It’s normally pretty quiet in Prepland this time of year, since high school sports in Minnesota are on hiatus until practices for fall sports begin in August. But yesterday’s news that the four Classic Lake schools appear headed for the Lake Conference has shaken things up.

I knew that the placement of those four schools would be the dominant story of the summer, and the news that an MSHSL committee has recommended that all four go to the Lake Conference is a mild stunner. I had assumed that two would go to the Lake and two to the Northwest Suburban. But the more I think about all four going to the Lake, the more sense it makes.

The committe, knowing that the Lake was likely to break apart — with the anticipated formation of a new league in Dakota County — did the right thing. It only makes sense to have the four Classic Lake schools in a league with Eden Prairie; all are giant schools with super-strong athletic programs and the geography works.

As I wrote yesterday, Bloomington Kennedy and Bloomington Jefferson could be left hanging if seven Lake schools are involved in the Dakota County league and Chaska and Chanhassen go to the Missota. From talking to people at the two Bloomington schools, I know they aren’t excited about banging heads with the four Classic Lake schools as well as Eden Prairie. So I would not be surprised, once the dust settles, to see Jefferson and Kennedy looking for another conference; maybe even the Missota.

What happens next? If the MSHSL executive committee approves the recommendation, the Classic Lake schools and the Lake Conference will receive official notification of the decision in early July. They will have 30 days to appeal, meaning that this episode should be a done deal in early August. The MSHSL board of directors’ next meeting will be Aug. 11, so that’s the date when all this should become official.

John Millea is on Twitter at www.twitter.com/stribjohnÂ

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at 12:25 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.