Decisions made for Central Washington 2B League for 2014-16

With turmoil caused by reclassification and whether the Caribou Trail League would continue to exist, there are finally some definite answers.

Lake Roosevelt athletes will be competing in the Central Washington North for all sports but football and wrestling. For many, this comes as a relief from the prospect of traveling to Mabton and White Swan every season for every sport.

Omak was going to join the CWL North when the CTL was dissolving and the other three 1As looked to be moving South. Now the the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association has denied the request of Cashmere, Cascade, and Chelan to move into the South Central Athletic Conference.

With that denial, Cashmere, Cascade, Chelan, and Omak will continue to be CTL members with one berth to state. The CTL is working with both the CWL and Central Washington Athletic Conference about scheduling arrangements to make up for the lack of league games.

For Lake Roosevelt, that could mean playing the four CTL schools once a year in basketball. For other sports, it is not known yet how the arrangement will be applied.

LR is in a better position in this new league alignment. They will be in a division to face former CTL opponents Tonasket and Okanogan, along with Brewster, Bridgeport, Liberty Bell, Manson, and Oroville. This alignment will provide for less travel than in the plan that had LR in the south. For fans, this means more games to which they can travel.

Currently, it appears the 1Bs will continue to play all the 2B members once to cut down on their travel time. So LR could continue to play Pateros and Entiat once during the volleyball and basketball seasons. Along with the CTL schools, then, LR has a full schedule in both sports without having to travel outside District 6.

Wrestling is still in the process of working out league alignments for the next year. There is a group suggesting that the Eastern Washington B schools should form three leagues with all the District 6 schools plus Wilbur-Creston and Almira/Coulee-Hartline forming the North Central League. There is also debate amongst the coaches about whether to schedule league dual matches. With the lower turnouts at many schools, coaches prefer the “mix and matches” with three or four schools to ensure everyone has a match and the contest is not over in 45 minutes.

Lake Roosevelt football, however, will play in the CWL South with Soap Lake, Waterville, Warden, Kittitas, White Swan, and Mabton. The balance was wanted as, unlike in other sports, football cannot play the 1B schools because an 11-man team is not allowed to play a, 8-man team under the current WIAA regulations.