Both the Cazenovia and Chittenango High School girls lacrosse programs will be part of the new Class D put in by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association.
In expanding lacrosse from three to four classes, NYSPHSAA adjusted the BEDS figures (enrollment in grades nine through 12) it used to place boys lacrosse teams so that, in girls lacrosse, roughly the same number of schools were part of each class.
Thus, in Class A the enrollment was 1,075 and up, rather than 1,050 as it was in the boys lacrosse alignment. The other classes slightly increased, too, with Class B at 790 to 1,074, Class C at 475 to 789 and Class D at 474 and below.
By using these numbers, NYSPHSAA arrived at 78 schools in Class A, C and D, plus 77 schools in Class B. Either way, Cazenovia, with its smaller enrollment, was bound for Class D.
However, Chittenango, who went to Class C on the boys side, will go to Class D for girls lacrosse because its enrollment fell below 474, though it stayed above the 425 cutoff used in boys lacrosse for Class C.
Cazenovia and Chittenango are joined in Section III girls Class D by Skaneateles, Marcellus and Westhill, along with South Jefferson, LaFayette, Tully, Onondaga, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, Jordan-Elbridge, General Brown, Watertown IHC, Thousand Islands and the combined Bishop Ludden-Bishop Grimes team.
Other big changes take place in Section III, too, as Fayetteville-Manlius moves from Class A to B, while powerful programs like Carthage and Jamsville-DeWitt join Class C.
Having four championships to decide might preclude a change in venue for the sectional championships away from the Carrier Dome, and could also expand the state final four, held each June in the Cortland-Homer area, which is currently a two-day event.
