The Lakes Conference is a high school athletic conference whose members are located in mid-sized cities in northwest Iowa. Most of the schools are located in their respective county seats.
The conference's current lineup consists of 8 schools, all of which compete at either the 2A or 3A level. Most of the schools were once in the highest level of classification for the Iowa High School Athletic Association, but with 4A splitting off in the 1980s, they were no longer in the highest class. In addition, most of the schools are seeing their enrollment decline. As recently as 5 years ago seven of the league's schools were 3A, the second highest class in Iowa, with the rest being 2A. Now only 3 of the 8 members remain at the 3A level, although Storm Lake is the fourth biggest 3A school, behind Boone, Oskaloosa and Norwalk, and a jump to 4A seems to be around the corner.
Contents |
The 8 Lakes Conference schools:
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Mascot | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Storm Lake | Storm Lake | 1962 | Public | Tornadoes | 3A | |
|
LeMars |
LeMars | ???? | Public | Bulldogs | 3A | |
| Spencer | Spencer | ???? | Public | Kittens | 3A | |
| Estherville-LC | Estherville | ???? | Public | Midgets | 2A | |
| Spirit Lake | Spirit Lake | ???? | Public | Indians | 3A | |
| Western Christian | Hull | ???? | Private | Wolfpack | 2A | |
| Cherokee | Cherokee | ???? | Public | Braves | 2A | |
| Emmetsburg | Emmetsburg | ???? | Public | E-Hawks | 1A (football)/2A (basketball and others) |
The Lakes conference dates back to the mid-1940s, when Storm Lake, Cherokee, Spirit Lake, Sibley, Sheldon, Emmetsburg, Estherville, and Spencer formed the league. For over four decades, the conference had no membership changes. In the 1980s, Sibley merged with nearby Ocheyedan high school and left the conference in 1989 to join the Siouxland Conference. Estherville also merged with Lincoln Central High School in 1990.
The league added two new schools for the 1991-92 academic year: Hull Western Christian and LeMars. Both schools were originally rejected by the league, but were eventually accepted and have since brought the league much credibility. Since joining the Lakes, Western Christian has participate in 8 state basketball tournaments and won the 2A championship in 2006-07, becoming the first league school to win the state title since Estherville in 1986-87. They followed this up by repeating as state champs in 2007-08.
In 2009-10, Sheldon left the Lakes to join longtime rival Sibley-Ocheyedan the Siouxland Conference.
The Lakes conference sponsored football for over 50 years, before the Iowa High School Athletic Association realigned all levels of football besides 4A into a two-year evolving districts format.
The conference offers the following sports: