The PIAA released its latest classification report Friday, which will impact the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years in all sports, including cross country and track and field. The changes will take effect at the conclusion of this school year and begin with the 2018 cross country season in the fall.
Check out this link to view the PIAA's classification report.
The changes are based solely on enrollment numbers and are separated by gender. In the PIAA, cross country has three classifications per gender (A, AA and AAA), while track and field has two classifications (AA and AAA). The PIAA is slated to debate adding a third classification in track and field in December. The topic has been the source of debate within the PIAA for the last year, however, until that change is decided upon, the report assumes track and field will stay at two classifications.
The PIAA does not supply a list of teams that will change classifications, but after sorting through the report, here are some notable takeaways compiled by PennTrackXC, mostly affected cross country:
- The Warrior Run (District 4) girls will move from A to AA in cross country next season. That means Class A runner-up and standout freshman Lauren Trapani will compete in Class AA for the next two seasons.
- Northern (District 3) and Greencastle-Antrim (District 3) girls narrowly stay in AA for cross country. Northern stays by six students, while Greencastle misses the cut by seven students.
- Class A girls' state champions Fairview (District 10) move from A to AA next fall in cross country.
- The Loyalsock Township girls, which was incorrectly classified in Class A until minutes before the start of the District 4 Championships (it was moved to Class AA at that time), will be in Class A next fall.
- The Abington Heights (District 2) boys, cross country state qualifiers in AAA in 2016, will move to AA in XC next year.
- Two traditionally strong boys' cross country teams, North Pocono (District 2) and Holy Ghost Preparatory (District 1) will move from AA to AAA.
- South Fayette (District 7) and York Suburban (District 3), two perennially talented boys' cross country teams, narrowly stay in AA for XC by less than 20 students.
- The Cardinal O'Hara boys, which have qualified for states in AAA each year since 2009, and finished second (by virtue of a first place tiebreaker in 2011 and 2012), will move to Class AA. The O'Hara girls, AAA state champs in 2016, stay in AAA.
Feel free to comment with any notable changes you noticed.