The realignment plan approved by the NJSIAA executive committee this week will impact on all schools in the Jersey Sports Now area.  In Morris County, the plan is scheduled to take effect next fall.  For two JSN-area teams, it appears major changes may be in store.  Here's a look at how Morris County schools will be affected:

MONTVILLE:

The Mustangs always appeared headed for some big changes under the realignment, as the only Morris County team in the upper division of the Northern Hills Conference.  But the NJSIAA plan at least placed Montville in a division of all Morris County schools, with some of them reasonably nearby.

However, reports suggest that the members of the new Super Conference 4 intend to shuffle the deck before implementing the plan.  And it appears that Montville may well be left holding the short straw.

A published report says that instead of facing schools like Parsippany, Delbarton and Morris Hills, Montville may instead get dropped into a division with four Sussex County schools and two from the western edge of Morris County.  While the new opponents might be somewhat compatible from a sports competition perspective, the extra travel time will be a killer.  The closest school, Mount Olive, is over a half-hour away without traffic.  The farthest, High Point, is at least an hour's drive.  It would be difficult enough for football, but for sports like basketball or baseball with three games a week, it would be brutal.

The new conference's athletic directors are expected to officially determine the new divisions at a meeting next week.

PEQUANNOCK:

Another school whose fate may change significantly based on how the divisions finally come out.  Originally, the Panthers were expected to join a division of Super Conference 4 with mostly smaller schools, many of whom are nearby.

Now, it appears Pequannock has a different fate.  The revised plan the conference reportedly plans to adopt would place the Panthers in a division with somewhat larger schools, including Hanover Park, Chatham, Dover and Parsippany.  The only current league opponents Pequannock would retain are Madison and St. Elizabeth's.  While this division does not seem to be unfair competitively to the Panthers, it does mean a fair amount of extra travel compared to the original plan.

BOONTON, BUTLER, KINNELON, MOUNTAIN LAKES:

These four schools are still slated for the small-school division of Super Conference 4.  But their divisional opponents have changed dramatically from the original proposal.

Apparently gone are Newark Academy, St. Elizabeth, Pequannock and Madison.  Now expected to join the quartet (along with holdovers Whippany Park and Villa Walsh) are Morris Catholic and Morristown-Beard.

For Mountain Lakes, Kinnelon and Boonton, the new sports division would seem to be mostly a positive.  Whippany Park, Morris Catholic and Morristown-Beard are all fellow members of the Colonial Hills Conference, although not always in the same division.  While Morris Catholic is a powerhouse in certain sports, the division appears to be reasonably competitive.  And losing regular trips to play Pingry and schools in Newark is a big plus travel-wise.

For Butler, it will mean playing almost all new schools, and the travel situation will be no better than it is now.  But at least the Bulldogs will no longer be the only Group I team in a league with much larger schools, so competitively it should be a benefit. -- Paul Mencher for Jersey Sports Now