EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third in a series of stories in which the Journal will take a look at what’s ahead for high school sports in the next two-year cycle (2020-21 and 2021-22).
Meaningful competition between the Lackawanna League’s two strongest golf programs has often been limited by Abington Heights and Scranton Prep being part of different divisions and/or classifications in the sport.
While Scranton Prep will remain in Class 2A, the smaller school half of golf competition, for the next two-year enrollment cycle of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, the Cavaliers will move up to play with big schools within the Lackawanna League.
The Scranton Prep change is part of a major overhaul of the golf format, one of many changes being instituted by the Lackawanna Interscholastic Athletic Association for fall sports, assuming they are able to proceed as normal during the coronavirus pandemic.
Lackawanna golf will switch from two divisions to four.
Both Scranton Prep, which played 14 different opponents, and Abington Heights, which swept its seven big school opponents in home-and-home matches, went 14-0 while winning division titles. It was the third straight season that both teams went 14-0. Since the last time they competed in the same division in 2015, Scranton Prep has gone 56-0 in the league while Abington Heights has gone 55-0-1.
Scranton Prep will move from the smaller of the two divisions to the highest of the four divisions.
The Cavaliers will join Abington Heights, Honesdale, North Pocono, Valley View and Wallenpaupack in the new Division 1. The other five teams were all in the bigger of two divisions last season.
Division 2 will be Delaware Valley, Scranton and West Scranton with Dunmore, Riverside and Holy Cross, which used to compete in the smaller division.
Lackawanna Trail will compete in Division 3 with Carbondale, Lakeland, Mid Valley, Old Forge and Western Wayne. Division 4 is Blue Ridge, Elk Lake, Forest City, Montrose and Mountain View.
Golf switches from 14 league matches to 10 in the top three divisions and eight in Division 4.
“With the four divisions, we have the reduced league competitions, but some teams will replace that with more exhibitions,” LIAA president Joe Gilhool, the Montrose athletic director, said.
Changes in various sports sometimes came out of different motivations.
“It was the same as what we always go through,” Gilhool said. “’Do we want to go by strength or do we go by geography?’ We end up with a mixture of both.”
Girls tennis is unchanged with the 16 teams playing each other once each for a 15-match schedule with no separation by division. Girls soccer also remains the same with Abington Heights competing in an eight-team Division 1 of the three-division format.
A look at the changes for other fall sports:
FOOTBALL
The only change is in Division 4 where Holy Cross rejoins the Lackawanna Football Conference after a year off.
The Bruins will play in the division with Lackawanna Trail, Old Forge, Montrose and Susquehanna.
Abington Heights remains in Division 1 with Delaware Valley, North Pocono, Scranton and Wallenpaupack.
BOYS AND GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
Carbondale rejoins what is now a 24-team league.
Teams will continue to run once each against every opponent in the league, but the groups of teams that travel together in the league’s cluster scheduling format has been altered somewhat.
Lackawanna Trail will still run each week with Lakeland. The Lions, however, will no longer run with Mountain View and Susquehanna and will instead be part of a three-team cluster that includes Western Wayne.
Abington Heights remains with North Pocono and Valley View.
Susquehanna and Mountain View will join Forest City, which breaks away from a cluster that used to include Honesdale and Western Wayne.
Honesdale will join up with Delaware Valley and Wallenpaupack.
Carbondale will run with Scranton Prep and Holy Cross.
The last of those changes leaves the league with eight clusters of three teams each instead of having clusters ranging in size from two to four teams.
BOYS SOCCER
Abington Heights remains in Division 1 of the three-division setup with the same seven opponents.
The only changes are in Division 2 and Division 3.
Carbondale joins the league and will play in Division 3.
Holy Cross and Dunmore move from Division 3 to Division 2 while Blue Ridge and Montrose move in the opposite direction.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
The move of North Pocono from the Wyoming Valley Conference to the Lackawanna League, reported last week in the Journal, leads to the league separating into two divisions.
Abington Heights and Lackawanna Trail will remain together and play in Division 2 with North Pocono, Western Wayne and Dunmore.
Teams will play in their own division twice and against the other division once for a 14-match Division 2 schedule.
The Division 1 teams – Blue Ridge, Elk Lake, Forest City, Montrose, Mountain View and Susquehanna – will play 15 matches.
