Michigan Mega Conference

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The Michigan Mega Conference was a large high school athletic league comprising twenty-eight schools which disbanded in mid-2009, with its former members either becoming independent or forming their own leagues. Member schools were predominantly located in suburban Wayne County, Michigan, mainly in Downriver. The other schools were located in neighboring Monroe and Washtenaw Counties. The schools were also members of the Michigan High School Athletic Association and compete in the organization's post-season state championships. Depending on the sport, the schools were divided into three or four divisions.

Contents

Controversies

When the MEGA conference was formed in 1993, many schools were denied entry into the conference. The repudiated schools alleged that this was because of their large black student population, the founding schools "discriminated in the formation and operation of the league." Consequently, current member schools Dearborn Heights Robichaud and Romulus filed complaints against the conference for denying their admission as members to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) at the United States Department of Education. OCR determined that the athletic league violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The schools declined a resolution offered by the OCR and subsequently sent the subject to the Justice Department in the summer of 1995. A resolution was succeeded by the eighteen founding members and the Justice Department to include the aforementioned schools and five others (Highland Park, Inkster, River Rouge, Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Willow Run) encompassing an athletic conference of twenty five schools.

2008 football alignments

Red

White

Blue

Gold

List of MEGA Conference state champions

Baseball

YearSchoolClass/Division
1977CarlsonB
1984ThurstonB
1986 Ypsilanti A
1994 Trenton B

Boys' basketball

YearSchoolClass/Division
1952Highland ParkA
1953 Fordson A
1954River RougeB
1955River RougeB
1959River RougeB
1961River RougeB
1962River RougeB
1963River RougeB
1964River RougeB
1965River RougeB
1968Willow RunB
1969River RougeB
1970River RougeB
1971River RougeB
1972River RougeB
1975Highland ParkA
1980Willow RunB
1986 Romulus A
1998River RougeB
1999River RougeB

Girls' basketball

YearSchoolClass/Division
1984River RougeB
2002InksterC

Boys' bowling

YearSchoolClass
2007 Annapolis B

Girls' competitive cheer

YearSchoolClass/Division
1995CarlsonB
2008Carlson2
2009Carlson2

Boys' cross country

YearSchoolClass/Division
1953 Trenton B
1954River RougeB
1955River RougeB
1957River RougeB
1960 Ypsilanti A
1981 Edsel Ford A
1987 Dearborn B
1988 Monroe A
1992 Monroe A

Girls' cross country

YearSchoolClass/Division
1984 Edsel Ford A

Football

YearSchoolClass/Division
1930 Fordson B
1943 Fordson A
1971 Fordson A
1990RobichaudB
1993 Fordson AA

Boys' golf

YearSchoolClass/Division
1954Redford UnionB
1956 Dearborn A
1963 Dearborn A
2004 Trenton II

Boys' gymnastics

YearSchoolClass/Division
1970KennedyOPEN
1971KennedyOPEN
1972KennedyOPEN
1973KennedyOPEN
1976TrumanOPEN

Girls' gymnastics

YearSchoolClass/Division
1972KennedyOPEN
1973KennedyOPEN

Boys' ice hockey

YearSchoolClass/Division
1976 Trenton I
1979 Trenton A
1980 Trenton A
1982 Trenton A
1986 Trenton A
1989 Southgate Anderson A
1991 Trenton A
1996 Trenton A
1998 Trenton A
2003 Trenton II
2004 Trenton II
2008 Trenton II
2009 Trenton II
2010 Trenton II

Girls' soccer

YearSchoolClass/Division
1989 Dearborn B-C-D

Softball

YearSchoolClass/Division
1983 Belleville A
1984 Belleville A
2008 Garden City I

Boys' swimming

YearSchoolClass/Division
1952 Fordson A
1953 Fordson A
1954 Fordson A
1967 Trenton A
1971 Dearborn A
1972 Dearborn A
1974 Dearborn A
1976 Dearborn A
1986 Dearborn B-C-D
1987 Dearborn B-C-D

Girls' swimming

YearSchoolClass/Division
1995 Trenton B-C-D

Boys' tennis

YearSchoolClass/Division
1975 Ypsilanti A

Girls' tennis

YearSchoolClass/Division
1973 Dearborn OPEN

Boys' track

YearSchoolClass/Division
1954InksterB
1955InksterB
1956InksterB
1954Willow RunB
1960EcorseB
1963River RougeB
1964Willow RunB
1965River RougeB
1967EcorseB
1969Redford UnionA
1969EcorseB
1970EcorseB
1973EcorseB
1974RobichaudB
1975EcorseB
1979RobichaudB
1980EcorseC
1981EcorseB
1985EcorseC
1990RobichaudB
2000 Romulus II
2006 Ypsilanti II

Girls' track

YearSchoolClass/Division
1973Lincoln ParkOPEN
1993InksterB
1994River RougeB
1996RobichaudB
2004 Ypsilanti II
2009 Romulus I

Girls' volleyball

YearSchoolClass/Division
1976 Fordson A

Wrestling

YearSchoolClass/Division
1956 Ypsilanti OPEN
1961 Ypsilanti A
1962 Ypsilanti A
1964 Ypsilanti A
1964River RougeB-C-D

Disbanding

The Mega Conference officially disbanded after the 2008 season after members of the league began to fracture off and form their own conferences, citing a desire to have more geographically centered leagues, as opposed to leagues more focused around the schools' athletic strength.

There were 2 main conferences formed from the ashes of the Mega Conference, with those being the Western Wayne Athletic Conference and the Downriver League. However, a couple of schools chose instead to join the Southeastern Conference, while a few others chose to run an independent schedule.

Western Wayne Athletic ConferenceDownriver LeagueSoutheastern ConferenceIndependent
FordsonMelvindaleMonroeEcorse
Edsel FordRooseveltYpsilantiHighland Park
DearbornCarlsonRiver Rouge
BellevilleSouthgate AndersonWillow Run
RomulusWoodhavenInkster
ThurstonAllen Park
Redford UnionTrenton
AnnapolisKennedy
CrestwoodTruman
RobichaudLincoln Park
Garden City

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