The Madison City Series is a former high school athletic competition series, beginning in 1923 and ending in 2017. All members were located in the city of Madison, Wisconsin, including all four high schools currently associated with the Madison Metropolitan School District. The competition's six public members were affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, while the one private school that competed belonged to the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association.
History
1923-1930
When Madison East High School opened in 1922, it became the third public high school in the city, joining Madison Central (founded in 1853 as Madison's first public high school) and the University of Wisconsin High School (opened in 1911). The next year, interscholastic competition began between the three schools. While the Madison City Series was never officially formed as an organization, the two major local newspapers (the Capital Times and the Wisconsin State Journal) kept standings between the three schools and the Knights of Columbus began offering a traveling trophy to the city's football champions on an annual basis. In 1925, two of the three high schools (Madison Central and Madison East) joined the Southern Wisconsin Conference (later to be known as the Big Eight) but retained the City Series competition alongside. Wisconsin High gained their own conference affiliation in 1928, when they joined the Southern Six.
1930-1974 Madison West became a member of both the City Series and the Big Eight after opening in 1930, bringing the City Series to four schools. This would decrease to three in 1934 after the loss of Wisconsin High, citing difficulty in maintaining both a Southern Six and City Series schedule concurrently and lack of competitive balance as reasons for leaving. In 1947, the Zor Shrine took over sponsorship of the football championship trophy from the Knights of Columbus. Central, East and West competed in the City Series for just over three decades before new high schools were opened in Madison due to overcrowding of existing facilities. La Follette High School opened in 1963 on the city's far east side, and Madison Memorial High School followed suit on Madison's far west side in 1967. Both schools joined the City Series immediately after opening, offsetting the closing of Central-University High School in 1969. In 1974, Edgewood High School joined the City Series, the first time a private high school had ever been included in the competition.
1974-2017
While the City Series held a level of significance among Madison high schools in its early years, the rise of conference competition in the Big Eight and state-level competition eventually superseded the City Series in both prestige and popularity. The Zor Shrine continued to sponsor a city championship among Madison's public high schools until 2017, but most City Series competitions tapered off in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Edgewood left the City Series at the conclusion of the 1988-89 season, which was the last time city standings were kept by the local media. The last championship awarded for hockey occurred in 1991, with Madison Memorial taking home top honors.
Membership history
Final members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftPrimary ConferenceMadison EastMadison, WIPublic (MMSD)Purgolders 19232017Big EightMadison La FolletteMadison, WIPublic (MMSD)Lancers 19632017Big EightMadison MemorialMadison, WIPublic (MMSD)Spartans 19672017Big EightMadison WestMadison, WIPublic (MMSD)Regents 19302017Big Eight
Former members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftPrimary ConferenceEdgewoodMadison, WIPrivate (Catholic)Crusaders 19741989IndependentMadison CentralMadison, WIPublic (MMSD)Tigers 19231969Big EightWisconsin HighMadison, WIPublic (University of Wisconsin)Badger Preps 19231934Southern Six
Membership timeline
List of city champions
Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsMadison West301932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1965, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1988Madison East231927, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1941, 1943, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1973, 1979Madison Central161928, 1929, 1930, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1963, 1964, 1965Madison La Follette61968, 1974, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1989Wisconsin High61923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1930, 1931Edgewood41975, 1976, 1978, 1987Madison Memorial31969, 1977, 1983
Football SchoolQuantityYearsMadison West381931, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1948, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1998, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2017Madison East271930, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1939, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1980, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2004, 2011Madison La Follette211966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1978, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015Madison Memorial181970, 1971, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011Madison Central131923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1933, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1952, 1953Wisconsin High11931Edgewood0
Boys Hockey SchoolQuantityYearsMadison East151959, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1987Madison West121957, 1958, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990Madison Memorial81974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1991Madison Central41960, 1962, 1963, 1969Madison La Follette11988
References