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Sports

MHSA Approves Football Realignment, Prep Baseball Vote

Thompson Falls football will rejoin Class B, baseball will be submitted to member vote at January meeting

By Micah Drew

The Montana High School Association Executive Board at its Nov. 22 meeting approved several changes to the statewide prep sports organizational structure.

After winning the 8-man football championship over Drummond-Philipsburg on Saturday, Thompson Falls will be rejoining the Class B Western Division, where the Blue Hawks compete in all other sports.

The realignment will move the 8-man champions into the same division as Bigfork and Florence-Carlton, who faced off in the Class B title game over the weekend with Florence emerging victorious.

The board also approves changes to 6-man and 8-man football alignments, class C tennis and track realignments, and approved new enrollment numbers to be used in classifying schools.

After reviewing the Boys’ baseball ad-hoc committee recommendation, the board approved submitting a proposal for member schools to vote on at the annual meeting in January whether to add baseball as a sanctioned sport. The request to add baseball was put forward last December by Stevensville High School athletic director Chance Edman. MHSA subsequently sent out a survey to member schools about interest in studying the sport which came back 83-42 in favor of forming the ad-hoc committee.

Montana is currently one of just three states that does not offer high school baseball, instead shepherding interested players to American Legion Baseball which plays a summer season.

The executive board also approved establishing an MHSA cross country committee, to separate the sport more fully from track and field, and adopted new guidelines for the state swim meet.