Lake View, Central Avoid Disaster in UIL Realignment

SAN ANGELO, TX — Facing the prospect of seismic changes in their new football districts, Lake View and Central managed to avoid any worst-case scenarios in Monday’s UIL realignment.

Lake View will see the biggest difference from last year, though the Chiefs already knew something would have to change after two of their district rivals — Big Spring and Pecos — dropped to Class 4A Division II.

Lake View and Andrews will remain together in the new District 3-4A Division, along with Midland Greenwood and Plainview.

Greenwood made a lot of sense geographically since it’s about 120 miles west of San Angelo, though adding a team that went 13-1 last year in 4A Division II isn’t exactly ideal for the Chiefs.

Plainview is farther away at nearly 200 miles to the north, and while the Bulldogs went 3-7 last season, they’re dropping down from 5A Division II, and teams often fare better after a drop in classification.

It makes for what could be a difficult district for Lake View from a competitive standpoint, but it’s comprised of traditional district rivals in Andrews and Plainview — along with a Greenwood team Lake View has played 14 times in nondistrict play in the last 20 years — and it’s about as reasonable as one could have hoped for in terms of travel.

In basketball and volleyball, Lake View’s district saw no changes as the Chiefs and Maidens will remain with Big Spring, Levelland, Lubbock-Cooper Liberty, Lubbock Estacado, Plainview and Snyder.

As for Central, the Bobcats had some doomsday scenarios that saw them getting shipped to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex or to Central Texas.

Instead, they’ll stay with their longtime rivals in the Permian Basin with Midland Lee, Midland High, Odessa Permian and Odessa High.

The loss of Wolfforth Frenship to 5A Division I opened the possibility for a significant change, but the district will instead chug along for the next two years with just five teams.

Frenship Memorial, which was just 21 students below the 6A cutoff, could plug in as a sixth team in the district in the next realignment.

It’s the exact same district for Central in basketball and volleyball, so the athletic teams were dealt the best possible hand in terms of travel and opportunities to make the playoffs, since four of the district’s five teams will qualify.

All in all, San Angelo's two biggest high schools couldn't have asked for a better realignment day.