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Midvale • Reclassification has been a hot topic since the Utah High School Activities Association Board of Trustees, comprised of various administrators from across the state, voted in favor of increasing local prep competition into six classifications in March.
The waiting game is finally over. The board approved reclassification for 2017-19 competition, with region placement, at its headquarters Thursday.
"Realignment is the most difficult thing the Board of Trustees does, and now that they do it every two years, it seems like they're doing it all the time," said UHSAA Executive Director Rob Cuff. "It's really an 18-month process from beginning to end. They take into consideration all the factors to why a team should be in whatever region — natural rivalries, geography; all those things are looked at to give every school the best opportunity for success."
Cuff said there were discussions from the onset about potential complications with the transition to six classifications, such as only having 22 teams qualify for 6A competition.
"I think they thought it would be one of the bigger classifications," Cuff said. "Those on the bubble requested to go down, and the board wanted to try to help those schools that gave a preference the best they possibly could."
There were few minor changes from the first consideration after the public hearing at Jordan High on Wednesday offered an array of concerns and suggestions. Bingham was the marquee program protesting its placement into Region 4. The Miners' plea to maintain membership in Region 3 was rejected, however.
Cyprus switched into Region 2, while Taylorsville will compete in Region 3.
Lehi will compete in Region 10, which is in 4A, for all sports other than football, which replaced East in Region 6 in the 5A classification. Davis' request to move from Region 2 to Region 1 was also approved, but Cottonwood and Timpview were denied their requests to change regions.
Cuff said dealing with the schools with enrollment on the bubble of Class 6A and 5A was difficult because every program on the cusp wanted to play in the lower class.
"Originally, they wanted four regions of six [teams each], but when everybody wanted to go down, then it became, 'What regions do we place them in?' " Cuff said.
Juan Diego was approved to move into Region 11, situated in Class 4A, while remaining in the 3A classification for football, while there were no other changes in Class 3A.
Twitter: @trevorphibbs —
New UHSAA regions
Football
Class 6A
Region 1: Clearfield, Davis, Fremont, Layton, Northridge, Syracuse, Weber
Region 2: Cyprus, Granger, Hillcrest, Hunter, Kearns
Region 3: Copper Hills, East, Herriman, Riverton, Taylorsville, West Jordan
Region 4: American Fork, Bingham, Lone Peak, Pleasant Grove, Westlake
Class 5A
Region 5: Bountiful, Box Elder, Roy, Viewmont, Woods Cross
Region 6: Highland, Lehi, Murray, Olympus, Skyline, West
Region 7: Alta, Brighton, Corner Canyon, Cottonwood, Jordan, Timpview
Region 8: Maple Mountain, Provo, Skyridge, Springville, Timpanogos, Wasatch
Class 4A
Region 9: Canyon View, Cedar City, Desert Hills, Dixie, Hurricane, Pine View
Region 10: Mountain View, Orem, Payson, Salem Hills, Spanish Fork, Uintah
Region 11: Ben Lomond, Bonneville, Ogden, Park City, Stansbury, Tooele
Region 12: Bear River, Green Canyon, Logan, Mountain Crest, Ridgeline, Sky View
Class 3A
3A North: Carbon, Emery, Grantsville, Judge Memorial, Morgan, Union
3A South: Juab, Juan Diego, Manti, North Sanpete, Richfield, Summit Academy
Class 2A
2A North: American Leadership, Delta, Gunnison, Millard, North Summit, South Summit
2A South: Beaver, Enterprise, Grand, North Sevier, San Juan, South Sevier
Class 1A
1A North: Altamont, Duchesne, Layton Christian, Rich
1A South: Diamond Ranch, Kanab, Milford, Monticello, Parowan
Independent: Mountain Valley, Wayne, Whitehorse
All other sports
Class 6A
Region 1: Clearfield, Davis, Fremont, Layton, Northridge, Syracuse, Weber
Region 2: Cyprus, Granger, Hillcrest, Hunter, Kearns
Region 3: Copper Hills, Herriman, Riverton, Taylorsville, West Jordan
Region 4: American Fork, American Heritage, Bingham, Lone Peak, Pioneer, Pleasant Grove, Westlake
Class 5A
Region 5: Bountiful, Box Elder, Roy, Viewmont, Woods Cross
Region 6: East, Highland, Murray, Olympus, Salt Lake Performing Arts, Skyline, West
Region 7: Alta, Brighton, Corner Canyon, Cottonwood, Jordan, Timpview
Region 8: Maple Mountain, Provo, Skyridge, Springville, Timpanogos, Wasatch, Freedom Prep
Class 4A
Region 9: Canyon View, Cedar City, Desert Hills, Dixie, Hurricane, Pine View, Snow Canyon
Region 10: Lehi, Mountain View, Orem, Payson, Salem Hills, Spanish Fork, Uintah
Region 11: Ben Lomond, Bonneville, Juan Diego, Ogden, Park City, Stansbury, Tooele
Region 12: Bear River, Green Canyon, Logan, Mountain Crest, Ridgeline, Sky View
Class 3A
Region 13: AISU, Grantsville, Judge Memorial, Morgan, South Summit, Summit Academy.
Region 14: ALA, Carbon, Delta, Juab, Maeser, Providence, Union.
Region 15: Emery, Grand County, Manti, North Sanpete, Richfield, South Sevier, San Juan.
Class 2A
Region 16: Altamont, Duchesne, Layton Christian, North Summit, St. Joseph, Utah Military Academy, Great Basin.
Region 17: APA Draper, APA West Valley, Merit, Rockwell,. Rowland Hall, Wasatch Academy, Waterford, Liahona.
Region 18: Beaver, Enterprise, Gunnison, Kanab, Millard, North Sever, Parowan.
Class 1A
Region 19: Green River, Monticello, Monument Valley, Pinnacle, Wayne, Whitehorse, Lake Powell, Navajo Mountain
Region 20: Bryce Valley, Diamond Ranch, Escalante, Panguitch, Piute, Valley, Water Canyon, Ash Creek Ranch
Region 21: Dugway, Milford, Telos, Tintic, Wendover, West Ridge, EskDale, West Desert.
Region 22: Intermountain Christian, Manila, Mt. Vernon, Oakley, Rich, Tabiona, USDB