For a decade and a half, Class 4A's conference alignment was static.

In 2006, a change in 4A's composition led to a solution that didn't satisfy everyone.

Ever since, the subject of the Class 4A conference alignment has been amicable for all 12 schools involved.

For now, there appears to be no permanent solution to the problems inherent in the system. And even though the same 12 schools are slated to participate in Class 4A through 2011, the conference alignments are set to change again next fall.

By an 11-1 vote, the 12 Class 4A activities directors have approved switching Kelly Walsh to the East Conference and Riverton to the West Conference for all sports except football - and administrators and coaches from Natrona County, the lone school to cast a vote against the change, feel like a better solution was left out.

NC's Glen Legler was the only AD to vote against the Riverton-Kelly Walsh swap, but he said he wouldn't fight the issue any further.

"We'll do whatever we need to do to make it work," he said. "When we do our scheduling in November, we'll see what we can do then and just try to get the best schedule for our kids."

The conference alignment must still pass a vote by the Wyoming High School Activities Association's board of directors when they meet Nov. 4-5 in Casper. Historically, though, the WHSAA board has always acted upon the recommendations put forth by the ADs within their respective classifications, WHSAA Commissioner Ron Laird said.

The fight feels more personal to NC, which loses Kelly Walsh and gains Riverton as a conference opponent - a move that adds to Natrona's conference travel but drastically reduces Kelly Walsh's conference bus time.

Legler proposed a three-conference alignment to the other 11 ADs, who all met in Casper last week to hash out conference alignments for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years. However, the proposal - first drawn up by NC boys basketball coach Randy Roden - did not sway the other ADs, who discussed conference alignment for nearly three hours.

"There wasn't much support for it from the coaching aspect," said Kay Fackrell, the AD at Evanston and the president of the Class 4A ADs group. " … That just didn't seem to have any more merit than the way we're doing it."

A three-conference proposal would have forced a complete restructuring of how teams in each sport qualify for state tournament play - something that was outlined sport-by-sport in the proposal.

For basketball and volleyball, with three conferences, the top two seeds from each conference would have qualified for a "seeding regional," while the bottom two in each conference would have played in a double-elimination "qualifying regional," with the top two teams advancing to state as the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds.

"There were some suggestions but no solutions," said Legler, who is also a member of the WHSAA board of directors. " … Basically, if the coaches aren't supporting it, none of us are interested in doing something the coaches aren't behind. So at that point (the proposal) became a moot point."

The focus now is on the future - not only for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years, but for years beyond and for a permanent solution. But permanent fixes to the biennial task of conference alignment are nearly nonexistent.

Fackrell said the plan for now is to re-examine the alignments every two years, in line with the reclassification cycle.

"A lot of our discussion is that this is probably not a permanent solution," Fackrell said. "We know there'll be some change (during the next reclassification cycle in the fall of 2010) with who comes out and who comes in, or at that time, do we go to 14 or 16 (schools in 4A)?"

Adding to the likelihood of more change in 2011 is the addition of Cheyenne South High School, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2010 - although South may not field varsity teams in its first year. But even the addition of Cheyenne South - which could create a better geographical argument for a three-conference alignment - probably won't change the opinions of the ADs, Roden said.

"There was a need for a three-conference (alignment) this year," Roden said. "I don't see it changing in two years. If it was 11-1 this year, I don't think that'll be much different.

"I think there's some other things that killed the three-conference (alignment) that'll be there in two years that you can't get around."

Contact high school sports coordinator Patrick Schmiedt at (307) 266-0615 or patrick.schmiedt@trib.com.

Here are three Class 4A alignments for all sports except football - one current, one proposed and one defeated:

Current alignment

Will be used through 2008-09 school year

East: Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, Gillette, Laramie, Riverton, Sheridan.

West: Evanston, Green River, Kelly Walsh, Natrona County, Rock Springs, Star Valley.

WHSAA/Class 4A ADs proposed alignment

To be used for 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years

East: Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, Gillette, Kelly Walsh, Laramie, Sheridan.

West: Evanston, Green River, Natrona County, Riverton, Rock Springs, Star Valley.

Natrona's proposed alignment

Defeated by 11-1 vote of Class 4A ADs

East: Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, Laramie, Kelly Walsh.

Central: Gillette, Natrona County, Riverton, Sheridan.

West: Evanston, Green River, Rock Springs, Star Valley.