Last Friday the Kansas State High School Activities Association released their new classifications for the next two-year cycle and there were some interesting moves.
The biggest local changes were in Class 5A where St. Thomas Aquinas moved out and Lansing moved in. That is a big shift for the Saints as they have been one of the most dominant teams in 5A for decades. Aquinas will now compete with its catholic brothers Bishop Miege and St. James Academy who have combined to win the last seven 4A championships.
Also in 5A Wichita Northwest and Wichita Heights move up to 6A. Northwest has been in the last three state championship games losing to Aquinas and Mill Valley.
With those departures Mill Valley looks primed to be in a position to dominate the east and maybe the state overall. The Jaguars have won the last two 5A titles and four of the last six. They are currently ranked No. 1 and while this team may not be as dominant as the last two Mill Valley currently sits at 4-0 beating Lawrence last week.
Is this the beginning of a Miege or Hutchinson type run for the Jaguars? This year could be the key. Aquinas and teams like Spring Hill, DeSoto and Blue Valley Southwest are in the East and Bishop Carroll and Northwest are in the West.
It’s wide open this year so there may even be a team I haven’t mentioned that raises trophy Thanksgiving weekend in Pittsburg. That being said, since Blue Valley won the title in 2013 only Aquinas, Mill Valley and Bishop Carroll have won the championship and only Wichita Northwest and Goddard have played for the title.
In a class dominated by four programs when two of them head to other classes that could lead to more domination by the two that are remaining.
I don’t know if Mill Valley is in the middle of a historic run but the conditions are favorable and could only be getting better.
