Champions have been crowned for the 2022 Fall sports here in the state of Nevada. In football, the Northern Champion Bishop Manogue Miners fell to the Southern Champion Bishop Gorman Gaels 70-6. Shadow Mountain won the boys cross country state title, and the girls was won by Carson City. The girls 5A golf state championship was won by Coronado. Coronado also won the girls volleyball state title. Bishop Gorman won the 5A boys soccer title, and the girls 5A state title was won by Faith Lutheran. In 5A tennis, Coronado won the boys 5A team title and Palo Verde won the girls side. For those keeping score, the North brought home one 5A State championship and eight State titles went South. This ongoing disparity has been well noted and recently the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association met to discuss it, and that committee has made the following proposals for the 2023 and 2024 school years.
FOOTBALL
5A will have two divisions, both comprised of teams from southern Nevada, the Desert and Mountain Leagues. The Desert League will be comprised of Arbor View, Bishop Gorman, Green Valley, Las Vegas, and Shadow Ridge. The Mountain League will have Basic, Coronado, Desert Pines, Foothill, Liberty, and Silverado.
An enlarged 4A will have Northern and Southern Divisions.
The Northern Division will have Bishop Manogue, Carson, Damonte, Douglas, Galena, McQueen, Reed, Reno, and Spanish Springs.
The Southern Division will have two leagues. The Lake League will have Durango, Spring Valley, Clark, Rancho, Mojave, and Sunrise Mountain. Faith Lutheran, Desert Oasis, Legacy, Pahrump Valley, Cheyenne, and Chaparral will make up the Mountain League.
*Hug, North Valleys, South Tahoe, Sparks, Truckee, and Wooster will be 3A and comprise the West League of the Northern Division.
CROSS COUNTRY
The Northern 5A teams will stay in the 5A classification.
GOLF
The Northern 5A teams will remain in the 5A classification.
BOYS SOCCER
The Northern 5A teams will remain in the 5A classification.
GIRLS SOCCER
The 5A Northern schools will shift to the 4A classification.
BOYS AND GIRLS TENNIS
The Northern 5A schools will shift to 4A.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
The 5A Northern schools will remain in the 5A classification.
The realignment committee has not met to discuss 5A/4A winter and spring sports yet. For those wanting to see the 5A North teams shifted to the 4A, it would appear that is what will happen in parts of three Fall sports, but the others will continue to compete in the 5A classification. An odd decision when one considers the last 10 years of state championship results. Each of these only has 9 championships because of the year lost to Covid.
Football (moving to 4A)
Northern State Titles – 0
Southern State Titles – 9
Boys Cross Country (staying in the 5A)
Northern State Titles – 7
Southern State Titles – 5
Girls Cross Country (staying in the 5A)
Northern State Titles – 2
Southern State Titles – 7
Girls Golf (staying in the 5A)
Northern State Titles – 2
Southern State Titles – 7
Girls Volleyball (staying in the 5A)
Northern State Titles – 1
Southern State Titles – 8
Boys Soccer (staying in the 5A)
Northern State Titles – 2
Southern State Titles – 7
Girls Soccer (moving to 4A)
Northern State Titles – 0
Southern State Titles – 9
Boys Tennis (moving to 4A)
Northern State Titles – 0
Southern State titles – 9
Girls Tennis (moving to 4A)
Northern State Titles – 0
Southern State Titles – 9
Many outstanding individuals from Northern 5A schools have competed at State, but the team titles tell the story. It is your author’s opinion that the Northern 5A schools should be realigned to compete at the 4A level in all sports. Our Northern student-athletes deserve a chance to play for something other than second place.
About Your Author – Lynn Ault covers Damonte Ranch athletics for Battle Born Preps. His wife teaches at Damonte and both of his kids graduated from the Ranch. When not covering high school athletics, he is working with middle and high school students for Hope Community, a non-denominational church in south Reno.