Skyline, Eastlake unlikely to meet in football in 2012 | Prep sports news

By JOSH SUMAN
Issaquah Reporter Sports Reporter
January 12, 2012 · Updated 2:40 PM 

 The divisions of 4A KingCo will look different for the next two school years beginning next fall, when Eastlake and Redmond will move to the Crown and Ballard, Garfield and Roosevelt will swap sides to the Crest.

A committee of KingCo Athletic Directors charged with implementing changes in the divisions based on the coinciding WIAA classification recount decided the moves would offer the highest level of competitive equity and preserve as many traditional rivalries as possible within the divisions, according to Eastlake AD Brent Kawaguchi.

"It's been thrown out there a lot," Kawaguchi said. "But we needed to know right away because of football, because those games are at a premium."

Skyline coach Mat Taylor said his program is already deep in the process of solidifying a non-conference slate that includes games with high-level out of area teams, something the Spartans have done every season since 2008 (Skyline played Sheldon, Ore. in 2008 before facing Oaks Christian, Calif. on national television in 2009 and then facing Lake Oswego, Ore. in a home-and-home the past two seasons).

That means there is little chance, according to Taylor, that his team will face Eastlake during the 2012 football season unless the two meet in the conference title game.

Kawaguchi said that the changes, while unfortunate in some regards, were inevitable.

"There's no easy way to do it," Kawaguchi said. "There's a little bit of logic where we're trying to keep the schools together as districts to kind of keep the rivalries going."

Eastlake and Redmond has been one of the passionately followed rivalries in the league since the fist school in Sammamish set its roots in 1993, comprised of youngsters who would have otherwise been Mustangs.

"Losing Redmond, that would be a big blow," Kawaguchi said. "If you come to an Eastlake-Redmond game, it doesn't matter if it's basketball, golf or football, it brings out the best in both schools. I think the committee understood that."

But recently, the Skyline-Eastlake rivalry has become more established, reaching its apex when the Wolves picked up their first ever victory over the Spartans in football to vault into the conference title game.

"We have our rival a mile away," Taylor said. "And we're not going to play each other."

The changes in the 4A divisions come along with some shifts in classifications within the conference, as Lake Washington and Sammamish will both drop to 2A and Interlake will move back to 3A beginning with the 2012-13 school year. Kawaguchi said there is already a preliminary plan in place to pair the Lake Washington School District schools (Redmond and Eastlake) with Ballard, Roosevelt and Garfield when the next WIAA reclassification count comes up before the 2014-15 school year begins.

Current Divisions:

Crest:

Eastlake, Skyline, Issaquah, Newport, Redmond

Crown:

Bothell, Inglemoor, Woodinville, Garfield, Ballard, Roosevelt

Realigned Divisions:

Crest:

Bothell, Inglemoor, Roosevelt, Issaquah, Skyline, Newport

Crown:

Bothell, Inglemoor, Woodinville, Eastlake, Redmond