South Summit athletes declared eligible after families move by Dave Adler The controversy surrounding the eligibility of two South Summit High School athletes has come to a close, according to the South Summit principal, Dr. Mark Littleford. At the center of the storm were two student athletes, Todd McKee and Shannon Bearden, who transferred transfer-red to South Summit while their families continued to reside in Magna. This living arrangement caused the board of directors of the Utah High School Activities Association Associa-tion (UHSAA) to rule on Jan. 31 that the two athletes would be ineligible to compete in UHSAA sponsored events until their families complied with residency requirements require-ments and joined the students in the mil in I district. That feature of the residency requirements was satisfied in the first week of February, according to Dr. littleford, when the McKee and Bearden families moved into Region 11. Dr. Littleford said that the Beardens now reside in Kamas, while the McKees live in Oakley. On Feb. 1 2 , the board of managers of Region 1 1 , which is composed of the principals of the 1A (small enrollment) schools in Northern Utah, officially cleared South Summit Sum-mit of any wrongdoing, according to Dr. Littleford. The Park City High School principal, Dr. Jack Dozier, confirmed the finding, adding that "the board found no culpability whatever." Dr. Littleford said he was "relieved to have it behind us." Tha nraitmvprsv aas snarked bv 1 IIV UULIVIV.UJ " " f J the fact that McKee and Bearden had transferred from Cyrpus High School in Magna without their families. Bearden played on South Summit's football team and McKee has been playing for the varsity basketball squad. This living arrangement was questioned since state rules require a student athlete to be enrolled in the school district whee his parents live. The charge had been made that both families continued to live in Salt Lake" Valley while renting apartments for their sons in Kamas. But Dr. Littleford told the UHSAA board of directors on Jan. 31 that the fathers of both boys were legal residents of the South Summit School District. He said he believed this fact would satisfy residency requirements based on an interpretation interpre-tation of the rules he received from the executive director of the UHSAA. The meaning of the residency rule was clarified by the Region II Board of Managers at its Feb. 12 meeting. In effect, the boaid held that if a student athlete moves without his family, he is ineligible to participate in sporting events for one calendar year. In order to transfer schools and maintain athletic eligibility, a student stu-dent must move concurrently with his family.