A personal record. A first-place finish. A state qualifying time. Some depend on the section and class, while others don’t.
Sections and classes are similar, but different in how they are assigned. According to the Minnesota State High School League, section placements for schools participating in MSHSL-sponsored sports are classified by enrollment and geography.
On the other hand, a school’s class is based on its enrollment and performance. For all MSHSL sports except football, classes range from A to either AAA or AAAA.
The more A’s there are in the class, the better the team ranks compared to other schools in terms of size or performance. An MSHSL classification and performance review updates classes and sections every two years. A section is composed of teams in the same
class; in the post-season, teams will compete against teams in their class that they may not have previously faced in section or conference matchups.
In the upper school, this year’s enrollment stands at 423, meaning most teams are put in either Class A or AA for the 2025-26 season, except for a few other sports and co-op teams.
Competitiveness is dependent upon the differences between classes and sections. Trojans Swim and Dive has remained in Class AA and Section 6 for the past few years.
Swimmer Kaya Cayci believes that the competitiveness between classes and sections varies. “There are teams in conference that have a lot [fewer] people and aren’t quite as fast as those you find in … sections,” Cayci said.
Although track and field switched from Class AA to A and Section 3 to 4 three years ago, sprinter Langston Thompson finds that competition in track depends more on the different events than the class.
“I think [competitiveness] depends on which events I know. Some events have not had as stiff competition, but other events have had … really great competition,” Thompson said.
Compared to track and field, cross country changed its class and section classification more recently. In the 2025 season, they moved from Class A to AA and Section 4 to 3.
Cross country runner Annika King believes that even with the same scores, placements vary slightly depending on the competitiveness of the group.
“In conferences, we lost by one point, and I think if we were in another one, we would have placed higher,” she said.
Similarly, for post-season qualifications, Thompson finds that different sections produce different qualification times for the state tournament.
“The men’s 400-meter [was] sub 51 to go to state, versus [another] section where you had to run a 53 to go to state,” he said.
Although there are bound to be differences between classes and sections in sports, when the differences between classes and sections are too great, teams have mixed responses.
Cayci thinks that if the differences between sections and classes can negatively impact team performance.
“I definitely think it’s sometimes harder to shoot for goals when they’re just so high … for teams that are really struggling against those they’re competing against,” Cayci said.
However, not all teams respond in the same way. King sees that although it may affect some teams, it actually further motivates the girls cross country team to perform at their best.
“I think it can [hurt the team’s confidence],” King said, “but for our team, I think it really pushed us to be better and really give it all at our meets.”
Classes and sections work together to create the boundaries for competition. They do not define a team’s goals, performance, or progress.
Though classes and sections have similarities, they differ slightly in how they group teams, but both continue to shape the level of competition schools face each season.
