Octorara to leave Ches-Mont and District 1, join District 3’s Lancaster-Lebanon League in 2018

Octorara High School’s long-rumored move from the Ches-Mont League to the Lancaster-Lebanon League is now official. The move was ratified by the league this week and the Braves will join the league in all sports beginning in 2018.

That also means Octorara will leave District 1 and join District 3. The Braves will play the rest of this school year and all of next season in the Ches-Mont and District 1 before moving over.

“We just feel that this a better fit for our kids and will give them a better chance to compete,” said Octorara Athletic Director Gene Lambert. ” We are not necessarily going to win everything but we are definitely going to be able to compete more fairly.

“We are the smallest school in terms of enrollment in the Ches-Mont and now we will be able to compete with like-sized schools. Our coaches are very excited about the move and feel it will help the morale of the students in the school.”

Lambert said that the Lancaster-Lebanon League is going to realign for the 2017 school year and he will know then what conference the Braves will be in.

Currently, at least in football, there is an opening in Section 3 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League. Section 3 only has seven members, while Section 1 and Section 2 each have eight schools.

Section 3 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League currently includes Lancaster Catholic, ELCO, Northern Lebanon, Donegal, Pequea Valley, Annville-Cleona and Columbia.

The move will leave the Ches-Mont League with seven schools in the larger National Division and just six in the American Division. There is no word yet on any sort of realignment in the Ches-Mont.