A look at how the area high school teams advance in the playoffs

By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI

The Winchester Star Aug 17, 2017

Changes could still be made in some situations, but the following is a glance at how teams will advance through the postseason in each sport in the Northwestern District and Bull Run District:

Football

In the last two-year cycle, Handley, James Wood, Millbrook and Sherando competed in the 28-school 4A West Region. Out of the state’s 12 regions, it was one of only two in the state that featured a 12-team playoff format as opposed to the 16 teams that the other 10 regions were using.

With Class 4 expanding from two regions to four, Class 4, Region C will adopt a similarly restrictive format for playoff qualifiers.

While many regions are likely to go with eight playoff teams, Class 4, Region C will go with six based on VHSL power ratings (the top two seeds would have first-round byes). That number could expand to as many as eight only if the Northwestern District and/or the Dulles District regular season champions do not have one of the top six power ratings at the end of the season.

With 14 teams in the region, it’s likely that less than half of the teams could qualify. (The seven Dulles teams are Dominion, Heritage, Loudoun County, Loudoun Valley, Park View, Riverside and Woodgrove.)

Again, schools will have to earn their place in the region playoffs.

“We were unanimous on [trying to limit the playoff field to six],” James Wood coordinator of student activities Craig Woshner said. “Only having 14 teams in the region, it seemed ridiculous to go to eight, where you’re going over that 50 percent threshold of teams getting into the regional tournament.

“And we thought four was too low. Based on the quality of athletics in our particular region, quite conceivably a No. 6 team could knock off a No. 3. We looked closely at teams from past years, and what the records were, and if you went down to seventh or eighth [in the power ratings], you’re looking at a .500 record and maybe a 4-6 record. At that point, are you just putting teams to put them in to fill out the bracket? Or do you want to go to the concept of earning something and making it mean something? We felt teams really needed to earn their way in.”

Sherando missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008 last year as a result of finishing with a No. 15 power rating.

If the 4A West Region was like most of the other regions in the state, the Warriors would have been in the playoffs.

They might have been a tough out too — four of their losses came by a combined 16 points against teams that went 37-3 during the regular season — but Warriors coach Bill Hall has no problem with Class 4, Region C limiting the playoff qualifiers.

Unlike every other sport, football has had a six-classification system for decades. There were 24 regions across those six classifications, and prior to 2009 the local regions only let four teams into the playoffs.

“I like the fact that everything means more,” Hall said. “It also rewards the top two, who get a bye, so that’s good. I think sometimes in years past you get people in that are 6-4, 5-5, 4-6, and that waters it down and it doesn’t feel like you’ve earned something. Back in the day [prior to 2009] you only got four in and we sat at home at 8-2. But [this system] makes you bring it every single week, so we’re good with it.”

The five Bull Run schools will compete with the Shenandoah District schools Buffalo Gap, East Rockingham, R.E. Lee-Staunton, Luray, Page County, Stuarts Draft and Wilson Memorial for eight playoff spots based on VHSL power points.

Each of the four region champions in each classification will compete in the state semifinals. VHSL assistant director Shawn Knight said Region A will play Region B in one semifinal and Region C will play Region D in the other to start with. Details still need to be worked out with locations.

Basketball, Baseball, Softball, Soccer, Volleyball

See the related story for the playoff advancement from district to region for these sports.

In Class 4, Region C, the semifinals will see the No. 1 seed from the Northwestern District host the No. 2 seed in the Dulles District, and the No. 1 Dulles teams will host the No. 2 Northwestern team, with the winners advancing to the championship match and qualifying for the eight-team state tournament. If two teams on the same seed line play for the region championship, the team with the higher winning percentage will host (in volleyball, best-of-three volleyball matches will count toward a team’s winning percentage).

Handley boys’ basketball coach Jason Toton likes the fact that all district games against Class 4 teams will determine postseason seeding. Along with Harrisonburg and Woodgrove, the four Winchester-Frederick County school all played conference “counters” the last two years, where only one of their two games against their rivals counted toward the standings that determined an automatic region berth and overall postseason seeding.

“I didn’t like before how some games counted and some games didn’t count,” Toton said. “I like it where whenever you’re playing a game in the district, it counts. The last couple of years, your season was determined by five games, and I did not like that. I’m looking forward to the new way.”

In the Region 2B quarterfinals, the Bull Run No. 1 will take on the Shenandoah No. 4, BRD No. 2 will play SD No. 3, BRD No. 3 will play SD No. 2, and BRD No. 4 will play SD No. 1. The top two teams from the same district would not be able to meet until the championship match (those two teams will compete in the eight-team state tournament). In cases where a neutral site is not used and two teams from the same seed line are in the championship match, the Bull Run team will host in odds years and the Shenandoah team will host in even years.

Details still need to be worked out for state tournament matchups. But in volleyball this year, for example, Region A will play Region B in the state quarterfinals and semifinals on one side of the bracket while Region C will play Region D on the other side. The higher seeds will host until the state championships, which will be at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

Basketball has conducted state quarterfinal games each of the last two years (the other team sports started at the state semis). Basketball will continue to use supersites for the quarters and semis before finishing at VCU for the championship games.

Golf

In the Northwestern District, the top three teams will qualify for the Class 4, Region C tournament.

Fauquier has already clinched a region berth for winning the Northwestern District regular season title (best combined performance at the Curly Licklider tournament and the two Northwestern District minis).

The other two spots will be decided by the two best non-Fauquier finishers at the district tournament, which will take place Sept. 20 at Fauquier Springs Country Club in Warrenton. In addition to the three qualifying teams, the top six individuals outside of these three teams will also advance to the region tournament, which will take place Sept. 28 at the Loudoun Golf and Country Club in Purcellville.

If one school can win it outright, the Bull Run District regular season champion will get a Region 2B berth (each of the five schools will play each other twice in dual matches to determine this), as well as the non-regular season champion that fares best at the district tournament (Sept. 25 at the Bryce Resort in Basye). The top six individuals outside of the two qualifying teams will also advance to the region tournament. The region tournament will be Oct. 2 at Heritage Oaks in Harrisonburg.

Only the region champion will advance to the state tournament in each of the state’s 24 regions, which keeps the number of team state qualifiers the same as last year statewide (last year, when there were 12 regions, two teams per region advanced to the state tournament).

VHSL assistant director Kelley Haney said the reason why the organization is advancing one team per region is because it only uses three state locations for golf, and it wanted to keep the number of competing golfers similar to the previous format. (State competitions will be Oct. 9-10. Class 3 and 4 will play at Glenrochie Country Club in Abingdon and Class 1 and 2 will play at Heritage Oaks Golf Course in Harrisonburg.)

Individually, Haney said the five best individuals not on the region championship team will also advance to the state tournament.

Cross Country

In the Northwestern District and Bull Run District, the top four teams will advance to the region meet, as well as any individual who places in the top 15. For the Northwestern District, the Class 3 and Class 4 teams will have their district meets at Brentsville on Oct. 25.

The top three teams and the five individuals outside of those three teams from each region will advance to the state meet. The state meet will be conducted over two days (Nov. 10 and 11, with three classifications competing each day) at Great Meadow in The Plains.

Cheerleading

In the Northwestern District, the top four teams advance to the Class 4, Region C meet. Details are still being worked out for the Region 2B meet. The top two teams in each region go to the state meet.

Wrestling

In the Northwestern District, the top four wrestlers in each weight class will advance to the Class 4, Region C tournament for an eight-wrestler bracket. Details are still being worked out in the Bull Run District as far as advancing to the Region 2B tournament, which will feature an eight-person bracket.

VHSL assistant director Chris Robinson said his understanding is that classes 1 and 2 will have 12-wrestler state brackets, and classes 3-6 will have 16 wrestlers in their brackets.

Swimming

In the Northwestern District, the top eight in each individual event and the top four in each relay event, as well as those meeting qualifying standards, will advance to the region meet.

The VHSL combines Class 2 and 1 in swimming. The postseason will open at the region level in Region 2B because the Shenandoah District only has two swimming programs. Class 2 opened at the region level in the conference era as well, but the Bull Run District held a meet for its schools anyway. The Bull Run District will continue to do that this year.

The top five in each individual event and the top four in each relay event, plus standards qualifiers, will advance to the state meet for all classes.

Outdoor Track & Field

In the Northwestern District, the top eight finishers in individual events and the top four teams in relay events, plus those individuals and relays meeting qualifying standards, will advance to the Class 4, Region C meet.

In the Bull Run District, the top six finishers in individual events and the top three teams in relay events, plus those individuals and relays meeting qualifying standards, will advance to the Region 2B meet.

For the state meet, the top four individuals and the top four relays in each event, and those meeting qualifying standards, will advance.

Details for indoor track are still being worked out for the Northwestern District.

Tennis

For the Northwestern District and Bull Run District, the same guidelines that apply to baseball, basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball apply. For singles and doubles, the district champion and runner-up will advance to regional competition. The region champion and runner-up will advance to state competition.

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1