The Corn Belt Conference was a high school athletic conference in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), based in Central Illinois. The conference consisted of medium-sized and small high schools.[1]

History

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The Corn Belt Conference was originally formed in 1950 by Clinton, Normal Community, Pontiac Township, Trinity (later Central Catholic), and University High Schools. The conference was incorporated into the former Heart of Illinois Conference in 1972 but was reformed in 1978.[2][3]

Eureka High School left the Corn Belt Conference for the Heart of Illinois Conference after the 2015–2016 school year. U-High and Mahomet-Seymour departed for the Central State Eight Conference and Apollo Conference respectively in the 2017–18 school year.[4][5] In April 2016, school boards of the remaining five schools and the school boards of the five schools in the Okaw Valley Conference voted unanimously to merge into a new Illini Prairie Conference beginning in the 2017–18 school year.[6]

Member schools

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1950–1972

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School Community Team Name Colors IHSA class School type Year joined Joined from Year departed Departed for References
Central Catholic (Trinity) High School Bloomington Saints       1A/2A/3A Private 1950 1972 Heart of Illinois (1970s) [3]
Clinton High School Clinton Maroons     Public 1950 1972 Heart of Illinois (1970s) [3]
Normal Community High School Normal Ironmen     AA, 2A, 3A Public 1950 1971 Capitol [3]
Pontiac Township High School Pontiac Indians     4A Public 1950 1972 Heart of Illinois (1970s) [3]
University High School Normal Pioneers     5A Public lab school 1950 1972 Heart of Illinois (1970s) [3]
Washington Community High School Washington Panthers     Public 1957 Illini 1972 Heart of Illinois (1970s) [3]
St. Teresa High School Decatur Bulldogs     Private 1967 1969 [3]

1978–2017

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School Community Team Name Colors IHSA class School type Year joined Joined from Year departed Departed for References
Central Catholic High School Bloomington Saints       1A/2A/3A Private 1978 Heart of Illinois (1970s) 2017 Illini Prairie [3]
Clinton High School Clinton Maroons     Public 1978 Heart of Illinois (1970s) 1990 Okaw Valley [3]
Pontiac Township High School Pontiac Indians     4A Public 1978 Heart of Illinois (1970s) 2017 Illini Prairie [3]
University High School Normal Pioneers     5A Public lab school 1978 Heart of Illinois (1970s) 2017 Central State Eight [3]
Metamora Township High School Metamora Cardinals     Public 1978 Heart of Illinois (1970s) 1982 Mid-Illini [3]
Olympia High School Stanford Spartans       3A Public 1978 Heart of Illinois (1970s) 2017 Illini Prairie [3]
Eureka High School Eureka Hornets     4A Public 1978
2004
Heart of Illinois (1970s)
Tri-County
1982
2016
Blackhawk
Heart of Illinois
[3]
St. Bede Academy Peru Bruins     2A Private 1982 1996 Private School [3]
Mahomet-Seymour High School Mahomet Bulldogs     4A Public 1986 Okaw Valley 2017 Apollo [2][3]
Prairie Central High School Fairbury Hawks     4A Public 1990 Wauseca 2017 Illini Prairie [3]
Herscher High School Herscher Tigers     Public 2002 Suburban Prairie 2006 Interstate 8 [3]
Rochester High School Rochester Rockets     A, AA, 2A, 3A Public 2002 Sangamo 2010 Central State Eight [3]
Rantoul Township High School Rantoul Eagles     4A Public 2004 Big Twelve 2015 Okaw Valley [1]
Illinois Valley Central High School Chillicothe Grey Ghosts     4A Public 2014 Mid-State 6, North Central Illinois 2017 Illini Prairie [1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Kindred, Randy (7 February 2013). "Corn Belt Conference votes to add IVC". The Pantagraph. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  2. ^ a b Kindred, Randy (27 January 2016). "U High opts to join Central State Eight Conference". The Pantagraph. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "THE GREAT CONFERENCES". Illinois High School Glory Days. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  4. ^ Kindred, Randy (14 April 2015). "Eureka to leave Corn Belt for HOIC in 2016". The Pantagraph. The Pantagraph. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  5. ^ Deacon, Joe (27 January 2016). "Corn Belt, remaining schools contemplate league's future". The Pantagraph. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  6. ^ "Corn Belt Conference merger approved, Illini Prairie Conference created". Chillicothe Times-Bulletin. 27 April 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
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