High Country pride is strong when it comes to Pioneer athletics. The community shows up and shows out to support Watauga County’s only high school in all that they do. This year especially, school pride has shone bright as Watauga has excelled athletically across the board. From Conference to State Championships the majority of Watauga High School sports have placed well, and all teams, athletes, and coaches should be proud. But when considering that NC schools have undergone a shift in conference classification one is left wondering if that success is related. The short answer? Yes.

Some of the change in classification came down to how Watauga matched with other schools in terms of enrollment. In 2024, Watauga had an enrollment of 1279 students, but they were playing against much larger schools such as Audrey Kell, which had an enrollment of 3036 students.

“The intent of the shift was to more evenly match schools of similar size for competition purposes,” said track and cross country coach, Scott Townsend. “For example, last year, in the previous 4 classification system, Watauga was one of the smallest schools in 4A competing with schools twice their size. This shift for Watauga leveled the playing field quite a bit. This is evidenced in the deep runs that Fall and Winter sports have made in the playoffs.”

Prior to this year, NC schools had 4 classifications for high schools based entirely on student enrollment. 1A being the smallest and 4A being the largest. Starting this year, there are 8 classifications, with 8A being the largest. Each classification can contain a maximum of 64 schools, except for 8A, which can contain a maximum of 32 schools. Watauga falls into the 6A category.

“It's given schools like Watauga an opportunity to go play for a State Championship in multiple sports, and I think we've proved that this year,” said Athletic Director Dustin Kerley. “With Women's Cross Country winning the State Championship this fall, Football winning the State Championship this fall, Women's Indoor Track winning the State Championship this winter, Volleyball competing for the State Championship, Women's Tennis playing in the Final 4 of the dual team against Charlotte Catholic— we've got teams that are getting a lot closer to winning it all than we have in years past and it's been awesome.”

Classifications are already realigned every 4 years to make sure that each high school is still in the right classification. This year the high school athletic directors met to discuss what the new 8 classification system would look like. Coach Kerley and other athletic directors across the state begin meeting with coaches in March each year to plan for the fall season, so that schedules are ready to go by the time fall sports are starting. 

“From my end, I would say it was more about working with our coaches,” said Kerley. “But the normal day-to-day stuff didn't really change. The shift had actually been in the works for about 2 years before it actually happened. It was put in place to start during this school year. So our coaches knew what it was going to look like. I knew what it was going to look like. Of course, you have to figure some things out as you go. Like anytime there's something new, but the day-to-day didn’t change a whole lot.”

Watauga athletes were made aware of the changes, but the mindset for success didn’t change. The athletes headed into the season the same way they have in years prior. Their focus was solely on the team and their own performance, knowing they are capable of greatness as long as they work hard. 

“I don't think the expectations for Cross Country or Track changed as we have always had a championship mentality,” said Townsend. “Meaning that we enter every season with the intent to compete for a state title regardless of classification. The irony is that we competed well above our size. An example is that our Outdoor Track team finished tied for 3rd in 4A last year at the State meet. So knowing we fared well against larger schools, we were hopeful that would translate into this new classification.”

This year the Women’s Cross Country Team not only qualified for the State Championship but won the 6A title this fall. Then this winter, the Women’s Indoor Track team brought home the state title again. This is the furthest that the teams have gone in over 10 years. 

“So much time and energy from both the athletes and the coaches is put into the season, you just hope that on the day of the state meet that all the work comes together,” said Townsend. “We as a team made a point to focus on the joy of the day and not get overly nervous. We knew our outcome was to give our best, and the rest would take care of itself. But it was exciting to bring home a State Championship to Watauga High School, Watauga County Schools, and the High Country.”

The track and cross country teams weren’t the only major successes Watauga had this year. The football team also brought home a State Championship win in December. The Volleyball Team made it to the State Championship, the Women’s Tennis Team was runner-up in the individual doubles tournament and made it to the Final 4 6A match. The Swim Team also made it to the State Championship, and many other sports brought home great accomplishments this year.

“We believe we have a formula for success and we plan to just follow that,” said Townsend. “We have areas we would like to improve and now we are the team with the target on them. We won't surprise other teams so we have to be equally prepared to execute our plan again. We are excited to see what we can do!”

Though Watauga has always done great things, it is clear that the shift in classification was necessary. It has provided greater opportunities to Watauga athletics as a whole, and the more we win, the more we grow.

“I think, anytime you're successful, people want to be a part of it,” said Kerley. “People want to do things that are successful. But it's hard. Success isn't easy. Doing hard things is required to have a chance to be successful, but I absolutely think when your teams are winning, more people want to be a part of it.”