May 16, 2024
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St. Rita becomes second school to choose to play up in classification

East St. Louis also declared earlier this offseason

By Steve Soucie
St. Rita players celebrate their win over St. Charles North in their 7A quarterfinal game in St. Charles on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022.

St. Rita players celebrate their win over St. Charles North in their Class 7A quarterfinal game during the 2022 season. (Sandy Bressner – sbressner@shawmedia.com)

St. Rita became the second school to utilize the IHSA’s option for schools to play up in a higher classification than their enrollment number would ordinarily place them in.

The “playing up” rule allows schools to voluntarily choose to move up to one or more classifications for a two-year period.

The IHSA confirmed the St. Rita has declared its intention to play in the Class 7A field. St. Rita was a 7A team last season, reaching the semifinal round where it lost to Mount Carmel. They also fell in the 2021 State Championship game in 7A to Wheaton North.

A significant drop in the school’s official enrollment number led to it being extremely likely that the Mustangs would be a 6A playoff school this season, if the Mustangs were to reach the postseason. That likelihood made playing up necessary if the Mustangs wanted to stay in 7A.

East St. Louis declared its intention to play up earlier this season. The Flyers committed to another two-year stint in Class 6A. The Flyers have used this rule multiple times to play at higher classifications and this year’s team would have almost certainly been a Class 5A team.

These are the only two schools that will utilize this rule this season after four used at least some portion of the rule last season. IC Catholic (Class 3A), Loyola (Class 8A) and East St. Louis (Class 6A) all played up. Joliet Catholic used a little-known addendum to the rule, which allowed for them not being able to fall below Class 4A for playoff consideration.

IC Catholic, Loyola and Joliet Catholic all had multipliers restored to their enrollment numbers this offseason, which meant none of them needed to re-attach the playing-up rule for this two-year period.