Realignment puts Carson High in Class 5A for fall sports

SPARKS – The Nevada Interscholastic Athletic Association (NIAA) voted to approve a new realignment structure for Nevada High School prep sports Wednesday afternoon.

The NIAA voted unanimously to approve a new classification for the biggest schools in the state, adopting Class 5A for fall sports, starting in 2020.

Carson High School will be pulled up to Class 5A in all fall sports.

Voting on realignment for winter and spring sports seasons will take place at a later date.

For Class 5A fall sports, the Northern Region will be one league of nine teams in every sport, dropping certain programs down to 3A on a sport-by-sport basis.

The creation of Class 5A also eliminates Class 4A from northern Nevada, making Class 4A a southern Nevada classification only.

New region for Class 5A

With nine teams in northern Nevada jumping into Class 5A, Carson will be competing in one ‘Northern Region,’ starting in the fall of 2020, elimination the Sierra and High Desert leagues.

Carson’s new region will have mostly the same competitors, but each realignment is based on a sport-by-sport basis.

The NIAA used a rubric points system to decide each team’s classification based off of results in each of their last four seasons.

Future realignment will be decided after every two seasons.

Football: Douglas, Carson, Bishop Manogue, Damonte Ranch, Galena, McQueen, Reed, Reno and Spanish Springs

Girls volleyball: Douglas, Carson, Bishop Manogue, Damonte Ranch, Galena, McQueen, Reed, Reno and Spanish Springs

Girls soccer: Douglas, Carson, Galena, McQueen, Spanish Springs, Reno, Reed, Damonte Ranch and Bishop Manogue.

Boys and girls tennis: Douglas, Carson, Bishop Manogue, Damonte Ranch, Galena, McQueen, Reed, Reno and Spanish Springs.

Boys cross country: Douglas, Carson, Damonte Ranch, Bishop Manogue, Galena, McQueen, Reed, Reno and Spanish Springs.

Girls cross country: Douglas, Carson, Bishop Manogue, Damonte Ranch, Galena, McQueen, Reed, Reno and Spanish Springs

Girls golf: Carson, Bishop Manogue, Damonte Ranch, Galena, McQueen, Reed, Reno, Spanish Springs and Wooster.

Boys soccer: Carson, Spanish Springs, North Valleys, Galena, Wooster, Hug, Reed, Damonte Ranch and Sparks.

Postseason changes

With the addition of a new class comes changes to the playoff structure for each sport.

In Class 5A, Northern Region football will see eight of the nine teams in the region qualify for the playoffs.

Based on regular season regional play, each team will be seeded No. 1 - No. 8 with the higher seed receiving home field advantage until the state final.

Each state final will be played against the winner of the South Region (Mountain and Desert Leagues) at a neutral site.

The state title game will alternate between being played in Southern Nevada on even years (2020, 2022, etc.) and the north on odd years (2021, 2023, etc.).

At the 5A level in girls volleyball, boys and girls soccer and tennis the top two teams from the Northern and Southern regions will meet in the state final four, with the top seed from the north playing the No. 2 seed from the south and vice versa.

For 5A cross country, the top five teams and top seven individuals from the regional meet will qualify for the state meet.

In 5A tennis, the top five teams in the north and south will qualify for the state tournament while the top five placewinners in the singles and doubles tournaments will also qualify for the state tourney.

For girls golf, the top four teams from the Class 5A regional meet and top six individuals on non-qualifying teams will be sent to the state tournament.