Libby to leave Northwestern A next year

The Northwestern A conference is down to just four schools after the Libby School Board voted this week to drop its sports programs to Class B next school year.

The enrollment range for Class B is 120-399 students. Libby’s number was 338.5. Class A enrollment is 340-825.

“It was a very tough decision for the board,” Libby assistant principal and activities director Jim Germany said.

“They felt our numbers won’t get better, will only get worse.”

All of Libby’s sports programs will drop to Class B except soccer.

Whitefish athletic director Aric Harris says Libby will be missed in the conference.

“It’s a huge loss for the Northwestern A,” he said. “Libby has been a great opponent. It’s disappointing to see them make that drop.”

With the Loggers out, that leaves Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Polson and Frenchtown in the league.

Harris says they’ll look south and east to fill the schedule.

“We’ll look at contacting Browning, and farther south we may be competing more with Hamilton, Corvallis and Stevensville.”

It’s possible a school will be added to the Northwestern A before next season. Harris sees Browning as a possible fifth school. There is also talk about going back to just three conferences in Class A, with western, central and eastern divisions, according to Harris.

Athletic directors from across the state will convene at a June meeting to discuss the matter.

Whitefish’s 2013-14 fall enrollment number of 497 puts it safely in the Class A boundaries. Columbia Falls is the second largest Class A school with 691 students. Polson’s enrollment is at 511 and Frenchtown is at 389.

Three years ago Ronan left the Northwestern A and dropped to Class B, but its enrollment of 350 is actually back within the Class A classification. Bigfork is also one of the larger Class B schools with 285 students.

“I’d love to see Bigfork and Ronan move up,” Harris said. “They can compete with Class A.”

Belgrade is the largest in Class A with more than 850 students, qualifying it for Class AA.

According to MHSA rules, any school that exceeds the maximum enrollment level by no more than 10 percent may remain at the lower classification. When a school moves to a new classification, it has to remain there for two years.