Rock Valley Conference

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The Rock Valley Conference is a high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, originally formed as the Central Suburban Conference in 1969. All member schools belong to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association and are concentrated in the Rock River Valley in south central Wisconsin.

Contents

History

Central Suburban Conference (1969-1977)

The Rock Valley Conference was formed in 1969 as the Central Suburban Conference. Its original membership consisted of four members from the Central Section of the disbanded Madison Suburban Conference (Evansville, Lake Mills, Milton and Oregon) along with newcomers Clinton (from the Indian Trails Conference) and Turner (from the IHSA's SHARK Conference). [1] Columbus and Parkview joined the following season from the Little Ten Conference and State Line League, respectively. [2] The Central Suburban Conference maintained this membership roster for the rest of its eight-year history.

Transformation into Rock Valley Conference (1977-2008)

In 1977, Columbus and Lake Mills left to join the Capitol Conference and Oregon left to join the Badger Conference. They were replaced by two schools from the Badger Conference (Edgerton and Jefferson) and one from the State Line League (Brodhead). [3] That same year, the Central Suburban Conference changed its name to the Rock Valley Conference, both a reference to the old Rock River Valley League and the revised catchment area. [4] In 1982, Jefferson and Milton both left the Rock Valley to join the Southern Lakes Conference and were replaced by Beloit Catholic (from the IHSA's Trailblazer Conference) [5] and Big Foot (formerly of the Southern Lakes). [6] Palmyra-Eagle joined the conference in 1990 to bring membership up to nine schools. [7] Beloit Catholic left to join the Indian Trails Conference in 1996 [8] [9] for its last few years before it closed in 2000. [10]

Present Day (2008-present)

Membership remained unchanged until 2008 when the conference added four schools. [11] Jefferson made its return from the Southern Lakes Conference, and three newcomers joined: two from the Southern Lakes (East Troy and Whitewater) and one from the Badger Conference (McFarland). [12] The conference also split its membership into North and South Divisions:

North DivisionSouth Division
East TroyBig Foot
EdgertonBrodhead
EvansvilleClinton
JeffersonPalmyra-Eagle
McFarlandParkview
WhitewaterTurner

This alignment lasted until 2017, when both Palmyra-Eagle and Parkview left the Rock Valley to join more similarly-sized schools in the Trailways Conference. [13] McFarland and Monroe swapped conference affiliations in 2023, with Monroe joining the Rock Valley and McFarland taking their place in the Badger Conference. [14] Delavan-Darien was also welcomed into the Rock Valley from the Southern Lakes Conference that year, [15] [16] and the conference subdivided into "Rock" and "Valley" Divisions:

Rock DivisionValley Division
Big FootDelavan-Darien
BrodheadEast Troy
ClintonJefferson
EdgertonMonroe
EvansvilleWhitewater
Turner

This alignment will remain in place until the end of the 2024-25 school year, when four schools leave the Rock Valley Conference. Clinton, Jefferson and Whitewater will be joining the Capitol Conference, while Brodhead is joining a conference yet to be named with seven schools leaving the Capitol Conference (Belleville, Cambridge, Marshall, New Glarus, Poynette, Waterloo and Wisconsin Heights). [17]

List of Member Schools

Current members

SchoolLocationAffiliation Enrollment MascotColorsJoined
Big Foot Walworth, WI Public449Chiefs  1982 [6]
Brodhead Brodhead, WI Public315Cardinals  1977 [3]
Clinton Clinton, WI Public359Cougars  1969 [1]
Delavan-Darien Delavan, WI Public628Comets  2023 [15]
East Troy East Troy, WI Public504Trojans  2008 [11]
Edgerton Edgerton, WI Public537Crimson Tide  1977 [3]
Evansville Evansville, WI Public507Blue Devils  1969 [1]
Jefferson Jefferson, WI Public604Eagles  1977, [3] 2008 [11]
Monroe Monroe, WI Public742Cheesemakers  2023 [14]
Turner Beloit, WI Public460Trojans  1969 [1]
Whitewater Whitewater, WI Public606Whippets  2008 [11]

Former Members

SchoolLocationAffiliation Enrollment MascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent Conference
Lake Mills Lake Mills, WI Public491L-Cats  1969 [1] 1977 [3] Capitol
Milton Milton, WI Public1,059Redhawks  1969 [1] 1982 [6] Southern Lakes Badger
Oregon Oregon, WI Public1,248Panthers  1969 [1] 1977 [3] Badger
Columbus Columbus, WI Public390Cardinals  1970 [2] 1977 [3] Capitol
Parkview Orfordville, WI Public238Vikings  1970 [2] 2017 [13] Trailways
Beloit Catholic Beloit, WI Private (Catholic)N/ACrusaders  1982 [6] 1996 [10] Indian Trails Closed in 2000
Palmyra-Eagle Palmyra, WI Public195Panthers  1990 [7] 2017 [13] Trailways
McFarland McFarland, WI Public774Spartans  2008 [11] 2023 [14] Badger

Membership Timeline

Rock Valley Conference

List of State Champions

Fall Sports

Boys Cross Country
SchoolYearDivision
Turner1976Class B
Clinton1983Class B
Clinton1985Class B
Clinton1986Class B
Girls Cross Country
SchoolYearDivision
East Troy2016Division 2
Football
SchoolYearDivision
Turner1988Division 4
Big Foot2009Division 4
Boys Soccer
SchoolYearDivision
McFarland2020-21Alternate Season
Girls Volleyball
SchoolYearDivision
East Troy2013Division 2
East Troy2018Division 2

Winter Sports

Girls Basketball
SchoolYearDivision
Clinton2003Division 3
Whitewater2015Division 3
Boys Swimming & Diving
SchoolYearDivision
McFarland2009Division 2
McFarland2010Division 2
McFarland2011Division 2
McFarland2012Division 2
Boys Wrestling
SchoolYearDivision
East Troy1986Class B
East Troy1987Class B
East Troy1988Class B

Spring Sports

Baseball
SchoolYearDivision
Edgerton1990Class B
Turner2001Division 2
Jefferson2014Division 2
Boys Golf
SchoolYearDivision
Edgerton2012Division 2
Girls Soccer
SchoolYearDivision
McFarland2021Division 3
Softball
SchoolYearDivision
Brodhead2004Division 3
Brodhead2023Division 3
Boys Track & Field
SchoolYearDivision
Parkview1979Class B
Parkview1980Class B
Turner1987Class B
Brodhead1994Division 2
Brodhead1995Division 2
Brodhead2003Division 2
Whitewater2010Division 2
Jefferson2021Division 2
Girls Track & Field
SchoolYearDivision
Lake Mills1974Class B
East Troy2013Division 2
Jefferson2016Division 2

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hillstrom, Eric (January 16, 1969). "City, Area Prep Hi-Notes". The Capital Times. p. 27. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "Parkview to Join Suburban". Janesville Weekly Gazette. June 6, 1969. p. 34. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hillstrom, Eric (August 17, 1977). "Learning to live with realignment". The Capital Times. p. 69. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Rock Valley conference name once again". Wisconsin State Journal. June 27, 1976. pp. 4 (section 2). Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Beloit Catholic eyes title in new league". Wisconsin State Journal. August 30, 1981. p. 66. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Conference realignment to be time, money-saver". Kenosha News. May 28, 1981. p. 8. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  7. 1 2 "P-E packs parting shot". Wisconsin State Journal. August 27, 1989. p. 54. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Scoreboard (see Rock Valley Conference standings)". The Capital Times. December 26, 2024. pp. 4B. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Zephyrs deal Lourdes a blow". Oshkosh Northwestern. December 15, 1996. pp. C2. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  10. 1 2 "Catholic High in Beloit to shut down after 46 years". Wisconsin State Journal. June 13, 2000. p. 10. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Kaebisch, Mike (August 24, 2008). "On the move: Four new teams change the landscape of the Rock Valley Conference". Wisconsin State Journal. p. 47. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  12. ↑ Semrau, Dennis (September 4, 2007). "McFarland, Verona set for final season in Badger South". The Capital Times. pp. D1. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  13. 1 2 3 Davis, Sean (February 1, 2016). "Trailways set to welcome pair of schools". Portage Daily Register. p. 6. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  14. 1 2 3 Devlin, Travis (January 20, 2022). "Rock Valley, Southern Lakes Conference potentially impacted by realignment". Lake Geneva Regional News. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  15. 1 2 Hoey, Michael S. (March 19, 2022). "Comets officially moving to Rock Valley Conference". My Walworth County. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  16. ↑ "WIAA board approves separate conference realignment plans". Vilas County News-Review. February 19, 2024. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  17. ↑ Davis, Sean (January 13, 2024). "WIAA proposals could reconfigure conferences". Baraboo News Republic. pp. C3. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
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