New Georgia High School regions are announced.

Laney and Greenbrier fans, get ready to set the cruise control.

That's the initial reaction after the Georgia High School Association announced its region realignments for the 2008-2010 school years in regard to athletic competition. Both schools find themselves all alone in a new region packed with unfamiliar rivals.

Greenbrier's move to Class AAAAA sees it paired up with the likes of M.L. King, Redan and Stephenson in Region 2-AAAAA. The Wolfpack should clean up in baseball, but face the opposite end of the spectrum on the football field in the fall. It will mean at least a three-hour trip on a school bus up I-20 to play those region games. Greenbrier's new region mates are all in Metro Atlanta.

Laney stays in Class AA but will get ready to face a region dominated with schools from Macon in the new Region 4-AA. The Wildcats will compete with the likes of Central-Macon, Greene County, Henry County, Monticello, Northwest Macon, Putnam County and Southwest Macon for playoff berths in GHSA competition. Several of those schools are moving down from Class AAA slots this year.

Richmond County gets its wish and will have its own Augusta-based region. Butler, Cross Creek, Evans, Lakeside and Richmond Academy will be in one half of the new Region 3-AAAA. Glenn Hills, Harlem, Hephzibah, Josey and Westside will be in the other side of the divided region.

Burke County sees itself paired up with local rivals like Baldwin, Thomson and Washington County in the new Region 3-AAA. It should make for good nights at the ticket booth, but hard-fought playoff berths. The addition of West Laurens to a region that also contains Liberty County and Richmond Hill means a region with travel and tough games in region play.

Laney's old region rivals get a particularly tough home in the new Region 3-AA. This will be another sub-divided region. Jefferson County, Screven County, Southeast Bulloch and Swainsboro will all stay put in the same region, but will welcome in Tattnall County on its side of the region. The real downer is the other half of the region. That's where the schools will see the likes of Bleckley County, Dodge County, Dublin, East Laurens, Toombs and Vidalia standing in the way of postseason play on the state level.

Aquinas, Lincoln County and Warren County also find themselves in a split region in Class A. Washington-Wilkes joins a new Region 4-A that's essentially the same membership of the old Region 7-A. The other half of Region 4-A will contain the likes of Georgia Military, Hancock Central, Twiggs County and Wilkinson County dropping down from Class AA. 

The 4-A designation for those schools is for all sports except for football. Those teams will all be in Region 7-A in regard to GHSA football competition.

For a complete list of all the new regions click below:

http://ghsa.net/files/documents/Region_Alignments_2008-2010.pdf

These regions are by no means concrete. Schools have until December 14 to file a written appeal seeking a lateral transfer to another region in their respective classification.

The GHSA's reclassification committee will hear those appeals on Dec. 17 at its offices in Thomaston. The full executive committee of the GHSA will then meet on Jan. 10 to ratify the reclassification and realignment decisions. These placements will not be considered finalized until that date.