Wasatch
High School moves up in class as UHSAA finalizes 2013 realignment.
BY KENNY BRISTOW
Wave Sports Writer
On Thursday and Friday of last week the UHSAA held the
meetings with school administrators that would define realignment beginning in
2013. The expected announcement
had a deadline date of December 10th, but the configurations had
already been ironed out with little trouble so the final decisions were
presented on Friday afternoon.
Wasatch High School, with its official enrollment near 1,900 students
will move up to Class 4A beginning next season.
All sports teams – along with other competitive school
organizations like the debate and drill teams – will be a part of Class 4A
Region 8. Maple Mountain, Provo,
Salem Hills, Spanish Fork, Springville and Timpview are also members of that
region.
With the steady growth of Wasatch County, it was only a
matter of time before the number of students at Wasatch High School would push
them beyond the 3A limit. It has
been that way for over a year, however, with the county’s largest education
facility growing by over 4% a year.
The UHSAA reviews the official enrollment numbers every other year, so
with Wasatch being near the cut-off in 2011, it was expected that the school
would be subject to a move up in 2013.
Wasatch High School administrators, led by Principal Shawn
Kelly who is excited about the growth opportunity now upon his high school,
more than welcome the promotion.
“This is an excellent time for us and our community. Not only does it improve our class of
athletics, it elevates our academic potential,“ he said. “We expect student participation to
increase. We look for the
positives like less travel time and expense to help us achieve success for our
student athletes at this level,” Kelly added. “We believe we will be competitive in all sports in our new
class. We are very glad to be
where we are.”
Athletic Director and Assistant Principal Claire Maire
reiterated Kelly’s words with great enthusiasm. “We are so excited about this move up in class. We are in no way too small to handle
this challenge,” she said. “We’re
used to competing at a high level,” Mrs. Maire said. “The schools that we will now be playing regularly for championships are familiar with us. They know us from our preseason games
in the past. They accept and
respect us as real competition and I think we will continue to be tough to
beat.”
Detractors might say this is not a good thing for Wasatch
High School because of the success in athletics from some of the schools
Wasatch will now be lumped with.
Conclusions based not so much on Wasatch’s lack of success, but on other
school’s high level of success. Several
members of the coaching staffs, at the high school here in Heber, are looking
forward to the challenge. Dawain
Wheatley, who coaches both girls and boys soccer for the Wasps, says this is a
great thing. “We will be as
competitive as ever,” says Coach Wheatley. “We have always strived to have the best soccer teams here as
possible and nothing will change that.
I think the move is great for our program”
Boys basketball coach, Lonnie Magnusson, feels that the step
up will elevate the play of his boys.
“Getting to the post season is always the goal, so being one of the top
four teams is what we’ll work for.
I think it can be done,” Magnusson said confidently.
The same is true for the girl’s basketball team according to
head coach Tom Perkins. Perkins
said, “With new changes come new challenges. I’m excited to move up. It’s great for our program,” he added. “Our girls already work extremely hard,
so that will continue on as always.”
Looking towards the spring, head baseball coach Mike Shoell
expressed confidence in the new alignment. “There will be some growing pains, but that is to be
expected. But in no way are we not
ready to play against these schools,” he said. “We play them already.
We’ve always looked to fill our preseason schedules with tougher
competition, including the Timpviews and the Springvilles. They know who we are. We’re respected
by them. I don’t see them taking
us lightly,” he added.
For a perennial sport such as wrestling, the change may not
be as obvious. “The power kind of
shifts in Waves in wrestling in these classes,” says head coach Wade Discher. “It used to be 3A was the best top to
bottom, but it goes back and forth,” he added. “We wrestle against the best in the state year to year, so
nothing changes there. The only
disappointing thing, I think, is losing the longtime rivalries”
Of course, when it comes to high school athletics, the
spotlight shines the brightest on football, and Wasatch is no different. Friday night lights are such a huge
part of the culture in our state, not to mention our community that realigning
its divisions competitors can only bring mixed emotions. Head Coach Steve Coburn, despite the
change in division rivalries, is charged by the
challenge. “I’m excited. I can’t wait,” said the Wasps head
coach who will be going into his second year. “I think we grew leaps and bounds this year and I expect to
do the same next year. I think it
comes down to the level of commitment from the players and the coaches,” he
added. “If this allows us to add
to our coaching staff and off-season programs, like I’ve been told, then it will
definitely be a plus. I’m looking
forward to working with our youth program to get these younger kids excited
about playing Wasatch football. No
matter what class we’re in.”
“It’ll be fun preparing for great teams like Timpview, but we’ve been
preparing for the likes of Juan Diego… so not much has changed.”
To be the best you must beat the best. That seems to be the unified battle cry
now that the move up to 4A is official.
Athletics is about competition – about being the best – about winning it
all. Wasatch County has built a
sparkling high school facility to rival any in the state. Wasatch can hold their heads up high
when well-traveling schools like Timpview and Salem Hills visit our town. They will be welcomed with open
arms. The community here in
Wasatch is worthy of champions.
Wasatch has been champs many times before. It’s just time to win it all on a higher level. It can be done. It is time for Wasatch to show the best,
that they can be the best.
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