By Jeremy A. Corley

Managing Editor

The University Interscholastic League's biennial realignment left Anna with a mostly familiar but smaller and more compact district Monday.

The Coyotes will remain in District 10-3A with Bonham, Commerce and Van Alstyne but will trade Paris and Paris North Lamar for Celina. The Paris schools will join District 15-3A with Atlanta, Mount Vernon, Texarkana Liberty Eylau and Texarkana Pleasant Grove.

Anna's new five-team district still will have three allotted playoff spots.

"I think it's exciting for the kids and I think it's exciting for the community," Anna head football coach Curren McMahon said.

McMahon said his players could learn a lot from being in a district with a program as successful as Celina's.

"They're a perennial state playoff contender," he said of the eight-time state champion Bobcats. "It will be good to compete against those caliber of coaches and those types of kids."

McMahon said that while football schedules for the fall were not yet finalized at press time, Anna was working to keep rivalries such as Melissa.

"We like those rivalry games," he said.

The student population range for Class 3A was 430-979 during the UIL's most recent realignment. The range was increased to 430-989 for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years.

Anna's high school enrollment number for realignment was 535. The largest enrollment number in the new district was Celina's 558, while the smallest was Van Alstyne's 439.

The longest distance to a district opponent for Anna will be the trek to Commerce, which is less than 50 miles. Each of the other schools is 30 miles away or closer.

McMahon said he was excited about getting started on a new season.

"I hope Anna is improving every day, and we hope to be a competitive force in the district," he said.