<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=35Pxf1_0r6SfKJ600" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=35Pxf1_0r6SfKJ600" width="1761" height="1108" ><figcaption>Quincy High School's varsity football team defense plays against Medical Lake in October 2023. Post-Register file photo</figcaption></figure>Part 1 of a multi-part seriesThe Quincy Jacks are going back to 2A, leaving the Caribou Trail League behind and returning to the Central Washington Athletic Conference.News of the upcoming changes came from Quincy School District last week.The Jacks last played in the CWAC four years ago, and it wasn’t easy. So a return to facing schools like Selah, Othello, Ephrata and East Valley-Yakima on a regular basis signifies a major challenge for the green-and-gold.Four sports will have to face that challenge first: cross country, girls soccer, volleyball and football, in the fall of the 2024-2025 season.David Garza, head coach of the cross country squad and an Othello product, said he remembers Quincy being in the CWAC when he was an Othello Huskie athlete, and remembers the Jacks struggling mightily. The trip to Q-town or a visit from the Jacks was “an easy win” in the Huskies’ schedule, he says.“That’s how I saw it as an athlete,” he said. “Now after all this time, being a coach here, I feel that from a cross country perspective, from a running perspective, it does not affect us as much as other sports.”The cross country coaching staff will feel some pressure to field a team. The CWAC is very competitive when it comes to athlete turnout, and Quincy coaches will have to find a way to bring numbers up, especially in girls cross country, Garza said.“It’s going to be very interesting to see how we compete as a team,” he said. “And see if our boys who made state last year will be able to continue to push in that 2A barrier.” 1A teams like Cascade and Cashmere were tough rivals, and that will help the Jacks compete at the CWAC level, Garza said.The schedule for 2024-2025 has not been set yet, but one of the things that will change for sure is the site of districts. The CTL holds its race in Wenatchee, while the CWAC competes at Apple Ridge, in Yakima.Both 1A and 2A compete at state in Pasco.Last year, at state, Quincy runners competed in 1A, but stayed to watch the 2A race. Being competitive at the 2A level to the point of getting to state “is very much in our grasp,” Garza said.Garza’s prediction is a little less sunny when it comes to other sports.“From a CWAC perspective, in most sports, I will say Quincy will have a very difficult time,” Garza said.The football coach offered a different perspective on the switch: It’s a challenge, all right, but it’s an exciting challenge.“Our numbers are 2A (level), so we should be able to compete at 2A,” said Russ Elliott, whose Jacks finished a 5-5 overall season last year. Elliott said that the best thing about the switch is “it sheds light on where we are as a program and as a school, as far as athletically competing (is concerned). Maybe it’s painful to look at, but it’s important. If we can’t compete, well, why is that? And let’s start addressing that.”Like Garza, Elliott mentioned that part of the challenge lies in bringing numbers up. Many 2A squads field a varsity, a JV, and a C team. Meanwhile, Quincy struggles to field that third team.“The big push for me is, ‘Let’s get some numbers out; let’s get three teams,’” Elliott said. “And let’s start competing or pushing to compete at the level of the league we are in.”During their four-year foray into the CTL, the Jacks continued facing CWAC teams on the gridiron. Last year, Quincy played East Valley and Ephrata, as part of a five-game slate of nonleague clashes. Next year, the schedule flips, with only enough room for one nonleague game, since the CWAC has more teams than the future four-team CTL. The season will open with a home game against Selah and a road game against Ephrata.As many changes as the switch brings about, one thing has to remain a constant, Elliott said, and that is the players’ focus has to stay on self-improvement.“It’s not different than being on the CTL; we just have to keep improving ourselves,” he said. “We are not even close to where we could be. We just need to work on us. We know who we are going to be up against week by week, but it’s not about that: It’s about us improving our program and developing our kids. If we do that, it really does not matter who we are playing against.”He later added, “If we stayed down at 1A, and we are bigger than all those schools, it’s just not fair. Maybe that’s where our program is, but it should not be, because our enrollment is not there. If we are having trouble competing at 2A, let’s fix that issue and keep moving forward.”</div></body>

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Caution and optimism greet news of Quincy’s return to 2A

The Quincy Jacks are going back to 2A, leaving the Caribou Trail League behind and returning to the Central Washington Athletic Conference. News of the upcoming changes came from Quincy School District last week. The Jacks last played in the CWAC four years ago, and it wasn’t easy. So a...

Caution and optimism greet news of Quincy’s return to 2A

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