Monday morning, the Georgia High School Association announced its final decisions regarding region alignment when the association expands to six classifications next season.         Southeast Bulloch received an early Christmas present when it was informed that it will be moving to a new region.
    After locking in each school’s classification in November, preliminary region assignments — eight for each classification — were listed.
    The Yellow Jackets were initially placed in Region 3-AAA along with Dodge County, Jefferson County, Thomson, Swainsboro and Washington County.
    Although the main goal of the added classification was to minimize travel and costs for schools, the new region would have forced 100-plus-mile road trips for more than half of its region contests.
    “That was certainly a main reason for us requesting a change in regions,” SEB athletics director Jack Webb said. “We felt that there were better options for where we could be playing.”
    Webb stated his request to the GHSA on behalf of SEB and was pleased to hear that the petition was granted. Beginning next season, Seb will compete in Region 1-AAA.
    With the switch, the Jackets will now have a wealth of new region rivals. Instead of competing in a six-team region, SEB is now going up against 11 other schools for a region crown in each sport.
    A much easier trip to make for road games, seven Savannah-area schools join SEB in Region 1-AAA, as well as Appling County, Brantley County, Pierce County and Tattnall County.
    “We were very happy to hear the decision,” Webb said. “Overall, I think that this is the best fit for us. We look forward to moving up to Class AAA and competing in our new region.”
   
    Mike Anthony can be reached at (912) 489-9404.