countless hours volunteering for their schools and communities.
“It’s definitely something I thought about right when I joined CSS,” Kate said. “At a private school, academics always come first. Community service is a requirement but it’s very important to me. It wasn’t all that challenging to figure out I needed to balance athletics as well as being involved in the community and the school.”
It runs in the family.
Anna takes the same approach at Coronado. She likes taking a leadership mentality to the volleyball and tennis courts and uses that same approach to better the world around her. It’s a heavy burden for a high school student to take on, but as she’s progressed in athletics and activities, it’s clear that it’s part of who she is, not what she does.
(Photo courtesy of Lisa Voight)
“Going into high school through sports, that’s something I wanted to do by being a team captain or even just as a freshman on the JV team,” Anna said. “That translated through my service. Being a part of NHS or NCL — which is the National Charity League — we did a lot of community service.”
A lot of that community service was was done through the John Zay Guest House which she quickly proclaimed to be her favorite charity.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of how busy both sisters are is how they can balance every task on their plate and do it at a high level.
“It takes somebody very driven and motivated to maintain that balance and focus on important things like that,” former Coronado volleyball coach Crissy Leonhardt said. “She has it. She’s that kid. She’s a go-getter. When she puts her mind to something she’ll get it done and she will do it right.”
The one thing she had yet to do, and was on the verge of this spring, was sharing the playing field with her sister. Kate originally devoted most of her time to golf and for their senior year, she wanted Anna to join the team with her.
“She was pretty convincing,” Anna said. “I had talked to the golf coach a little bit about it and she was edging me to do it and I was pretty close. There’s a very good chance I would’ve been on the golf team.”
Which would’ve meant splitting time between golf and tennis. But not to worry because Kate had that blueprint all worked out.
Kate’s only intention was to add to it and had planned on playing soccer for Colorado Springs School as well as tennis while also competing for Coronado’s golf team.
“It’s kind of just become muscle memory,” Kate said of keeping her activities and school work all in line.
Although they didn’t get to share time on the golf course together, they have four years of shared experiences ahead of them. Both girls will attend Colorado State and study bio sciences.
And it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them find their way to some sort of athletic competition whether it’s intramurals, club or even somehow varsity.
If they’ve shown anything these last four years, it’s that they can find time to carve out for any activity they want.
The CHSAA Legislative Council met virtually for the first time in its 99-year history on Friday.
They voted on more than 50 items, and made a number of changes to the Association’s bylaws, which impacted things from alignment to the transfer rule. We have rounded up most of those changes here.
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Two classes of hockey
(PaulDiSalvoPhotography.com)
Hockey will split into two classifications, beginning with the 2020-21 season.
The two-class split, which was recommended by the hockey committee during its meeting in February, places 20 teams into Class 5A, and 17 in 4A. The committee used a variety of factors to place teams from bylaw 1500.21, including enrollment, geography, competitive history, competitive balance, participation rate, and the entry or selection process that places an athlete at a program.
The committee recognized the need for two classes because there isn’t much, if any, parity in the sport. Over the past four years, only 14 different schools have advanced to the quarterfinals of the state tournament. Hockey currently has 37 teams.
Hockey will use the CHSAA Seeding Index to seed its two state tournaments: RPI, MaxPreps, and the CHSAANow coaches poll.
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New seeding criteria for 5A basketball
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
An amendment during the meeting changed the seeding criteria that 4A and 5A basketball will use for their state tournaments: The two classes will now use a combination of the RPI standings, MaxPreps rankings and the CHSAANow coaches pool — bringing them in line with what a number of other sports are now using.
1A will also use the same criteria, but will also use the Packard Ratings.
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2A baseball changes postseason
(Lisa Hayes/StillOfTheMomentPhotography.com)
The 2A baseball postseason will now mirror what is done in 3A, 4A and 5A, with a 32-team regional bracket. All teams will qualify for the bracket via the RPI standings, and seeded by RPI. The top eight seeds will host regionals, and seeds Nos. 20-32 can be moved for geographic reasons.
The state tournament also got an overhaul, and will move to an eight-team single-elimination bracket. Previously, 2A had a 16-team bracket.
With this change, 2A schools can now schedule 23 games.
Baseball also created a game minimum to be able to qualify for the postseason: 12 games in 1A, 17 in 2A and 3A, 19 in 4A and 5A.
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New field hockey tournament
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
In an effort to help the growth of the sport, the state field hockey tournament will expand from eight teams to 12.
The top six seeds will receive a bye while the next six will compete in a play-in bracket.
In one of those brackets, No. 9 and No. 12 will play, with the winner playing No. 8. The winner of that game will face No. 1.
In the other bracket, No. 10 and No. 11 will play, with the winner facing No. 7. The winner of that game will face the No. 2 overall seed.
During that same round, the No. 4 and No. 5 seed will play, with No. 3 and No. 6 also playing.
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The transfer rule
A number of proposals involved the transfer rule. Among the changes which passed:
An adjustment to clarify that a student doesn’t have to transfer from a member school, in or out of state, in order for the rule to apply.
A proposal better explained the transfer consequence for transferring to another school, and a return to the original school — also known as an A-B-A transfer. Specifically, a student who transfers from School A, transfers to School B and plays at School B, and the returns to School A, will only be eligible for sub-varsity competition at School A in the sports they participated in at School B for 365 days.
A new bylaw passed allowing for students to participate with “restricted varsity eligibility during the regular season” if their high school does not offer a JV team, or if their school doesn’t allow seniors to play on sub-varsity teams.
The definition of a hardship was rewritten to read: “‘Hardship’ means a situation, condition or event which must impost a severe non-athletic burden upon the student or his/her family and require a transfer of schools. This does not include the personal or initial choice of enrollment and/or participation.”
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Notables:
The alignments for sports were finalized with the approval of each sports report. Those new alignments will be posted in the near future.
The season of sport was changed in boys swimming, allowing for those championships to be moved up a week and have their own spotlight.
6-man and 8-man football will use the same four data points of seeding that was used in 1A-5A this season.
In 5A football, all playoff games will be hosted by the higher seed.
1A girls volleyball will move from districts to regionals. The sport will also require that all teams play a minimum of 18 matches against member schools and varsity opponents in order to qualify for the postseason.
Boys volleyball will have one classification during its inaugural season in spring 2021.
Girls wrestling will use the same weight classes that were used in the pilot season.
The 4A and 5A boys lacrosse state tournaments will each grow from 16 to 24 teams starting in spring 2021.
2A soccer will increase its state tournament field from 12 teams to 16.
The regional field in 3A softball will grow to 32 teams, bringing it in line with 4A and 5A.
The requirements for qualifying for the state skiing championships were made more strict, to make the state field slightly smaller.
The state spirit championships will move to a three-day format beginning this year. Schools will only be able to participate in one cheer category and one dance category at the state championships. Cheer and dance are now considered separate sports.
Schools will be eligible to join CHSAA as activity-only schools, and not offer sports.
The process for classifying programs was clarified with an amendment to bylaw 1510, which deals with the Classification, Appeals and League Organizing Committee (CLOC). Now, the CHSAA staff can offer adjustments “in extraordinary circumstances” that are based upon bylaw 1500.21 (the bylaw allowing for classification based upon factors other than enrollment) in even years. These adjustments will need to be voted on by CLOC. Typically in even years, the classifications are already set and ready to go for the following cycle, so there would be very few adjustments, if any.
The amateur status bylaw was reworked, and now reads that student-athletes “must maintain his/her amateur status” and notes that they “may not sign a professional athletic contract.” A new note defines a professional as “being paid in any form for playing in an athletic contest, or if you sign a contract or verbally commit with an agent or professional sports organization.” Notably, student-athletes will be allowed to play with or against professionals in certain situations, such as in the Olympics or a World Cup.
The coach ejection bylaw was updated to give it a more consistent level of suspension across all sports. Now, the first ejection is penalized by a suspension equal to 10% of that sports season, and a second ejection is 20%.
All-Star games were added to bylaw 2300, allowing for “up to two All-Star Games after the completion of the state championship in that sport.” No all-star games are permitted in football.
Middle schoolers from “feeder” schools will be permitted to practice with high school teams in volleyball, basketball, soccer and football “when they cannot field enough high school athletes to hold an intra-squad practice in game-type conditions.” There are a number of limitations guiding this new bylaw.
The number of practices required for students to participate in prior to competition in contact sports was reduced from five to three in all sports but football, which will still require nine.
Schools can now form a team with only one participant, if they choose to.
Adding a new sport or activity will now require approval from the Budget Committee in addition to CLOC, Sports Medicine, Equity and the Board of Directors.
The full membership of the following schools is now official: DSST – Byers, KIPP Northeast, Loveland Classical, Strive Prep – Rise, Strive Prep – Smart, and Thomas MacLaren. KIPP Northeast and Strive Prep – Rise play together are a co-op: Regis Groff.
Officials’ fees increased with a 2% cost of living adjustment across the board, for all levels.
The alignment of State Festival and State Tournament will now be permanent in speech.
Student Leadership’s fall conference will move to a regional model beginning this year.
