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.
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. Principals of the ten schools voted unanimously in February 2016 to begin plans to merge the conferences. School boards of the ten schools approved the new conference in March and April 2016. Student bodies of each school submitted favorite names for the conference to the principals. Illini Prairie was selected unanimously by the principals.
Paxton-Buckley-Loda joined the conference at the start of the 2020-21 school year after, making the move after St. Thomas More decided to play an eight-man football schedule. PBL had played in the Sangamon Valley Conference since 1990. St. Thomas More remains a member of the Illini Prairie Conference in all other sports.
Olympia in 2021, left the Illini Prairie Conference to join the Sangamo Conference, Thus leaving the Illini Prairie Conference with ten teams in the Conference and 9 of them that play football, still leaving St. Thomas More an 8-man football team.
Member schools
School Location Mascot Colors School type 2021-22 Enrollment IHSA class Year joined Joined from References Central Catholic High School Bloomington, Illinois Saints Private 321 / 530.48 (multiplied) 1A/2A/3A 2017 Corn Belt Illinois Valley Central High School Chillicothe, Illinois Grey Ghosts Public 610 4A 2017 Corn BeltMonticello High School Monticello, Illinois Sages Public 519 3A 2017 Okaw ValleyPaxton-Buckley-Loda High School Paxton, Illinois Panthers Public 463 3A 2020 Sangamon Valley Pontiac Township High School Pontiac, Illinois Indians Public 656 4A 2017 Corn Belt Prairie Central High School Fairbury, Illinois Hawks Public 528 3A 2017 Corn Belt Rantoul Township High School Rantoul, Illinois Eagles Public 772 4A 2017 Okaw Valley St. Joseph-Ogden High School St. Joseph, Illinois Spartans Public 449 3A 2017 Okaw ValleySt. Thomas More High School Champaign, Illinois Sabers Private 257 / 424.88 (multiplied) 2A 2017 Okaw ValleyUnity High School Tolono, Illinois Rockets Public 517 3A 2017 Okaw Valley
Previous Members School Location Mascot Colors School type Year joined Year left Joined fromCurrent conference Olympia High School Stanford, Illinois Spartans Public 2017 2021 Corn BeltSangamo
See also List of Illinois High School Association member conferences
References
External links