2025 IAC and WCAC Playoffs Results and Commentary

[Anonymous]

Well one non-Catholic school wouldn’t be happy to see Prep leave the IAC. It’s the same one that was the only school that voted against expelling Prep football in 2006. That’s Landon.

As contentious as the relationship between these two schools has been —- and it’s been ugly at times —- beating GP is what Landon and their alums care about.

OSU fans hate Michigan, but they aren’t going to vote to throw them out of the B1G.

What if GP takes their program up a notch and starts to dominate the IAC? Landon did this for 15+ years and there was hardly a peep. How many times have schools other than Landon or Prep won the IAC lacrosse title?

Who is going to lead the charge and get all these IAC and MAC schools cast their lots in a completely new and revolutionary concept?

Talk about herding cats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The IAC will stay together because every other place these schools could go is worse for them.

Bingo. All this "GP leaving the IAC" and "the IAC is disbanding" talk is nothing more than wish casting from folks with questionable agendas.

Mostly true, but do think there is strength in numbers and combining MAC and IAC with upper and lower divisions and relegation allows for organized flexibility for athletic departments to better deal with a rapidly changing DMV high school sports scene

What exactly are the rapid changes in the DMV high school sports scene. I can’t think of any.

The WCAC splitting into divisions?

Sidwell leaving the IAC in the 1990’s.

Prep football being expelled from the IAC in 2004?

St John’s revival from the deep sleep of the 1990’s might be the biggest change I can think of.

That’s why GP hiring an established, highly-successful lacrosse coach is such interesting news (if true!)

Who knows what their objective is. Maybe they were just tired of mediocrity and decided to take an entirely different approach that might be considered “overkill”.

The IAC is a better conference than it was years ago. Better athletes, more recruiting and more college scholarships awarded. St Albans seems to be the only school that has not changed and their teams seem to have been steadily falling in the standings.

Here are some of the most impactful changes to DMV sports scene that i can think of which contributes to this series of posts about Prep:

1. Single sport specialization is now a fact at top sports at top WCAC schools. Less so at IAC schools fortunately, but becoming more common

2. Athletic scholarships at high school level. Days of need based only aid are over at small number of top DMV sports schools, who win more than those who don’t.

3. Exponential rise in number of kids who reclass. WCAC doesn’t allow it once you enter HS, which is why DMV has a number of 8th grade reclass factories. looking at you Mater Delay. IAC does allow reclasses, which gives IAC an advantage if and when combined with #1.

4. Desire to have a national reputation for excellence in top sports. It’s not enough to be the best in DMV for top WCAC and IAC programs in the top sports. Hence football and basketball games vs teams from outside of DMV, to include TX, CA, FL, is a must.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well one non-Catholic school wouldn’t be happy to see Prep leave the IAC. It’s the same one that was the only school that voted against expelling Prep football in 2006. That’s Landon.

As contentious as the relationship between these two schools has been —- and it’s been ugly at times —- beating GP is what Landon and their alums care about.

OSU fans hate Michigan, but they aren’t going to vote to throw them out of the B1G.

What if GP takes their program up a notch and starts to dominate the IAC? Landon did this for 15+ years and there was hardly a peep. How many times have schools other than Landon or Prep won the IAC lacrosse title?

Who is going to lead the charge and get all these IAC and MAC schools cast their lots in a completely new and revolutionary concept?

Talk about herding cats.

As much as I'd like to see the IAC remain together, its on a matter of time before the league vanishes or its current makeup of 6 members (Landon, GP, Bullis, Saint Stephens, EHS, STA) looks dramatically different.

Size of school, geographical locations, greater emphasis on athletics, boarding, single sex vs coed, I could go on and on but each school continues to point fingers at one another as the competitive imbalances have become even more pronounced in the past 5 years.

Whether Prep homers wants to admit it or not, the Hoyas natural natural home is the WCAC. They can fall on their sword about their elite academic perception. Whoever continues to make college references, do you think Duke really cares they are in a conference with Clemson or Florida State, both schools they are academically superior too, probably not.

While I agree with you that Landon wouldn't be happy to see GP out of the IAC or the creation of a new league (IAC - MAC merger), they are only one school with one vote. Landon is more aligned with Prep in terms of putting an emphasis of athletics, however the Bears don't have the advantage of bolting to the Catholic league if the opportunity were to present itself.

Bullis is also in a tough situation. While its co-ed, Bullis is drastically larger than the other co-ed schools in the IAC, both EHS and Saint Stephens. Bullis has been increasing their enrollment over the years as they have the capital and land to do so (they have been talking about for years about building a dorm) Bullis, similar to Landon and GP, also has an emphasis on athletics for some marquee sports - boys / girls track, boys / girls hoops teams, boys lacrosse and football.

I've been saying this for years but the DC private schools should mimic exactly what the MIAA does for its member schools. Combine the WCAC, IAC, and MAC schools into one conference and have 3 tiers (upper, middle, lower) based how competitive the program is their sport.

For example take a school like Sidwell Friends, while their football program pretty bad, they opt to play in the lowest division with similar schools. Meanwhile their basektball program is elite, and could opt to play in the upper division and compete with the big boys.

The ADs at most of these schools are so incompetent, this is not earth shattering. A five year plan should have been in the works years ago. As a previous poster earlier, half the WCAC schools dislike playing in the WCAC due to the competitive imbalances with the larger all male schools (mainly DM and GZ)

[Anonymous]

I do see any of the changes listed above as being revolutionary. Nor do I see their cumulative weight leading to a radical restructuring of the private school conferences.

What you might see is occasionally a school switching conferences either for opportunity to improve or inability to compete. Examples of this are Sidwell dropping down to the MAC or The Heights competing in the WCAC in a sport. Potomac School in the past has been interested in the IAC, but couldn’t convince the membership that including them would be a benefit to these schools individually.

I think the WCAC would invite Prep in a heartbeat as it would improve the Conference’s profile. It would be like adding Duke to the ACC.

One of the few IAC rules is that no kid can turn 19 before the start of their Sr Year.

At least in lacrosse, the greatest change is the surprising rise of “The Clubs”. Now you have scores of kids whose parents have spent tens of thousands of dollars chasing being recruited by colleges. The high schools are now part of that craziness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well one non-Catholic school wouldn’t be happy to see Prep leave the IAC. It’s the same one that was the only school that voted against expelling Prep football in 2006. That’s Landon.

As contentious as the relationship between these two schools has been —- and it’s been ugly at times —- beating GP is what Landon and their alums care about.

OSU fans hate Michigan, but they aren’t going to vote to throw them out of the B1G.

What if GP takes their program up a notch and starts to dominate the IAC? Landon did this for 15+ years and there was hardly a peep. How many times have schools other than Landon or Prep won the IAC lacrosse title?

Who is going to lead the charge and get all these IAC and MAC schools cast their lots in a completely new and revolutionary concept?

Talk about herding cats.

As much as I'd like to see the IAC remain together, its on a matter of time before the league vanishes or its current makeup of 6 members (Landon, GP, Bullis, Saint Stephens, EHS, STA) looks dramatically different.

Size of school, geographical locations, greater emphasis on athletics, boarding, single sex vs coed, I could go on and on but each school continues to point fingers at one another as the competitive imbalances have become even more pronounced in the past 5 years.

Whether Prep homers wants to admit it or not, the Hoyas natural natural home is the WCAC. They can fall on their sword about their elite academic perception. Whoever continues to make college references, do you think Duke really cares they are in a conference with Clemson or Florida State, both schools they are academically superior too, probably not.

While I agree with you that Landon wouldn't be happy to see GP out of the IAC or the creation of a new league (IAC - MAC merger), they are only one school with one vote. Landon is more aligned with Prep in terms of putting an emphasis of athletics, however the Bears don't have the advantage of bolting to the Catholic league if the opportunity were to present itself.

Bullis is also in a tough situation. While its co-ed, Bullis is drastically larger than the other co-ed schools in the IAC, both EHS and Saint Stephens. Bullis has been increasing their enrollment over the years as they have the capital and land to do so (they have been talking about for years about building a dorm) Bullis, similar to Landon and GP, also has an emphasis on athletics for some marquee sports - boys / girls track, boys / girls hoops teams, boys lacrosse and football.

I've been saying this for years but the DC private schools should mimic exactly what the MIAA does for its member schools. Combine the WCAC, IAC, and MAC schools into one conference and have 3 tiers (upper, middle, lower) based how competitive the program is their sport.

For example take a school like Sidwell Friends, while their football program pretty bad, they opt to play in the lowest division with similar schools. Meanwhile their basektball program is elite, and could opt to play in the upper division and compete with the big boys.

The ADs at most of these schools are so incompetent, this is not earth shattering. A five year plan should have been in the works years ago. As a previous poster earlier, half the WCAC schools dislike playing in the WCAC due to the competitive imbalances with the larger all male schools (mainly DM and GZ)

Love the DC version of the MIAA idea. So what does the Tier 1 Lax look like for this super-conference?

[Anonymous]

Love the DC version of the MIAA idea. So what does the Tier 1 Lax look like for this super-conference?

a tier 1 lax division if you were to combine WCAC, IAC and the MAC.

Tier 1:
1. Landon
2. Prep
3. Bullis
4. STA
5. EHS
6. GZ
7. DM
8. SJC
9. GC
10. Ryken

Tier 2:
1. Saint Stephens
2. The Heights
3. BI
4. O'Connell
5. Potomac School
6. Sidwell Friends
7. Saint James
8. Flint Hill

Every 2 years, the AD's come together and if a team or two from the upper wish to drop down from Tier 1 down to Tier 2, or vice versa, do it.

Again this is not hard to establish.

*do Maret or GDS even field varsisty lax teams or is more of rec play*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Love the DC version of the MIAA idea. So what does the Tier 1 Lax look like for this super-conference?

a tier 1 lax division if you were to combine WCAC, IAC and the MAC.

Tier 1:
1. Landon
2. Prep
3. Bullis
4. STA
5. EHS
6. GZ
7. DM
8. SJC
9. GC
10. Ryken

Tier 2:
1. Saint Stephens
2. The Heights
3. BI
4. O'Connell
5. Potomac School
6. Sidwell Friends
7. Saint James
8. Flint Hill

Every 2 years, the AD's come together and if a team or two from the upper wish to drop down from Tier 1 down to Tier 2, or vice versa, do it.

Again this is not hard to establish.

*do Maret or GDS even field varsisty lax teams or is more of rec play*

I think this is a great idea which has absolutely no chance of ever happening in the next 10 to 20 years.

I'm strongly reminded of the current distribution of colleges in the Power Conferences in the NCAA. (Texas in the SEC, Cal and SMU in the ACC, etc., etc.) A couple of 10th graders at lunch could come up with a geographic grouping of schools that would save huge amounts of money, would return regional rivalries, and reduce impact of students.

The reasons this won't happen are pretty much the same as those that would prevent any radical change here in the DMV.

1. Inertia, Sure there are complaints and some minor problems, but there always are. (If it ain't broke ....)
2. No one is in charge Therefore there is no strategic vision.
3. There is no mechanism to do it (At least the colleges have the toothless NCAA)
4. The schools are free agents and act on their short term best interests as the see them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Love the DC version of the MIAA idea. So what does the Tier 1 Lax look like for this super-conference?

a tier 1 lax division if you were to combine WCAC, IAC and the MAC.

Tier 1:
1. Landon
2. Prep
3. Bullis
4. STA
5. EHS
6. GZ
7. DM
8. SJC
9. GC
10. Ryken

Tier 2:
1. Saint Stephens
2. The Heights
3. BI
4. O'Connell
5. Potomac School
6. Sidwell Friends
7. Saint James
8. Flint Hill

Every 2 years, the AD's come together and if a team or two from the upper wish to drop down from Tier 1 down to Tier 2, or vice versa, do it.

Again this is not hard to establish.

*do Maret or GDS even field varsisty lax teams or is more of rec play*

I think this is a great idea which has absolutely no chance of ever happening in the next 10 to 20 years.

I'm strongly reminded of the current distribution of colleges in the Power Conferences in the NCAA. (Texas in the SEC, Cal and SMU in the ACC, etc., etc.) A couple of 10th graders at lunch could come up with a geographic grouping of schools that would save huge amounts of money, would return regional rivalries, and reduce impact of students.

The reasons this won't happen are pretty much the same as those that would prevent any radical change here in the DMV.

1. Inertia, Sure there are complaints and some minor problems, but there always are. (If it ain't broke ....)
2. No one is in charge Therefore there is no strategic vision.
3. There is no mechanism to do it (At least the colleges have the toothless NCAA)
4. The schools are free agents and act on their short term best interests as the see them.

Did you leave out PVI for a reason?

[Anonymous]

Wouldn’t PVI stay with the WCAC? They are in the conference’s upper tier in terms of athletics. The old PVI was more like Ireton. The new one is more like Good Counsel and st John’s.

In a conference with the rest of the Virginia privates they would dominate it.

[Anonymous]

Besides, none of this is going to happen.

Except maybe Prep is upgrading their Lacrosse program by bringing in one of the top high school coaches.

[Anonymous]

Thank you

[Anonymous]

Congratulations to the WP poy and changing his commitment from '26 USNA to Syracuse. It is unclear yet if he will have to reclass or will be able to enroll prior to the spring season. So much for the "serving his country" crowd. Hit the books kid and realize you've been given a great opportunity not to be taken for granted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Congratulations to the WP poy and changing his commitment from '26 USNA to Syracuse. It is unclear yet if he will have to reclass or will be able to enroll prior to the spring season. So much for the "serving his country" crowd. Hit the books kid and realize you've been given a great opportunity not to be taken for granted.

Wow! That’s amazing news. He’s going to thrive playing for Gary.

[Anonymous]

Urick has officially been removed from the GP website as both coach and asst AD. Seems more likely there is a plan to bring in a guy, Hilgartner or someone similar, to take over the role of coach and AD and then take over for Paro. Sorry Giblin and Kubik fans, that's not gonna happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Urick has officially been removed from the GP website as both coach and asst AD. Seems more likely there is a plan to bring in a guy, Hilgartner or someone similar, to take over the role of coach and AD and then take over for Paro. Sorry Giblin and Kubik fans, that's not gonna happen.

Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

When Kubik and Giblin were offered as potential replacements, no one was thinking about Prep significantly upgrading by bringing in one of the top high school lacrosse coaches in the Nation. This, for Prep, is a revolutionary change in approach.

If nothing more, this almost certainly involves a significant financial commitment. But, I’ll agree. The opportunity to improve the program and to maybe even compete nationally does exist. I’m just shocked anyone on Rockville Pike could see it, let alone act on it.

Knowing the history and the personalities, I certainly have my doubts that the AD job is part of the package being offered. At least for a couple of years. It’s not like firing Urick, who did not have significant Prep roots and a network of alumni supporters.

But we will see. Having been completely surprised by the current rumor, I now think anything is possible. But it’s not like the GP athletic program in general is in bad shape. It’s as good as it’s ever been, maybe better. Paro, and before him Fegan, have always been football-centric.