Skyland Conference division alignments for 2016-18

With the fall sports season just weeks away, here's another look at the Skyland Conference division alignments for baseball, field hockey and wrestling for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years.

If you look closely, nothing changed with the exception of Voorhees returning to the Raritan Division in field hockey after competing in the Valley Division in 2015 and '16. A welcome change indeed because it puts at least two dates on the schedule with archrival Warren Hills.

The teams did not meet during the regular season in '14, with Warren Hills posting a 5-0 win in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament semifinals. Last season, Voorhees scored a 2-1 victory in Washington on Sept. 15, before the Blue Streaks turned the tables with a 2-1 win on penalty strokes in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex semifinals. Warren Hills went on to claim its third straight county championship. Voorhees holds a a 31-21-6 edge in the series dating to 1975.

(Note: There are crossovers between the Delaware and Raritan divisions and the Valley and Mountain divisions in field hockey and only between the Delaware and Raritan in baseball. There are no crossovers in wrestling, all division teams wrestle each other one time).

Baseball
Delaware	Raritan	Valley	Mountain
Bridgewater	Franklin	Bernards	Belvidere
Hillsborough	Montgomery	Delaware Val.	Bound Brook
Hunterdon C.	No. Hunterdon	Rutgers Prep	Gill St. Bernard's
Immaculata	Phillipsburg	Somerville	Manville
Watchung Hills	Ridge	Voorhees	North Plainfield
		Warren Hills	Pingry
			South Hunterdon
Field Hockey
Delaware	Raritan	Valley	Mountain
Bridgewater	Montgomery	Bernards	Belvidere
Hillsborough	No. Hunterdon	Delaware Val.	Mount St. Mary
Hunterdon C.	Phillipsburg	Franklin	North Plainfield
Pingry	Voorhees           Warren Hills	Somerville	South Hunterdon
Ridge	Watchung Hills
Wrestling
Delaware	Raritan	Valley
Bridgewater	Bound Brook	Belvidere
Franklin	Delaware Val.	Bernards
Hillsborough	Hunterdon C.	Manville
Montgomery	No. Hunterdon	No. Plainfield
Ridge	Phillipsburg	Pingry
Somerville	Voorhees	Rutgers Prep
Watchung Hills	Warren Hills

Wrestling: HWS district, region realignment at glance

The next phase toward district and region realignment statewide in New Jersey is taking place today during a meeting at NJSIAA headquarters in Robbinsville where some school administrators are getting their first look at what is likely to come in the 2016-17 season.

The wrestling committee voted unanimously last month to send what is according to several sources radical district and region realignment for the coming season on to the next level. The committee has done a pretty good job of keeping what it will look like under wraps, much to the chagrin of many athletic directors and coaches, who have been kept in the dark during this process.

Open Mike has obtained what a few of the districts will look like as voted on in July. From what we've learned, this will dramatically alter the landscape up north, especially with regard to Region 1, which has long been recognized as one of the toughest in the state.

Phillipsburg and Warren Hills would be moving to Region 3, which would include Delbarton and Hanover Park. That region would likely be held at West Orange. The Hunterdon County schools are separating, while High Point and Newton would break away from Kittatinny for district purposes.

Warren Hills, according to sources, would travel to North Bergen for the district tournament.

This plan, supposedly, was to be less of a dramatic shift statewide and would factor in the average of a school's power point totals for the past five seasons in addition to northing numbers.

Don't like it so far? Take a look at what some of these districts involving the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area will be. Check back here for more information as it filters in.

High Point, Newton, North Warren, Dumont, Pascack Valley, Old Tappan, Ramapo, Ridgewood and Westwood -- a district in Region 1

North Hunterdon, Bernards, Carteret, Irvington, Metuchen, Ridge, Roselle Park, Somerville, Weequahic and Westfield -- a district in Region 4

Hunterdon Central, Franklin, Hillsborough, Keansburg, Middletown North, Middletown South, South River, Spotswood and West Windsor North -- a district in Region 5

Delaware Valley, Edison, Marlboro, Old Bridge, Pingry, Princeton, Rumson-Fair Haven, St. John Vianney, Sayreville and West Windsor South -- a district in Region 5