ROCK SPRINGS — The Tigers and Wolves might be rivals in several sports, but the two will compete together in one activity next year.

Sweetwater County School District No. 1 Superintendent Joseph Libby said the district will allow students in Sweetwater County School District No. 2 to compete on the Rock Springs High School indoor track team next year. The move comes after the SCSD No. 2 Board of Trustees voted to kill indoor track, spring tennis, and spring golf at Green River High School. 

“So, what I told Scott (Cooper, SCSD No. 2 Superintendent) is any of his students that want to do indoor track, we’ll take,” Libby said. 

Libby said regulations the Wyoming High School Activities Association has states if a district doesn’t offer a program and a neighboring district does, students have a right to go to that district to participate. 

Libby admits indoor track is “crazy expensive” because facilities aren’t available in the region, forcing the districts to travel to events. While districts receive reimbursements for transportation, those reimbursements don’t extend to hotel rooms and food. Libby said there is economy in the SCSD No. 1’s size, which allows the district to weather the same economic pressures impacting SCSD No. 2 for a longer period of time. Chairman Cole Wright used the situation to remind residents about construction of the new RSHS building, saying the building is “a great opportunity to have some sort of indoor track facility in southwest Wyoming.”

Administrators hope the issue will be resolved when the Wyoming Legislature convenes next year and possibly corrects activities funding shortfalls, which could result in SCSD No. 2 offering indoor track for the 2027-2028 school year. Libby said the arrangement would ensure GRHS athletes won’t miss a year of indoor track if that scenario takes place. However, Libby also admits that might not happen.

“If it doesn’t change, we have work to do,” he said. 

GRHS is anticipated to have 660 students attending the school during the upcoming school year, losing nearly 100 from the previous year. Libby said the decline is similar in scope to what will be seen at RSHS. Both districts will see decreased funding through reduced ADM (Average Daily Membership), a measure of school population that is also used to calculate school funding. Continued student population declines will force the SCSD No. 1 to change course.

“If we continue on the same path, we have to do things differently moving forward,” Libby said. “But right now, we’re going to hold on to those kids. We’re going to hope that legislation gets squared away and they can reinstitute those programs for our students and theirs.”