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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.[1]
| Conference | IHSA |
|---|---|
| No. of teams | 10 (one non-football) |
| Region | Central Illinois |
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.[2] Principals of the ten schools voted unanimously in February 2016 to begin plans to merge the conferences.[3] School boards of the ten schools approved the new conference in March and April 2016.[4] Student bodies of each school submitted favorite names for the conference to the principals. Illini Prairie was selected unanimously by the principals.[5][6]
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.[7]
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.[8]
Central Catholic
Illinois Valley Central
Monticello
Pontiac
Prairie Central
Rantoul
St. Joseph
St. Thomas
Unity
PBL
Illini Prairie Conference Members (clickable map)
| 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 | [9] | |
| Illinois Valley Central High School | Chillicothe, Illinois | Grey Ghosts | Public | 610 | 4A | 2017 | Corn Belt | [9][10] | |
| Monticello High School | Monticello, Illinois | Sages | Public | 519 | 3A | 2017 | Okaw Valley | ||
| Paxton-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 | [9] | |
| Prairie Central High School | Fairbury, Illinois | Hawks | Public | 528 | 3A | 2017 | Corn Belt | [9] | |
| Rantoul Township High School | Rantoul, Illinois | Eagles | Public | 772 | 4A | 2017 | Okaw Valley | [10] | |
| St. Joseph-Ogden High School | St. Joseph, Illinois | Spartans | Public | 449 | 3A | 2017 | Okaw Valley | ||
| St. Thomas More High School | Champaign, Illinois | Sabers | Private | 257 / 424.88 (multiplied) | 2A | 2017 | Okaw Valley | ||
| Unity High School | Tolono, Illinois | Rockets | Public | 517 | 3A | 2017 | Okaw Valley |
Previous Members
| School | Location | Mascot | Colors | School type | Year joined | Year left | Joined from | Current conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympia High School | Stanford, Illinois | Spartans | Public | 2017 | 2021 | Corn Belt | Sangamo |
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