(KNSI)—The MSHSL has released section assignments for the next two years, which means big changes for area schools in multiple sports.
Boys’ Hockey
The Sartell Sabres are moving down to Class A in boys’ hockey after enrollment fell just below the cutoff adopted by the Minnesota State High School League, but they’ll miss out on being in the same section as some of their fiercest rivals.
Many avid fans were salivating at the potential of a Section 5A placement, which would have set up a fight for a spot in the state tournament with Sauk Rapids-Rice and St. Cloud Cathedral. Instead, Sartell will play in Section 6A, which covers a wide swath of western and central Minnesota, up to Little Falls and the Brainerd/Pequot Lakes area and west through Stearns and Kandiyohi County, including Willmar. It eventually sprawls to the borders with North and South Dakota, to schools in Montevideo and Breckenridge.
Football
St. Cloud Tech successfully appealed to the MSHSL to move down to Class AAAA for football, citing participation in the freshman and JV programs that was comparable to smaller schools than powerhouses like Alexandria. It will break up Section 8AAAA, which had become a true gauntlet. Tech will be placed with Becker, Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, Little Falls, and Princeton.
Being split off from that group is ROCORI. The Spartans will look south and west, sharing a section with perennial title contender Hutchinson. Also in Section 2AAAA are Marshall, New Ulm, St. Peter, and Willmar.
Due to enrollment cutoff changes, St. Cloud Cathedral is moving down to Class AA. On the gridiron, they’ll be joined by Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, Eden Valley-Watkins, Kimball, and Paynesville. Section 5AA eventually leaks west to include Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg and south to Redwood Valley High School.
Holdingford is cleaved off to Section 6AA in the north, taking on the likes of Osakis, Royalton, and Staples. St. Cloud Apollo will continue in Class AAA, matched up with Albany and Sauk Centre.
Girls’ Volleyball
In volleyball, Annandale High School is moving up to Class AAA, fresh off a state tournament appearance. They’ll be placed in Section 8, setting up some juicy matchups with the likes of St. Cloud Tech, ROCORI, and a returning Sauk Rapids-Rice. The Storm are ending a brief two-year stint in Class AAAA, where they were very successful. They dropped a close match in the section semifinal last year against St. Michael-Albertville.
Alexandria replaces the Storm in Section 8AAAA, where Sartell is still placed.
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