The football team at Wyoming Area won the first state championship in school history in 2019.
A month earlier, Wyoming Seminary and Wyoming Area again proved that being the best two teams in a classification in District 2 could be a formula for being among the best four in the entire state in field hockey.
Just getting a chance to defend the district title that propelled the Warriors into the state tournament could be more difficult.
There will be no chance for a district runner-up to prove itself in field hockey or any other sport this fall.
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Directors decided Wednesday to go ahead with determining state champions this fall, but in a more streamlined format as a concession to the coronavirus pandemic that first threatened, then altered the look of high school sports during this school year.
For now, the changes only impact fall sports for this school year.
The altered state tournament formats eliminate all cases where teams other than district champions advance to state play and reduces the number of participants in individual sports.
Only district champions advance in football, but they arrive in the state bracket at different points. The PIAA moved the schedule up to be completed on Thanksgiving weekend, keeping the bulk of the state tournament structure, but eliminating time for district playoffs.
District 2 will still need to react, but it appears there may only be one week available for a single playoff game to determine the district champion in Class 3A where Wyoming Area is the defending state champion. That would mean just two of the district’s 10 Class 3A teams would have a shot.
Wyoming Area has already suffered one loss. Lake-Lehman enters the weekend with the lead in the Class 3A playoff race at 2-0. Lackawanna Football Conference teams do not begin their season until next weekend and it is not yet known if the district will have any alteration to the ratings-based qualifying process for a season in which many schedules have been altered.
“It’s just positive that there’s the potential of a postseason this year,” Wyoming Area football coach Randy Spencer said. “Hopefully, one week at a time, safely, we can get there. As for it being a shortened field, the positive thing is that regardless of how many teams, there will be an opportunity.”
Wyoming Area has won three state field hockey games in the past two seasons after losing the 2018 and 2019 district finals to eventual state champion Wyoming Seminary.
“Only one per district going on to states, of course, is disheartening,” Wyoming Area coach Erin McGinley said. “It just means we have to win at the district final. … We don’t control what the PIAA does.”
Other Greater Pittston area athletes could be impacted with fewer individual state berths available in cross country, golf and tennis.
The PIAA Cross Country Championships in Hershey consist of six races – Classes 3A, 2A and A for boys and girls. Those races were scheduled to range from 20-22 teams plus 100-110 other individual entries.
Reduced fields will now mean just 7-11 teams and 35-55 other individuals in the cross country races. The PIAA will bring fewer runners to Hershey by taking only the top team and best five other individuals from each district race, regardless of the number of entries on the district level.
Again, Wyoming Area could specifically be impacted with potential team and individual contenders in Class 2A where District 2 would have sent two teams and 10 individuals.
In golf, the PIAA has eliminated the East and West Regional, which were a step between district and state tournaments. It has also reduced each state individual tournament from two days to one.
Instead of advancing six Class 2A boys and four Class 3A boys to the East Regional, District 2 will send four in Class 2A and three in Class 3A to the state tournament. Wyoming Area competes in Class 2A and Pittston Area is in 3A.
Tennis will have early-round matches between district champions in singles, doubles and team play and take only the four semifinalists in each to Hershey.
The revised state competitions were just one part of Wednesday’s meeting.
The board also decided to allow individual schools to determine how many spectators are allowed at sporting events.
Wyoming Area chose to allow parents of its players, cheerleaders and band in to Friday night’s home football game against Holy Redeemer, but with the provisions of social distancing and masks. It did not allow for visiting parents.
Pittston Area, which was on the road for football Friday night, has not yet made any policy changes regarding attendance at home events.
