MHSAA 2021-22 school year classifications announce

EAST LANSING — 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 at https://www.mhsaa.com/sports 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

Class A: 835 and above (186 schools)

Class B: 399 – 834 (186)

Class C: 189 – 398 (187)

Class D: 188 and below (187)