The Corn Belt Conference was a high school athletic conference in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), based in Central Illinois. The conference consisted of medium-sized and small high schools. [1]
The Corn Belt Conference was originally formed in 1950 by Clinton, Normal Community, Pontiac Township, Trinity (later Central Catholic), and University High Schools. The conference was incorporated into the former Heart of Illinois Conference in 1972 but was reformed in 1978. [2] [3]
Eureka High School left the Corn Belt Conference for the Heart of Illinois Conference after the 2015–2016 school year. U-High and Mahomet-Seymour departed for the Central State Eight Conference and Apollo Conference respectively in the 2017–18 school year. [4] [5] In April 2016, school boards of the remaining five schools and the school boards of the five schools in the Okaw Valley Conference voted unanimously to merge into a new Illini Prairie Conference beginning in the 2017–18 school year. [6]
School | Community | Team Name | Colors | IHSA class | School type | Year joined | Joined from | Year departed | Departed for | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Central Catholic (Trinity) High School | Bloomington | Saints | 1A/2A/3A | Private | 1950 | 1972 | Heart of Illinois (1970s) | [3] | ||
Clinton High School | Clinton | Maroons | Public | 1950 | 1972 | Heart of Illinois (1970s) | [3] | |||
Normal Community High School | Normal | Ironmen | AA, 2A, 3A | Public | 1950 | 1971 | Capitol | [3] | ||
Pontiac Township High School | Pontiac | Indians | 4A | Public | 1950 | 1972 | Heart of Illinois (1970s) | [3] | ||
University High School | Normal | Pioneers | 5A | Public lab school | 1950 | 1972 | Heart of Illinois (1970s) | [3] | ||
Washington Community High School | Washington | Panthers | Public | 1957 | Illini | 1972 | Heart of Illinois (1970s) | [3] | ||
St. Teresa High School | Decatur | Bulldogs | Private | 1967 | 1969 | [3] |
Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 52,736. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and Illinois' seventh most populous community outside the Chicago metropolitan area. Chris Koos has been Normal's mayor since 2003.
Central Catholic High School is a private co-educational Catholic high school in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. It serves approximately 320 students in the Bloomington-Normal area. CCHS is one of seven Catholic high schools in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria and the only Catholic high school in McLean County.
The Southwest Prairie Conference (SPC) is an athletic and competitive activity conference consisting of twelve public high schools in Northern Illinois. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association.
The Apollo Conference is a high school athletic conference represented by 6 schools in the central portion of Illinois. It is a member of the Illinois High School Association.
The Normal CornBelters are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Normal, Illinois, which is part of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area. The franchise was formerly a professional team, and was a member of the independent Frontier League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball.
The Prairieland Conference is a high school conference in western central Illinois. The conference participates in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association. The conference comprises small public high schools with enrollments between 50 and 400 students in portions of Fulton, Knox, Mason, McDonough, Peoria, Schuyler, and Warren counties.
Illinois Valley Central High School is a public four-year high school located at 1300 West Sycamore Street in Chillicothe, Illinois, a city in Peoria County, Illinois, in the Midwestern United States. IVCHS serves the communities of Chillicothe, Dunlap, Edelstein, Mossville, Peoria, and Rome. The campus is located 15 miles northeast of Peoria, Illinois, and serves a mixed city, village, and rural residential community.
The Okaw Valley Conference was a high school athletic conference in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), based in Central Illinois. The conference consisted of medium-sized and small high schools. It merged with the Corn Belt Conference to form the Illini Prairie Conference in the 2017-18 school year.
The Mid-State 6 Conference was a high school athletics conference in central Illinois, made up of the high schools in Peoria, Illinois plus various other schools over the course of its existence. It existed for several decades. Previous names included MidState 8 and MidState 9 in the 1960s, and Mid-State 10 in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Big Rivers Conference of Illinois was a high school football-exclusive athletic conference that existed from the 1999 through the 2012 football season. Upon its dissolution, it comprised ten teams located in the northwest and north-central portions of the state. It was a member of the Illinois High School Association, and its sister conference for other sports was the Three Rivers Conference. As of the 2013-14 school year, in tandem with a conference expansion, Big Rivers has been reabsorbed into the Three Rivers Conference. This expansion negotiated full membership status for member schools in all Three Rivers Conference sports, thereby negating the need for a football conference carve-out.
The Prairie College Conference was an intercollegiate athletic conference that existed from 1953 to 1991. The league had members the states of Illinois and Indiana. The Prairie College Conference formed in 1953 with eight members: Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois, Concordia Seminary in Springfield, Illinois, Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois, Greenville College—now known as Greenville University—in Greenville, Illinois, McKendree College—now known as McKendree University—in Lebanon, Illinois, Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, Rose Polytechnic Institute—now known as Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology—in Terre Haute, Indiana, and Shurtleff College in Alton, Illinois.
The 1967 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1967 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Jim Valek, the Illini compiled a 4–6 record and finished in a tie for fifth place in the Big Ten Conference.
The Central State Eight Conference is a high school athletic conference in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), based in Central Illinois. While the name implies that the conference has eight schools, there are actually ten schools currently active, due to other schools changing conference affiliations. The conference was established in time for the 1993–1994 school calendar year.
The Illini Prairie Conference is a high school athletic conference in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), based in Central Illinois. The conference comprises ten medium-sized and small high schools resulting from the merging of the Corn Belt Conference and the Okaw Valley Conference. Conference athletics began in the 2017-18 school year.
The Heart of Illinois Conference was Central Illinois based high school athletic conference in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) between 1972 and 1978.
The Heart of Illinois Conference is a Central Illinois based high school athletic conference in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA).
Kerby Joseph is an American football safety for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Illinois.
Chase Brown is a Canadian football running back for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played one season at Western Michigan before transferring to Illinois in 2019. In his final season in 2022, he rushed for 1,643 yards and 10 TDs that culminated with him winning the Jon Cornish Trophy. He was selected by the Bengals in the 5th round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
The Mid State Conference was a high school conference in central Illinois. The conference participated in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association. The conference comprised 15 small public high schools, with enrollments between 60-340 students in Iroquois, LaSalle, Livingston, McLean, Tazewell, and Woodford counties.