Illini Prairie Conference
The Illini Prairie Conference is a high school athletic conference in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), based in Central Illinois. The conference consists of ten medium-sized and small high schools and is a merger of the Corn Belt Conference and the Okaw Valley Conference. Conference athletics will begin in the 2017-18 school year.[1]
History
Member schools of the Corn Belt Conference and the Okaw Valley Conference began discussing a merger after the announced departures of Eureka High School and Mahomet-Seymour High School from the Corn Belt Conference in 2014 and 2015.[2] Principals of the ten schools voted unanimously in February 2016 to begin plans to merge the conferences.[3] School boards of the ten schools approved the new conference in March and April 2016.[4] Student bodies of each school submitted favorite names for the conference to the principals. Illini Prairie was selected unanimously by the principals.[5][6]
Member schools
| School | Community | Team Name | Colors | IHSA class | School type | Year joined | Joined from | Year departed | Departed for | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Catholic High School | Bloomington | Saints | 1A/2A/3A | Private | 2017-18 | Corn Belt | [7] | |||
| Illinois Valley Central High School | Chillicothe | Grey Ghosts | 4A | Public | 2017-18 | Corn Belt | [7][8] | |||
| Monticello High School | Monticello | Sages | 4A | Public | 2017-18 | Okaw Valley | ||||
| Olympia High School | Stanford | Spartans | 3A | Public | 2017-18 | Corn Belt | [7] | |||
| Pontiac Township High School | Pontiac | Indians | 4A | Public | 2017-18 | Corn Belt | [7] | |||
| Prairie Central High School | Fairbury | Hawks | 4A | Public | 2017-18 | Corn Belt | [7] | |||
| Rantoul Township High School | Rantoul | Eagles | 4A | Public | 2017-18 | Okaw Valley | [8] | |||
| St. Joseph-Ogden High School | St. Joseph | Spartans | 3A | Public | 2017-18 | Okaw Valley | ||||
| St. Thomas More High School | Champaign | Sabers | 4A | Private | 2017-18 | Okaw Valley | ||||
| Unity High School | Tolono | Rockets | 3A | Public | 2017-18 | Okaw Valley |
References
- ^ "Corn Belt Conference merger approved, Illini Prairie Conference created". Chillicothe Times-Bulletin. 27 April 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ Deacon, Joe (28 January 2016). "U High, CCHS hope to continue relationship, rivalry". The Pantagraph. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ Loveless, Matt (16 February 2016). "Okaw Valley, Corn Belt Conferences Approve Plans for Future Merger". WAND. Frankly Media. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ Zilis, Anthony (4 April 2016). "Okaw Valley, Corn Belt conferences will merge". The News-Gazette. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ "Pontiac, PC now part of Illini Prairie". Pontiac Daily Leader. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ Zilis, Anthony (20 April 2016). ""Illini Prairie" selected as name for Okaw Valley-Corn Belt merger | News-Gazette.com". The News Gazette. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- ^ a b c d e "Corn Belt - 2014-2015". http://www.ihsa.org. Illinois High School Association. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
{{cite web}}: External link in|website= - ^ a b Kindred, Randy (7 February 2013). "Corn Belt Conference votes to add IVC". The Pantagraph. Retrieved 31 May 2016.