Penn Hills opts to leave Class 6A ranks for 5A

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, December 16, 2017 | 1:16 AM

When the PIAA decided to add classifications to a number of team sports two years ago, the WPIAL had to go back to the drawing board and figure out the makeup of each class.

However, the two-year deal has come to an end, and Penn Hills decided to roll back the clock.

When the PIAA created six classifications for football, basketball, baseball and softball, Penn Hills met the criteria to be placed in the highest classification.

It had an opportunity to compete against other schools at the highest classification. However, the realignment created more travel and dissolved rivalries with neighboring schools.

Due to lower enrollment numbers, Penn Hills had an opportunity to stay in Class 6A or join Class 5A for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years.

“When you are playing in 6A, you're playing the biggest schools and you have a chance to compete for a championship at the highest level. It was attractive to us to challenge ourselves and win the highest championship possible,” Penn Hills athletic director Stephanie Strauss said.

“It's a two-year deal, so we were looking at the next two years and how our teams are going to look to make ourselves the most competitive in each class.”

Strauss and the coaches decided to join Class 5A.

This year, Penn Hills has 482 boys enrolled from grades 9-11 and 462 girls.

Per PIAA guidelines, a school with 561 boys must join Class 6A, and a school with 499 males and 475 females must play Class 6A basketball.

The Class 6A threshold for baseball was 517 boys, and the mark for softball is 493 girls.

“We are choosing to stay where we fit. We want to play schools with similar size enrollment and same pool of students they are pulling from for their programs,” Strauss said.

Without knowing until January how the WPIAL will realign, Strauss cited the hope for shorter travel and reigniting rivalries between Woodland Hills, Plum, McKeesport and Gateway.

“These are teams and schools our kids grow up with. They grow up with these kids playing sports as kids, and they have family in those areas,” Strauss said.

“It's going to be fun for the kids because they are going to get excited to play these teams that they know a lot of people on the other side field, net or court.”

The basketball programs wanted to make sure they were on the same page with either going down to Class 5A or staying at Class 6A.

“The basketball teams wanted to decide together. They both like how the doubleheaders work right now with how they play the same team the same night,” Strauss said. “It creates a lot of excitement for both teams when they play the same school.”

Joining Class 5A will help Penn Hills find a level playing field as it looks to improve its baseball and softball programs.

“Our feeder programs haven't been as strong at Penn Hills, so we are trying build up those feeder programs to make our baseball and softball programs stronger. We wanted to give them the best chance to succeed,” Strauss said.

Penn Hills will remain in the highest classification for all sports outside of football, basketball, baseball and softball.

Andrew John is a freelance writer.

Tags: Penn Hills