MHSAA 2024-25 School Year Classifications Announced, Division Lists Posted

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

April 5, 2024

Classifications for Michigan High School Athletic Association elections and postseason tournaments for the 2024-25 school year have been announced, with enrollment breaks for postseason tournaments posted to each sport’s page on the MHSAA Website.

Classifications for the upcoming school year are based on a second semester count date, which for MHSAA purposes was Feb. 14. The enrollment figure submitted for athletic classification purposes may be different from the count submitted for school aid purposes, as it does not include students ineligible for athletic competition because they reached their 19th birthday prior to Sept. 1 of the current school year and will not include alternative education students if none are allowed athletic eligibility by the local school district.

All sports’ tournaments are conducted with schools assigned to equal or nearly equal divisions, with lines dependent on how many schools participate in those respective sports.

For 2024-25, there are 753 tournament-qualified member schools. Schools recently were notified of their classification, and sport-by-sport divisions were posted to the MHSAA Website today (April 5). MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said a school may not subsequently lower its enrollment figure. However, if a revised enrollment figure is higher and indicates that a school should be playing in a higher division, that school would be moved up.

A pair of MHSAA Finals champions crowned during the first two seasons of this 2023-24 school year are set to move to new divisions for 2024-25. The Ishpeming girls basketball team will shift to Division 3 coming off its Division 4 title last month, while the Hudsonville Unity Christian boys soccer team is moving to Division 2 after winning Division 3 in the fall. The Detroit Old Redford boys basketball team finished Division 3 runner-up last month and will play in Division 2 next season, while this year’s Division 2 boys bowling runner-up Grand Rapids Northview is moving to Division 1 and the fall’s 11-player Division 8 football runner-up Ottawa Lake Whiteford will play in Division 7 this upcoming season.

Visit the respective sport pages on the MHSAA Website to review the divisional alignments for all MHSAA-sponsored tournament sports. Click the “SPORTS” menu on the home page to access the page for each sport, then the “Assignments” link on the selected sport page and then “DIVISION LIST” to see the 2024-25 division.

Traditional classes (A, B, C, D) – formerly used to establish tournament classifications – are used only for MHSAA elections. To determine traditional classifications, after all counts are submitted, tournament-qualified member schools are ranked according to enrollment and then split as closely into quarters as possible. For 2024-25, there are 188 member schools in Class A, Class B and Class D, and 189 member schools in Class C.

Effective with the 2024-25 school year, schools with 793 or more students are in Class A. The enrollment limits for Class B are 378-792, Class C is 169-377, and schools with enrollments of 168 and fewer are Class D. The break between Classes A and B decreased 14 students from 2023-24, the break between Classes B and C decreased two students, and the break between Classes C and D is eight students fewer than for the 2023-24 school year.

The new classification breaks will see 26 schools move up in Class for 2024-25 while 19 schools will move down:

Moving Up from Class B to Class A
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Detroit East English
Detroit Martin Luther King
Detroit Mumford
Plainwell
Sault Ste. Marie
Wayland

Moving Down from Class A to Class B
Flint Southwestern
Fowlerville
Haslett
Owosso
Parma Western
Pontiac
Tecumseh

Moving Up from Class C to Class B
Clinton Township Clintondale
Erie Mason
Fennville
Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian
Grass Lake
Hamtramck Oakland International Academy
Michigan Center
Waterford Oakside Prep

Moving Down from Class B to Class C
Hartford
Kent City
Pinconning
Taylor Prep
Warren Michigan Collegiate

Moving Up from Class D to Class C
Ann Arbor Central
Breckenridge
Eau Claire
Fowler
Lansing Christian
Marine City Cardinal Mooney
Mayville
Norway
Southfield Manoogian
Taylor Trillium Academy
Three Oaks River Valley

Moving Down from Class C to Class D
Benton Harbor Countryside Academy
Coleman
Detroit Crockett Midtown Science & Medicine
New Buffalo
Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central
Traverse City Greenspire
Ubly

New Postseason-Eligible Tournament Schools in 2024-25
Ann Arbor Christian
Burton St. Thomas More Academy
Traverse City Greenspire
Farmington Hills Aim
Plymouth Ivywood Classical Academy

Enrollment Breaks by Classes – 2024-25
(Number of schools in parentheses)
Class A: 793 and above (188 schools) 
Class B: 378 – 792 (188)
Class C: 169 – 377 (189)
Class D: 168 and below (188) 

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year. 

2021-22 Parade of Champions Features 98 Schools, Multiple 1st-Time Title Winners

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

June 27, 2022

A total of 98 schools won one or more of the 128 Michigan High School Athletic Association team championships awarded during the 2021-22 school sports year, with two teams earning the first Finals championship in any sport in their schools’ histories. 

Hillsdale Academy celebrated its first MHSAA Finals championship by winning the Lower Peninsula Division 4 boys cross country title Nov. 6. That same day, Wyoming Potter’s House Christian claimed its first Finals title by winning the Division 4 boys soccer championship.

A total of 21 schools won two or more championships this school year, paced by East Grand Rapids’ five won in girls cross country, girls lacrosse, girls track & field and both girls and boys swimming & diving. Ann Arbor Pioneer and Marquette were next with four Finals championships. Pioneer won in girls cross country, girls tennis and both girls and boys swimming & diving. Marquette won in boys cross country, boys track & field and both girls and boys swimming & diving.

Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Hudson both won three Finals championships. Winning two titles in 2021-22 were Allen Park, Ann Arbor Greenhills, Brighton, Detroit Catholic Central, Escanaba, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, Hart, Hartland, Houghton, Ishpeming Westwood, Lansing Catholic, Munising, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian, Powers North Central, Warren De La Salle Collegiate and Williamston.

A total of 29 teams won first MHSAA titles in their respective sports. A total of 45 champions were repeat winners from 2020-21. A total of 20 teams won championships for at least the third-straight season, while six teams extended title streaks to at least four consecutive seasons. The Lowell wrestling program owns the longest title streak at nine seasons. 

Sixteen of the MHSAA's 28 team championship tournaments are unified, involving teams from the Upper and Lower Peninsulas, while separate competition to determine titlists in both Peninsulas is conducted in remaining sports.

Click Here for a sport-by-sport listing of MHSAA champions for 2021-22.