A surge in student population will bump Pompton Lakes sports teams up to a higher level when it comes to the state tournament this year.

The school moved up from Group I to Group II in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) classifications for 2008-09.  The Cardinals join Pequannock and Mountain Lakes as Jersey Sports Now area teams in the group.

Under the NJSIAA guidelines for calculating school population, only students in 10th through 12th grades are counted.  Pompton Lakes has such 536 students for the coming year, an increase of several dozen over last term.

The change could make life tougher for several of the Cardinals’ more successful sports programs.  Pompton Lakes won the North Jersey Section 1, Group I title this past year in softball and girls’ tennis, and reached the sectional final in girls’ soccer.  All three of those teams will face stronger fields in Group II.

One team did get an apparent break.  Pompton Lakes will remain in Group I for field hockey, which has its own classification system.  And the team that beat the Cardinals in last year’s sectional final, Oak Knoll, was moved from Section 1 to Section 2.  That change makes Pompton Lakes an top contender for the sectional title this fall.

The Cardinals will also stay a Group I team in football and wrestling, sports that also have their own classifications. -- Paul Mencher for Jersey Sports Now