Chugiak jumps to Railbelt

WASILLA — For the second time in as many years, there’s a change in the Railbelt Conference.

Chugiak will make the move from the Cook Inlet Conference to the Railbelt, effective for the 2016 season. The switch was approved during the Alaska School Activities Association Board of Directors Meeting earlier this month.

The addition of Chugiak pushes the Railbelt back to five teams. The Mustangs join Colony, Wasilla, Lathrop and West Valley in the large-schools conference.

“I’m all for it. It’s one more team closer to our (school) size,” Wasilla head coach Kent Rilatos said.

The move brings a quality program to the conference, Rilatos said. Chugiak, which has competed in the Cook Inlet Conference, plays West Anchorage in the large-schools state championship game tonight (Friday, Oct. 23) in Anchorage.

“They’re very good competition,” Rilatos said.

Rilatos said he likes the similarities between Chugiak and the remainder of the Railbelt schools. The schools are home to similar numbers of total students, and programs draw a similar number of athletes.

Change of the large-schools prep football postseason format was also approved during the ASAA meeting. With the addition of Chugiak, the Railbelt will once again have four automatic berths to the large-schools playoffs. The CIC will also have four. In 2015, the four-team Railbelt had three automatic berths, while the seven-team CIC had five automatic berths.

In 2016, the top seed from the Railbelt hosts the CIC’s fourth seed. The Railbelt No 2 hosts the CIC No. 3. The Railbelt third and fourth seeds meet the second and first seeds from the CIC, respectively, in the quarterfinals.

This is the second straight year and the third time since 2012 that there’s been a chance to the Railbelt. Prior to the 2015 season, Palmer was moved from the Railbelt to the medium-schools Northern Lights Conference. Following the 2012 season, North Pole and Juneau-Douglas moved from the Railbelt to the medium-schools Southeast Conference.

A proposal to move Chugiak, and possibly Bartlett, from the CIC to the Railbelt was first mentioned during ASAA meetings last spring.

Colony finished first in the four-team Railbelt in 2015, notching a 3-0 conference record. Lathrop (2-1) and West Valley (1-2) also advanced to the postseason. Wasilla was 0-3 in conference play.

All three Railbelt teams suffered losses in the first round of the large-schools playoffs.

With the addition of Chugiak, Railbelt teams will play four conference games and four nonconference games during the regular season.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.