By BARRY LEWIS Sports Writer on Mar 6, 2013, at 2:42 PM Updated on 3/06 at 5:07 PM
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
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The Frontier Valley Conference announced on Wednesday that it has added Bartlesville and Bishop Kelley.
Bartlesville, which has been an independent the past few years, will join in all sports except varsity basketball for the 2013-14 school year. Kelley, a longtime member of the Metro Lakes Conference, will join in all sports in 2014-15 when Bartlesville also will be added as a basketball member.
“They will be great additions and we’re excited, said Frontier president and Owasso athletic director Danny Hightower. “The competition level in our conference will go up.”
Current Frontier members are Bixby, Broken Arrow, Jenks, Muskogee, Owasso, Sand Springs, Sapulpa and Union.
Bartlesville was a Frontier member from its inception in 1981 until 2007 when it left to help form the Centennial Conference.
“We’re excited to be going back,” Bartlesville athletic director and boys basketball coach Tim Bart said. “It will help us to compete at the highest level. I feel like it’s one of the state’s strongest conferences. It also will help us with scheduling and help us at the junior high and high school level.”
Bishop Kelley athletic director Mark Chambers said the Comets' elevation to 6A in volleyball, baseball, soccer and cross country was a consideration in moving to a conference with 6A schools. The Metro Lakes consists of 5A schools.
"My biggest heartache about this is in basketball because they will probably take some lumps at least in the first few years although it will help them prepare better for the playoffs although their seeding might not be as high," Chambers said. "But in the big picture it was in the best interest of our athletic program to seek this out.
"The Metro Lakes has been beneficial to us and I get along with everybody there, but I see a lot of positives about joining the Frontier. I see the positives outweighing the negatives."
Other current Metro Lakes members are Claremore, Collinsville, Coweta, Pryor, Skiatook and Tahlequah.
-- Barry Lewis
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