Football teams may have to travel farther
Staff writer
Long travel times will be likely with only two Marion County schools scheduled to compete in the same district during the 2022 and 2023 high school football seasons.
District assignments were announced last week by Kansas State High School Activities Association.
Peabody-Burns and Centre will compete in the same district in six-player football. All other teams in that district will be between 96 and 198 miles away.
They are Altoona Midway (114 to 131 miles), Chetopa (178 to 198 miles), Southern Coffey County (112 to 115), Waverly (96 to 97), and Wetmore (139 to 157) .
Three other Marion County schools will face only slightly shorter travel times.
Hillsboro’s district in Class 2A will include Ellsworth (82 miles away), Halstead (37), Lyons (57), and Southeast of Saline (37).
Marion’s district in Class 1A, the state’s smallest for 11-player football, will include Belle Plaine (82 miles away), Bluestem (53), Remington (32), and Sedgwick (49).
Goessel will compete in Division I of eight-player football against Herington (51 miles away), Little River (44), Moundridge (16), Pretty Prairie (71), and Solomon (61).
State schools are classified differently for football than for other activities and sports. Football classifications last for two years and are based on enrollment in Grades 9 through 11 on Sept. 20 of the year before the classifications take effect.
Class 2A schools have between 128 and 180 students in Grades 9, 10. and 11. Class 1A schools have between 54 and 127.
Hillsboro is one of the smallest 2A schools with 130 students in those grades. Marion is in the middle of 1A with 98.
Teams competing in eight- rather than 11-player football may have no more than 99 students. Division I schools may have as few as 67 students. Goessel is one of the smallest schools in that division with 69.
Teams competing in six-player football may have no more than 55. Centre is one of the largest in that group with 49. Peabody-Burns has 41.
Nearby schools not included in the districts to which Marion County schools have been assigned include Chapman, Hesston, and Smoky Valley (3A); Council Grove (2A); Chase County (eight-player Division I), and Canton-Galva and Rural Vista (eight-player Division II).