4A classification to shrink by 1 region under UHSAA realignment for 2019-21

Composite image of Utah High School Activities Association logo and detail of championship and runner-up trophies before girls soccer title games, Sandy, Utah, September 2018 | Images courtesy of UHSAA, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Starting next year, the number of regions in the Utah High School Activities Association’s 4A classification will drop from four to three.

Salem Hills’ Lauren Gustin (12), Hurricane vs. Salem Hills, Girls 4A State Basketball Championship, Orem, Utah, March 3, 2018, | File photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

The realignment proposal, which was formally approved Thursday night by the UHSAA board of trustees, sets the classifications and regions for Utah high schools statewide. It will be effective for a two-year period starting with the 2019-20 school year.

Southern Utah’s Region 9 will remain essentially unchanged, except for the addition of the new Crimson Cliffs High School, scheduled to open in the fall of 2019 in the eastern part of St. George. With eight schools, Region 9 will become the largest of the 4A regions under the new alignment.

For all sports except football, Region 9 will be joined in the 4A classification by a seven-school Region 10 and a six-school Region 11. Six of the schools that belong to the current Region 10 are moving up to 5A next year, with most of the current Region 11 schools moving to Region 10 and the current Region 12 staying unchanged except for being renumbered (as Region 11).

Following is a summary of some of the other changes to the 4A classification, including explanations of a few football-only exceptions:

Six teams currently in Region 10 will move to 5A for all sports except football next year, with Lehi, Mountain View and Orem joining 5A’s Region 7 and Payson, Salem Hills and Spanish Fork joining 5A’s Region 8. The only current Region 10 member that will stay in Region 10 is Uintah. Joining the Utes in the realigned Region 10 will be current Region 11 schools Ben Lomond, Juan Diego (except football), Ogden, Stansbury and Tooele, plus a new Alpine School District school in Eagle Mountain called Cedar Valley High School.

Dixie High vs. Spanish Fork, St. George, Utah, Nov. 2, 2018 | File photo by Michael Rinker, St. George News

Additionally, current Region 11 schools Bonneville and Park City will both move up to 5A’s Region 5 next year, although Park City will remain in 4A’s Region 10 for football only. Meanwhile, Juan Diego will play football in 3A’s Region 13 but will be in 4A’s Region 10 for all other sports.

The other football-related exception involving a 4A team is that although Mountain View will compete in 5A’s Region 7 for all nonfootball sports starting next year, the Bruins will stay in 4A’s Region 10 for football only.

Current Region 12 schools Bear River, Green Canyon, Logan, Mountain Crest, Ridgeline and Sky View will continue to comprise a 4A region at the northern end of the state, with the only change being they will be known as Region 11.

The number of schools in the 4A classification will shrink by six under the new realignment, from 27 to 21.

Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts, which doesn’t compete in sports, will continue to be a member of Region 9 for nonsport activities.

Click here to see the final UHSAA realignment for 2019-21, as approved on Thursday.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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