Angelina County’s own Lufkin Panthers will have some fresh district competition come next academic year.
Today the University Interscholastic League (UIL), Texas’ governing body over all competitive events at the high school level, released the new realignment map revealing the updated structure of each competitive district within high school athletics. This shakeup occurs every two years as an active response to the flux in size regarding each individual school’s relative size and helps maintain a level of parity and fairness in competition throughout the UIL.
The big news specifically regarding our own local Lufkin Panthers is that district 8 will be trimming Tomball and Willis for two other North Houston programs in New Caney and Porter, while both district 16 basketball and volleyball programs will be downsizing and realigning with north Houston schools, as both sports districts are losing Hallsville, Marshall and Pine Tree high schools while adding in regional powerhouse Huntsville:
District 8-5A-I Football
Out- Tomball, Willis
In- New Caney, Porter
District 16-5A Basketball
Out- Hallsville, Marshall, Pine Tree
In- Huntsville
District 16-5A Volleyball
Out- Hallsville, Marshall, Pine Tree
In- Huntsville
It’s a great look for the Lufkin program, as the bulk of their district competition now stems from one of the strongest regions in the state.
For a complete outline of the 2020 realignment, check out https://realignment.uiltexas.org/.
