NIAA ruling to move Clark, Faith Lutheran up

And Sierra Vista and Spring Valley also could be moving.

The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association’s Board of Control repealed its previously approved alignment for next school year and shifted course Wednesday, approving any Division I-A school that reaches 150 points in the Nevada Rubric to move to Class 4A next year.

If a Division I school scores fewer than 16 points, it would move to Class 3A for next year. Currently, Bonanza (15 points) is the only Division I school with fewer than 16, and the Bengals are expected to get points in baseball this spring, making any movement out of Division I unlikely.

Faith Lutheran (353) and Clark (185) already have surpassed the 150-point threshold. Sierra Vista (119) and Spring Valley (116) could reach the total before the end of this school year.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to move back into Division I,” Clark principal and Board of Control president Jill Pendleton said. “The realignment, from a board perspective, is working well. It’s doing what it’s intended to do.”

The Chargers have won the past three Division I-A state titles in boys basketball, though some other programs at the school still struggle.

Clark will find itself in the same classification and possibly same league as Bishop Gorman, which has won the past four Division I state titles and five straight overall.

“The Division I-A opportunity for Clark did what it was supposed to do,” Pendleton said. “We were able to build our athletic programs and build excitement again. We have many programs that are doing well that are eager to compete with the Division I schools.”

In June, the board had locked an alignment for next year of 21 Division I schools and 16 Division I-A schools, though those names would be changed to Class 4A and Class 3A. The alignment was to be in effect from 2016-17 through 2019-20.

“That was a bad decision,” said Ray Mathis, a board member and the Clark County School District’s executive athletic director. “We need to change that language to allow any school that meets the threshold to go up or down.”

As a result, there won’t be a locked number of teams in either classification. The numbers could change each realignment cycle.

In addition, the board changed course on the length of realignment cycles. Instead of four-year realignment cycles for all schools in all sports, the board approved going to a two-year cycle.

“Kudos to our board for looking at the situation as it was and saying that they have to make a decision that is in the best interest of our student-athletes,” NIAA executive director Bart Thompson said. “With something as significant as realignment, the commitment of this board to get it right was evident.”

The rubric had allowed for teams to move every two years in each of the first two rubric cycles. Eldorado principal Dave Wilson, one of the creators of the rubric, argued for the two-year cycle to continue.

“We still don’t have a lot of data,” Wilson said. “We are still very early in the process.”

Actual league alignments won’t be set until late May or early June, until after classifications are set.

Contact Review-Journal reporter Bartt Davis at bdavis@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5230.