IHSAA reclassification shuffles Frankton, Lapel programs

Apr. 2—INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana High School Athletic Association announced Tuesday the new classifications for IHSAA member schools in the sports of boys and girls basketball, football, boys and girls soccer, and girls volleyball for the next two school years, the outcome of which will affect programs at a pair of Madison County schools.

The enrollment figures — the total of boys and girls in grades 9-12 — were submitted by the schools to the Indiana Department of Education last fall and are used to determine the classifications in all team sports.

The four-class sports of baseball, basketball, softball, and volleyball are being classified using a new 20-25-25-30 ratio that was approved by the IHSAA Executive Committee last June. That plan places the largest 20% of schools in Class 4A, the next 25% in Class 3A, the next 25% in 2A and the smallest 30% in Class 1A.

Additionally, classifying the four-class sports will be based on the entire membership total and not only those schools participating in each sport, effectively keeping sectional alignments similar across each sport.

As a result, Frankton's boys and girls basketball teams and its volleyball team will return to Class 2A after a two-year run at the 3A level.

Football (six classes) and soccer (three classes) are not affected and will continue as they have in previous years.

While three Frankton programs are returning to the 2A level, the Eagles football program will move up to 3A when they take Otis Cress Field this fall. Frankton is one of seven schools to move up to 3A due to the new classification factor, with Lapel sectional foe Heritage Christian being another.

Most area soccer teams remain in place, but the Lapel boys team will move up from 1A to 2A this season. The Bulldogs girls program will stay put, but Park Tudor— which eliminated Lapel last year — will move up to 2A after winning back-to-back state titles.

Tournament Success Factor points have been totaled over the last two years and specific teams placed in their appropriate class in each sport.

In addition to Heritage Christian for football and Park Tudor for girls soccer, a number of other programs are on the move that will have an impact on sectional pairings for area schools. They include Adams Central, which moves up from 1A to 2A for football, New Palestine, which moves down to 3A for basketball and volleyball, and Knightstown, Wes-Del and Monroe Central, moving down to 1A for basketball and volleyball.

Sectional groupings for each sport (except for softball and baseball) will be announced later this spring following approval of the IHSAA Executive Committee.

Softball and baseball sectional groupings will be released in August following the committee's first meeting of the new school year.

Contact Rob Hunt at rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4886.