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Three petitions involving four schools were filed with the Utah High School Activities Association before the deadline to appeal placement in the recent regional realignment for the 2015-17 school years.
East and Highland want to be placed in a Salt Lake County-based league for all sports but football instead of playing in northern-based Region 5 against Weber, Davis and Box Elder County teams. In football, the schools want to each have one season in the northern league and one season against Salt Lake rivals such as Skyline, Olympus and Murray.
Roy is asking to be moved from Class 5A back to 4A, where it has been competing. Ogden, citing concerns about the size and skill level of its players compared to other 4A schools, is asking to be dropped to 3AA for football only.
According to UHSAA assistant director Bart Thompson, the group's board of trustees will consider the arguments at its Jan. 22 meeting.
In a letter signed by two principals, the Salt Lake City school superintendent and a board member, East and Highland cite concerns about fans and students traveling 60 miles to Brigham City to play against Box Elder.
The proposal to put non-football sports in a league with Cyprus, Hillcrest, Kearns, Murray, Olympus and Skyline would also send Judge Memorial to the northern league instead.
The novel football approach assumes that the board will grant Roy's request to drop from 5A to 4A. East would play in the northern league in 2015 and Highland would play in that league in 2016. That move could dilute the rivalry game between the two Salt Lake City east side schools, who would not play a league game in football against each other.
Roy, which played for the 4A football title this fall, is arguing that many of its sports teams struggle to compete in 4A, and that when the school played in 5A, participation in all sports dropped due to lack of success. The Royals are on the "bubble," which means their student numbers could place them in either 5A or 4A. Ogden, on the other hand, is solidly a 4A school in terms of student enrollment. It argues, though, that its football players are much smaller and less skilled that those they are competing against, and the school could begin to rebuild its program in Class 3AA.
Board members did not seem sympathetic the first go-round to arguments that schools should be placed into regions or classifications based on their competitiveness. They also rejected a proposal earlier this year which would have taken success in recent football playoffs into consideration for realignment criteria.
Utah stars honored nationally
Simi Fehoko, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound receiver from Brighton, was named to the first-team MaxPreps junior all-American football team. The Bengal star grabbed 90 catches for 1,644 yards and 24 touchdowns this year.
Meanwhile, Jay Tufele, Bingham's 6-3, 275-pound defensive lineman, was named to the first-team defensive MaxPreps sophomore all-American football team. He was the only Utah sophomore football player on either the first or second teams. He made 63 tackles and had six sacks playing defensive tackle.
Alexsa "Crash" Parker of Snow Canyon was named to MaxPrep's small-school all-American Volleyball third team. The junior, who was also The Tribune MVP and Utah's Gatorade winner, led the Warriors to a 28-4 record and the 3A state title. The outside hitter recorded 466 kils, 315 digs, 40 blocks and 39 service aces on the season.
Ex-Utah soccer star wins NCAA award
Seattle University's Stephanie Verdoia is the second former Utah high school soccer player to win the Senior CLASS Award in NCAA Division I soccer.
The award, chosen by a vote of Division I women's soccer coaches, national soccer media and fans, is given annually to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in Division I women's soccer. To be eligible for the award, a player must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in classroom, community, character and competition.
Verdoia is a Brighton High graduate. Last season, former Alta player Kealia Ohai won the CLASS award as a player for the University of North Carolina.
"My time as a student-athlete at Seattle University for the past four years has prepared me for life after college in more ways than one," said Verdoia. "Academically, I have been challenged and have continuously developed new perspectives and standards for myself and the world around me."
Verdoia earned third-team All-America honors as a senior while leading the Western Athletic Conference in scoring with 22 goals and assists with 13 goals.
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Utahns help West defeat East
Salem Hills linebacker Porter Gustin returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown to help the West team defeat the East 39-36 in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Saturday in San Antonio.
Gustin's pick-six in the second quarter came off a deflected pass.
Brighton High linebacker Osa Masina recovered a fumble for the West.