MHSAA Announces 2021-22 School Year Classifications
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 5, 2021
Classifications for Michigan High School Athletic Association elections and postseason tournaments for the 2021-22 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. 10. 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 September 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 2021-22, there are 746 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 schools may not subsequently lower their enrollment figure. However, if revised enrollment figures are higher and indicate that a school should be playing in a higher division, that school would be moved up.
Only three MHSAA Finals champions awarded so far during the 2020-21 school year will be playing in different divisions in 2021-22. Grass Lake, which won the Division 4 boys bowling title in 2020, will be back in Division 4 for that sport next season after also winning the Division 3 championship this winter. The Okemos boys tennis team, fresh off a Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship, will return to Division 2 where it most recently won Finals titles in 2017 and 2018. Clinton last week claimed its second-straight Division 4 team wrestling championship and will be competing in Division 3 next season.
Visit the respective sport pages on the MHSAA Website to review the divisional alignments for all MHSAA-sponsored tournament sports.
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 2021-22, there are 186 member schools in Class A and Class B and 187 member schools in Class C and Class D.
Effective with the 2021-22 school year, schools with 835 or more students are in Class A. The enrollment limits for Class B are 399-834, Class C is 189-398, and schools with enrollments of 188 and fewer are Class D. The break between Classes A and B increased four students from 2020-21, the break between Classes B and C increased seven students, and the break between Classes C and D also is seven students more than the 2020-21 school year.
The new classification breaks will see 13 schools move up in Class for 2021-22 while 24 schools will move down:
Moving Up from Class B to Class A
Coopersville
Moving Down from Class A to Class B
Bloomfield Hills Marian
Ionia
New Boston Huron
Moving Up from Class C to Class B
Detroit Jalen Rose Leadership Academy
Detroit Southeastern
Otisville LakeVille Memorial
Redford Westfield Prep
Watervliet
Moving Down from Class B to Class C
Blissfield
Brooklyn Columbia Central
Buchanan
Canton Prep
Dearborn Riverside Academy West
Detroit Voyageur Prep
Grayling
Southfield Bradford Academy
Tawas
Moving Up from Class D to Class C
Burton Madison Academy
Detroit Cornerstone Lincoln King Academy
International Academy of Flint
Lawrence
St. Helen Charlton Heston Academy
Warren Michigan Math & Science Academy
Westland Universal Learning Academy
Moving Down from Class C to Class D
Birmingham Roeper
Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart
Detroit International Academy
Eau Claire
Ironwood
Jackson Prep
Munising
New Buffalo
Norway
Petersburg Summerfield
Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary
Vestaburg
New Postseason Eligible Tournament Schools in 2021-22
Detroit Skills & Trade Prep
Hamtramck Oakland International Academy
Highland Park Sigma Academy for Leadership
Shepherd FlexTech
Enrollment Breaks by Classes – 2021-22
(Number of schools in parentheses)
Class A: 835 and above (186 schools)
Class B: 399 – 834 (186)
Class C: 189 – 398 (187)
Class D: 188 and below (187)
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.
Eight Members Elected to MHSAA Representative Council
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 26, 2024
Elections were completed recently to fill positions on the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s legislative body, its Representative Council, with seven members receiving re-election from their respective constituencies and one new member selected to join the Council beginning with its Fall meeting this December.
Four of the seven re-elected members ran unopposed. Midland athletic director Eric Albright was re-elected to continue representing Class A and B schools in the northern section of the Lower Peninsula, and Portage Northern athletic director Chris Riker was re-elected to continue representing Class A and B schools in the southwestern section of the Lower Peninsula. Bangor athletic director Fredrick J. Smith was re-elected to represent junior high and middle schools, and Vic Michaels, director of physical education and athletics for the Archdiocese of Detroit, was re-elected to continue representing private and parochial schools.
Winning re-election by majority votes were Harbor Springs athletic director Anna Rigby to continue representing Class C and D schools in the northern section of the Lower Peninsula, Brighton athletic director John Thompson to continue representing Class A and B schools in the southeastern section of the Lower Peninsula, and Calumet faculty member and past athletic director Sean Jacques to continue representing Class C and D schools in the Upper Peninsula.
Fenton High School principal Michael Bakker was elected for the first time, for a statewide at-large position. He ran unopposed.
All eight were elected to serve two-year terms.
The Representative Council is the 19-member legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five members are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee. The Council meets three times annually. Five members of the Council convene monthly during the school year to form the MHSAA’s Executive Committee, which reviews appeals of Handbook regulations by member schools.
Additional elections took place to select representatives to the Upper Peninsula Athletic Committee. Lake Linden-Hubbell athletic director and varsity girls basketball coach Jack Kumpula was re-elected to represent Class D schools. West Iron County High School and Middle School principal, athletic director and varsity football coach Mike Berutti was re-elected to represent high school athletic coaches.
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.