According to early reports from the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association June meeting, Pahrump Valley will be in Class 4-A, when the next realignment goes into effect in the 2008-2009 school year.

But don't wager the house on that happening. Nye County School District Superintendent Rob Roberts indicated Thursday there will be intense discussions about that classification, which would move Trojan athletic teams out of the Southern 3-A League and into Clark County-dominated 4-A competition.

"Our official position is, we do not want to move from 3-A," said Roberts, who advised that Dale Norton, the assistant superintendent in charge of athletics, has relayed that information to the NIAA's realignment committee. The NIAA was to conclude its two-day session at the Atlantis Hotel in Reno Thursday.

At the opening session Wednesday, a recommendation by Eddie Bonine, the executive director of the NIAA, passed 11-2 to align all Nevada high schools by their enrollment, beginning with the 2008-2009 school year.

The numbers:

0-169, Class A (which means Tonopah, Laughlin and Carlin will remain in their respective leagues, despite a highly controversial proposal to move them into 2-A);

170 to 460, Class 2-A;

461 to 1,200, Class 3-A, and

1,201 and more, Class 4-A.

The NIAA, in October, will review any petitions on realignment; figure Pahrump Valley's status to be the subject of one of those petitions.

Pahrump Valley will have more than 1,200 students in high school classes in the 2008-2009 academic year, said Roberts. The NIAA board indicated that it will take into account geographic location and competitiveness when confirming realignment.

Reno area Class 4-A schools Bishop Manogue, Hug and Damonte Ranch would be moved into Class 3-A, because their enrollments are projected to go below the 1,201 minimum. In Las Vegas, Bishop Gorman would be classified 3-A, and Yerington would have to play Class 3-A football.

Other schools which could be affected eventually are Dayton and Fernley, which have burgeoning populations. In the last four years, Dayton has added 2,500 residents, while Fernley's population has more than doubled (from more than 8,500 to almost 19,000).

In essence, the NIAA chose to do nothing, other than establish those student enrollment figures as bench marks for alignment. With the proposed numbers, Elko, Churchill County Fallon, South Tahoe, Reno Hug, and Reno Wooster would remain in 4-A, and Tonopah, Carlin and Laughlin would stay 1-A.

Tonopah had a large contingent of residents at the meeting, ready and willing to state the Muckers' case.There were many points to argue, not the least of which Mucker athletes would spend an inordinate amount of time on school buses traveling to Battle Mountain (540-mile round trip), West Wendover (576), Ely (338), and Carlin (498), if they were moved into a proposed 2-A league.

"We emphasized the point that we are in the business of educating our children," said Dr. Roberts. "That is our primary objective." And that objective would not be achieved without considerable difficulty -- and expense -- if Tonopah teams had to deal with so many long-distance trips.

If Pahrump Valley had to move into 4-A, the major issue would be the disposition of the Southern 3-A League, which currently includes Mesquite Virgin Valley, Overton Moapa Valley, Boulder City, and Las Vegas Faith Lutheran. Every one of those schools is having trouble now in completing their schedules; it would be even more difficult trying to fill an additional open date.