South teams dig volleyball success - #lakewoodnews

There was definitely a Continental League and south metro-area flavor in the Denver Coliseum for the Nov. 11 and 12 state volleyball tournament.

There were five Continental teams in 5A pool play, and with Cherry Creek and Arapahoe, that meant seven of the 12 teams were from the south metro area.

Valor Christian in Class 4A gave the south suburbs another team.

"It's because we get to play good competition," Chaparral coach Amanda West said when quizzed about the dominance of south metro teams. "Some of the other teams maybe don't see that competition going into postseason."

Highlands Ranch coach Lou Krauss pointed toward club-team participation, population and money.

"It's kind of a combination," he said. "You have the population growing, especially in Douglas County, and you have the socio-economics, which allows kids to play in clubs. If you play club, that gives you an advantage over everyone else. In this sport, it takes a long time to develop skills."

Class system under review

The Colorado High School Activities Association's Classification and League Organization Committee will create a subcommittee to explore the current classification system.

One of the considerations will be adding another class to the current system, which presently goes up to Class 5A. Hopefully, this subcommittee will have enough sense to not add any more classifications. There are too many already.

Any new recommendations that are passed won't happen until the 2020-22 cycle.

Enrollment has always been the chief reason in dividing schools into classifications.

Population of public schools should be a part of classification divisions, especially in football, but not the only criteria.

Remember, the Hoosiers were from a small town in the popular 1986 movie that was inspired by the Milan Indians winning the 1954 Indiana state basketball championship.

Chances of that happening in Colorado are slim, but those enthralled by enrollment figures should look at Pomona.

The Panthers were the 2015 state runner-up in Class 5A football and top-ranked this season. Pomona also won the state wrestling championship, was the boys state track winner and are the two-time state gymnastics champs.

Pomona's enrollment of 1,503 for the 2016-18 cycle ranked sixth in Jefferson County and 61st in the state.

Athletes and feeder programs make a big difference in addition to total enrollment.

All-Centennial softball

Two individuals from Cherry Creek were named to the Centennial all-league softball teams.

Junior infielder Aubrea Leikam was a first-team selection and Allison McKean was tabbed as coach of the year.

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/South-teams-dig-volleyball-success,239248