DON McDERMOTT MORE COLUMNS HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT One of the major construction projects of the year, Pahrump Valley High School completed the 1,700-seat football stadium on campus. Advertisement

The No. 1 story in Nye County athletics is still unfolding.

As in every other aspect of our every day life, the economy is affecting athletics in Nye high schools. Because of reductions in the Nevada state education budget, extracurricular activities will undergo radical changes.

Among the changes that could occur -- and let us state here, are totally unofficial and are merely topics of conversation:

* At some high schools, there will be no freshmen teams. At some middle schools, there will be just one varsity-level team in various sports offered.

* Schedules could be limited to league games only in all sports.

* Some sports could be eliminated because of prohibitive equipment costs, or because they don't generate enough revenue to warrant continuing.

We could go on, but let's wait and see what happens in 2009 with the economy. My personal opinion is that we have enough negativity surging about to flatten the Spring Mountains. Being positive could go a long way in resolving some of the issues facing the American and world economies.

So what were the big stories in Nye County this year?

* Realignment affected Pahrump Valley, with Trojan teams moving into Class 4-A. The Southern Nevada Class A League, normally contested in two divisions (Central and South) is now one league. Beatty, Round Mountain and Tonopah were affected by that decision.

* Construction of a 1,700-seat football stadium on the Pahrump Valley High School campus raised the integrity of facilities used by Trojan teams.

* The Pahrump Valley Speedway closed forever(?), but in the Amargosa Valley, Death Valley Raceway, a one-third mile dirt oval, was constructed and had a highly successful first season. One negative: publicity was excellent early in the season, but after a couple months weather (too hot!) break, information from the facility lagged well below expectations.

* Off-road racing took a hit, with the elimination of the Terrible's Town 250, but the Vegas-to-Reno race attracted a huge field. The race started outside Beatty and ended at Dayton because of political pressure ... pressure that will affect future off-road events in Nye County.

* Moving into Class 4-A didn't phase the Lady Trojans' volleyball team, which finished third in the tough Southwest Division and qualified for the regional playoffs. The girls' golf team was the first PVHS squad to qualify for a state tournament.

* Pahrump Valley's girls' soccer team, affected by a Title IX lawsuit filed in Las Vegas, continued to play in Class 3-A. And for the first time in school history, the Lady Trojans qualified for the state tournament. The PV girls will play soccer in 4-A next fall ... barring another suit.

* Pahrump Valley's boys' soccer team lost four games by a goal and three others by two goals. They were a highly entertaining bunch of players who didn't back off a challenge.

* The 2007-2008 wrestling team at PVHS won the state 3-A championship, easily outpointing Spring Creek, Mesquite Virgin Valley and Winnemucca. Coach Craig Rieger's team had two individual champions: James (Kansas) Chapman and Zach Weldon.

* Bob Hopkins, after winning 198 games from 2000 through 2008, resigned as coach of the Pahrump Valley girls' basketball team. Jason Odegard, who was his varsity assistant for several seasons before moving to North Dakota, returned to PVHS and is now the Lady Trojans' coach.

* Leo Verzilli, who had plenty of success as the football coach at Rosemary Clarke Middle School, grabbed the reins for the PVHS program. The Trojans finished 1-9, including a 0-7 record in 4-A league games.

* The death in September of Preston Dockter left a major void not only at PVHS, but in the community as well. His loss adversely affected the football team last fall and will cause changes in the fast-pitch softball program in the spring. In his rookie season as coach, the 2008 team advanced to the state 3-A tournament.

* Dan Lindgren, who became the athletics director at PVHS, faces major challenges ahead ... because of the aforementioned economics crisis.

* The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association has to solve a significant problem: how to rejuvenate Class 3-A, which will be down to 10 schools in 2009-2010. Faith Lutheran is leaving 3-A and joins the Sunset Region Northwest 4-A Division next year.