Which high schools have the best athletic programs? Introducing the RJ Cup

The Las Vegas Review-Journal is introducing the RJ Cup, a competition and award for the high school athletic programs across Southern Nevada that have the most success during the school year.

Schools will receive points based on state championship and runner-up finishes, region championship and runner-up finishes, and individual state championships.

The Review-Journal has created three separate divisions, and points will be awarded separately for boys and girls sports. Six RJ Cup champions will be named at the end of the school year.

“We have extraordinary competition here in Southern Nevada, across so many sports in our high schools, that we thought it would be fun to create another competition that measures the success of schools across all of their teams,” Review-Journal Executive Editor Glenn Cook said.

Schools were placed in their respective RJ Cup divisions based on the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association classifications of most of their sports. Division I teams primarily play in Class 5A, Division II teams primarily play in Class 4A and Division III is made up of teams across Class 3A, Class 2A and Class 1A.

A state championship is worth 10 points. A state runner-up finish is worth seven points. A region championship scores five points, and a region runner-up finish is worth three points.

Teams will receive one additional point for any individual state championship in cross country, golf, tennis, swimming and diving, track and field, bowling and wrestling. In track and swimming, additional points will be awarded for individual events only, not for relay events.

“What makes the RJ Cup special is that every sport is treated the same,” Cook said. “A state championship in bowling is worth the same amount of points as a state championship in football or basketball. We wanted to recognize that every state title or every great season for a school’s team has incredible value for those students, coaches, the schools, their families.”

A team earns RJ Cup points only for its highest finish. As an example, Bishop Gorman’s girls golf team won the 5A Southern Region title and finished second at the 5A state tournament. As a result, Gorman received seven points for a state runner-up finish, but no additional points for winning the region title.

Because each sport has its own unique NIAA classification system, multiple teams within the same RJ Cup division can receive state championship points. For example, in Division I girls golf, Coronado received 10 points for the 5A team state title, and Desert Oasis also received 10 points for the 4A team state title.

At the end of the year, if there is a tie for first place in the final point standings, the first tiebreaker will be the total number of team state championships won. If there is still a tie, the ensuing tiebreakers will be state runner-up finishes, region titles and region runner-up finishes.

Point totals will be updated at the end of the fall, winter and spring seasons. Current point standings are up to date and include all postseason results from the fall sports season. Points and standings will be updated to include winter season results after the season ends Feb. 21.

The final day of the spring sports season is May 16. The RJ Cup standings will be updated the following week for the final point totals and the announcement of the six RJ Cup champions.

“When we get to the spring sports season, which will decide the winners of the RJ Cup, we will have so many individual state titles awarded in track and swimming that those individual champions have the potential to swing the results,” Cook said.

Here is a breakdown of the schools in each division:

Division I

Arbor View

Bishop Gorman

Centennial

Coronado

Desert Oasis

Faith Lutheran

Green Valley

Foothill

Liberty

Palo Verde

Shadow Ridge

Division II

Amplus Academy

Basic

Bonanza

Cadence

Canyon Springs

Chaparral

Cheyenne

Cimarron-Memorial

Clark

Del Sol

Desert Pines

Doral Academy

Durango

Eldorado

Las Vegas

Legacy

Losee

Mater East

Mojave

Rancho

SECTA

Sierra Vista

Silverado

Sky Pointe

SLAM! Nevada

Sloan Canyon

Spring Valley

Sunrise Mountain

Valley

Western

The Adelson School

American Heritage

Awaken Christian

Boulder City

CIVICA Academy

Coral Academy

Cristo Rey

Democracy Prep

Equipo Academy

Founders Academy

GV Christian

Indian Springs

Lake Mead Christian

Laughlin

Liberty Baptist

Lincoln County

The Meadows

Moapa Valley

Mountain View

Needles

Pahranagat Valley

Pahrump Valley

Sandy Valley

Spring Mountain

Virgin Valley

Word of Life

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.