By Brian Shaw | [email protected]

For Cottonwood High School, the restructuring of the region in which it has been playing in Class 5A is probably a welcome sight. 

Three years after Cottonwood was placed in a tough region with the likes of Corner Canyon and Alta, and Timpview, Brighton and Jordan, the Colts now find themselves in a completely new league in 5A in 2019. 

Save for Brighton, Cottonwood will compete against all new schools in Region 6. Highland, Hillcrest, Murray, Olympus and Skyline will now be the Colts' main league opponents as they brace for what will likely be a more balanced schedule with more beatable opposition. 

"We're excited for the opportunity to compete in a new region," said Cottonwood Athletic Director Greg Southwick. "We believe there will be a more competitive balance." 

To that end, Southwick added that Cottonwood will welcome five new head coaches to ease the transition into this new region. The first hire was Casey Miller, the Colts new head football coach. 

A former head man at Hillcrest, Miller—who was the Colts offensive coordinator last season under Bart Bowen—takes over a program vacated when Bowen departed to accept the head coaching position at Logan High. 

"We think Casey's got what it takes to take this program to the next level," Southwick added. 

In volleyball, the Colts brought in Rae Mulitalo, who takes over as their head coach. 

A Pleasant Grove High 2010 graduate who went on to play at Dodge City (Kansas) Community College before going on to New Mexico Highlands University, Mulitalo will replace Elizabeth Allred, who was a longtime coach at the school. 

The third new head coach is Amy Thomas, who takes over the school's cheerleading program. She's also a health sciences teacher at Cottonwood. 

The last two hires at Cottonwood come as somewhat of a surprise. As the school's fourth new hire, Trevor Thornton takes over for longtime Colts girls basketball coach Janae Hirschi, who stepped down after having served in her position since 2011. 

Finally, Cottonwood welcomes Rochelle Neetlebeek, a new girls soccer coach replacing Kailee Sandberg after Sandberg took the helm for just one year.