Cathedral "departed" 4a before running roughshod through 5a. Snider did have some down years, tbh, some thought after 6a was formed that Snider would reel off a few titles before being bumped to 6a...those who watched Snider clash with traditional powers in 5a had good reason to believe so, although that was early 2000-12. Mishawaka is another school that was bumped from 4a not too long ago. You give me EC, Snider, New Pal, Cathedral, Valpo/Merrillville all lurking in 5a I'd say it was an "up" year. When you remove a couple or a few of the traditional powers, it does make the road to LOS slightly more amicable is all I am saying. IHSAA was tired of hearing us complain that the same teams won titles and wanted new blood down in Indy. I get it, it infuses life into youth programs which will keep the sport churning.