The Lake Michigan Conference traces it origins to the Great Northern Conference, which began play in 1990. The conference was split into four divisions, by geography and school size. The Lake Michigan Division consisted of Class C schools; East Jordan, Boyne City, Charlevoix, Elk Rapids, Kalkaska, Mancelona, Traverse City St. Francis and Harbor Springs. Kalkaska played in the Lake Huron Division for football only with: Lincoln-Alcona, Grayling, Whittemore-Prescott, Onaway and Rogers City.[1]
In 1993, Mancelona dropped to the smaller Ski-Valley for all sports. The Great Northern Conference dissolved in 1997, with most of the divisions retaining all their league memberships. The Lake Michigan Division, re-branded as the Lake Michigan Conference, with Kalkaska joining for football. The membership stayed the same until 2003, when Grayling, a former Lake Huron Division Rival of Kalkaska, left the Northeast Michigan Conference.[2] This gave the conference the 8 teams that it has today. In 2010, conference athletic directors voted to eliminate St. Francis from participating in football effective in 2012. Elk Rapids and Grayling agreed to continue their series, while St. Francis will play two other LMC teams on a three-year rotation. The LMC also extended an invitation to St. Ignace High School to join. On January 14, 2011, it was announced that St. Ignace would join the Ski-Valley Conference.
Following the 2013 season the LMC and the neighboring Northwest Conference merged for football only, creating the Northern Michigan Football League. The league was split into two divisions based on enrollment and competitiveness. The Leader division consisted of the larger and more accomplished programs including, St. Francis, Maple City-Glen Lake, Elk Rapids, Boyne City, Kingsley, Benzie Central and Grayling. The Legacy Division consisted of Frankfort, Charlevoix, Kalkaska, East Jordan, Suttons Bay and Harbor Springs. Mesick, an original member of the Northwest Conference, opted against joining the NMFL and instead joined the five schools of the Mid-State North Conference, creating the Northwestern Six Football League.
In 2023, amidst discussion of removing St. Francis from the conference for competitive balancing purposes, or Kalkaska possibly leaving the conference,[3] East Jordan announced it would be joining the Ski-Valley Conference, citing its low enrollment being better suited amongst the smaller schools of the Ski-Valley.[4] In April 2023 the Northern Shores Conference was announced, with Boyne City, Charlevoix, Elk Rapids, Grayling, Harbor Springs, and Kalkaska leaving the Lake Michigan Conference to form this new league with Cheboygan from the Straits Area Conference and Kingsley from the Northwest Conference.[5][6][7]
Members
Full member institutions include: Departing Members are highlighted in pink.
St. Francis and Elk Rapids were a co-op for their 2014,2016 & 2017 championships. Great North Alpine was a co-op between St. Francis, Elk Rapids, Central Lake and Grand Traverse Academy.
Boyne City: boys track and field, 1957,1958; girls skiing, 2007 (3)
Charlevoix: boys cross country 1982,1983,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991 (7)
East Jordan: boys tennis 1955; boys cross country, 1998,2000 (3)
Elk Rapids: boys soccer, 1997–98; girls skiing, 2016; boys skiing, 2019 (4)
Grayling: boys basketball, 1917 (1)
Harbor Springs: boys basketball, 1929; boys cross country, 2002,2003,2004; girls cross country, 2008,2009; boys skiing, 1996,2003,2005–06,2010; girls skiing, 1987,1988,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2012; girls track 2015; girls golf 2017,2018 (22)
Kalkaska: Boys Basketball, 1916 (1)
Traverse City St. Francis: baseball, 1990; boys bowling, 2004; girls cross country, 2003,2015,2016,2022; football, 1992,1999,2003,2005,2008,2009; boys golf, 2004,2008; girls skiing, 2005, 2016; boys skiing, 2019; girls track and field 2013, boys tennis 2021 (19)
Athletes who participated In NCAA Division I athletics
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