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Over the next few weeks -- actually all summer -- reports on Pahrump Valley's move to Class 4-A will be included rather extensively on these pages.

If y'all get bored, be sure to chime in and let us know what YOU think. In the meanwhile, here are some thoughts about the recently-concluded 2007-2008 athletic endeavors of the PHVS Trojans ...

The teams of the year?

Quite obviously, the Lady Trojans' golf team won a third consecutive Nevada Class 3-A state championship, and the wrestlers gave PVHS its third title in that sport in 21 years -- and first-ever in Class 3-A.

Pahrump Valley's volleyball and fast-pitch softball teams went against the odds and won regional championships by outworking Las Vegas Faith Lutheran's favored Crusaders in both sports.

In basketball, the Lady Trojans won 25 games, but they were upset in the state semifinals by a Truckee, Calif., team they should have handled easily.

Pahrump Valley's soccer teams had big regular seasons and got to the regional finals -- the girls for the first time ever.

The Lady Trojans had eight girls score 91 points in the state 3-A track meet. If one more girl had been able to qualify out of the regionals, maybe they would have returned from Reno with a second straight Nevada title.

In baseball and boys' basketball, there were some great moments for the Trojans, and both teams were highly entertaining. Sometimes, that's all any fan can ask for (or expect), is to enjoy the game, regardless of the results.

Trojan football 2007 is best forgotten. Think positive thoughts about the 2008 campaign, when PVHS competes in Class 4-A's Sunset Region Southwest Division, that includes state champion Bishop Gorman.

Athletes of the Year

In no particular order ...

... McKenzie Dean, a junior long-distance runner who won four individual state championships (one in cross country, three in track) ...

... James Chapman and Zach Weldon, who claimed weight-class titles in the state 3-A wrestling tournament ... and Elias Armendariz, who didn't win a fourth championship, but concluded a marvelous career with a runnerup finish ...

... Kyle Mills, who set a state record in the triple jump, after winning that event for a second straight spring ...

... Darius Dolly, a small but mighty basketball point guard, who often defied gravity as he drove the lane ...

... Iggy Wagner, perhaps Pahrump Valley's most exciting baseball player in recent seasons because of the speed he uses to be one of Nevada's best centerfielders ... Teammate Ethan Wald, a solid, aggressive catcher who should go on to be a collegiate standout. So will Wagner, when he decides to return to the game after taking a year off ...

... Kristi Daffer, a tough middle hitter for the Lady Trojans' volleyball team, and a clutch player for the PVHS girls' basketball squad ...

... Brittney Lindgren and Brittney Orr -- The "Either-Orr" girls in PVHS athletics ... What they lacked in size, they made up for by being super aggressive when the situations dictated ...

Stay tuned for more.