Norwalk baseball and boys tennis; Willard baseball move up
Sep. 6—COLUMBUS — The Ohio High School Athletic Association announced Tuesday the new divisional breakdowns for the upcoming spring sports.
Three area programs switched divisions, including two from Norwalk High School. The Truckers will move up from Division II to Div. I in both baseball and boys tennis in the 2023 season.
The OHSAA uses enrollment data provided by the Ohio Department of Education to determine each school's base enrollment numbers for girls and boys sports, which will be used for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years.
Among the OHSAA's spring sports, only baseball and softball utilize competitive balance data, therefore it is reconfigured every season.
Sports that do not utilize competitive balance data are reconfigured every two years, therefore the Truckers will be Div. I in boys tennis for at least the next two seasons (2023-24). Edison and Willard remain Div. II in tennis.
Norwalk's boys enrollment is at 341 after competitive balance data (open enrollment) was factored in.
Also moving up was the Willard baseball program. The Crimson Flashes were in Div. III last season, but their enrollment number of 199 meets the new cut-off for Div. II this spring.
Also in baseball, Edison and Western again stay in Div. III, and the area FC schools are Div. IV.
In track and field, Norwalk was already Div. I in both boys and girls, and will remain there this spring. Edison and Willard also stayed in Div. II, while area Firelands Conference programs (Monroeville, New London, Plymouth, South Central, St. Paul and Western Reserve) are still Div. III.
Likewise, Norwalk stayed Div. II in softball, while Edison, Western and Willard are Div. III, and the remaining FC teams are Div. IV.
The OHSAA Board of Directors approved the new divisions during its meeting late last week. Fall and winter sports divisional breakdowns were announced in June.
