Siloam Springs' boys swim and dive team didn't win anything for finishing 10th as the top Class 6A school at the 7A/6A state swim meet in February.
A repeat performance next year could earn the program a state championship if a proposal is passed by state athletic directors at an Arkansas Athletics Association meeting in Little Rock on Wednesday.
2015-16 AAA Handbook Proposal 1
Article IV, Section 10, Rule 1, Page 73
Proposal: Split current 7A/6A swim classification into separate classifications while keeping 5A and below class as is.
Requires: Two-thirds vote by athletic directors from swimming schools
AAA board of directors recommendation: Do not pass, 12-5 vote
Proposal 1 calls for the split of Class 7A and 6A swimming schools, which would address the competitive disadvantage facing 6A schools and create three swim classifications: 7A, 6A and the 5A and below classification that already exists in the current landscape. The proposal is being made just two years after swim split into multiple classifications (7A/6A and 5A and below) for the first time in a sport that has been around in the state since 1950.
"(Class) 6A has no chance for success at the state level whatsoever," reads the proposal, which originated in Activity District 1E, an area in which Mountain Home is the only 6A school.
Two decades have passed since a current Class 6A school has won a boys state championship. Bentonville, a 7A program, has won 11 straight boys state titles and 11 of the last 13 girls state titles, with 7A schools winning the other two.
"It's needed to be (separate) for the last 20 years," Siloam Springs coach Stephanie Goddard said. "That's what I've been saying. Every other sport is classified by whatever classification. I just didn't get why we weren't. I have been a strong advocate for it."
While the facts back up the proposal's logic, the AAA's board of directors voted 12-5 against recommending passing the proposal, which would go into effect for the upcoming school year if it receives the two-thirds of the athletic directors' votes needed to pass. The board of directors said there were not enough swimming schools to warrant additional classes, while the current setup of 27 7A/6A programs and 32 5A and below programs is reasonably balanced.
No 6A team, boys or girls, finished higher than the Jonesboro girls' eighth-place showing this spring.
"We compete really well even against the 7As for the size school we are," Goddard said. "It just would have been nice for our kids to have an opportunity. Because since we've been swimming, we've just never once had an opportunity to ever win because we don't have enough numbers to compete with the bigger teams.
"I hope for the kids' sake it (passes), because it would give them a little more motivation to work harder. Because right now they're defeated before they even start because they know there's no way that we're going to beat Bentonville."
Siloam Springs' girls swim team finished 14th among 7A/6A schools at this year's state meet, but fifth among 6A programs. Mountain Home's girls team finished 20th out of 21 scoring teams 7A and 6A teams at the state meet in February, eighth among nine 6A programs.
The proposal details the 7A dominance at the most recent state meet in February. Of the top four 7A/6A finishers in the 12 swim events, 46 of the 48 boys finishers were from 7A schools, while 41 of 48 girls finishers represented 7A programs. More than 68 percent of the state competitors from classes 1A on up were from 7A.
The leader of the state's most dominant program isn't in favor of the proposal. In fact, if given the opportunity, Bentonville coach Nick Nersesian would alter the current setup, but not in the way proposed.
"I think 5A, 6A and 7A (should be together) with the caliber of athletes that you have," Nersesian said. "Especially now, a lot of the private schools are taking some of those top caliber athletes over. And most of those are 5A."
The proposal is one of 10 up for a vote for athletic directors from across the state. It is the only swim proposal on the table and is one of three the board of directors are recommending not to pass.
Sports on 07/31/2015