Upstate Illini Conference

The Upstate Illini Conference (UIC) was a high school conference in northwest and north central Illinois. The conference participated in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association. The conference included small public high schools with enrollments between 75-1,000 students in Bureau, Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Kane, Lee, McHenry, Stephenson and Winnebago counties.

History

The first year of competition was 1991 with schools in Durand, North Boone, Pearl City, Rockford (Lutheran), Elizabeth (River Ridge), South Beloit and Warren in the North and Ashton-Franklin Center, Kirkland-Hiawatha, Milledgeville, Mt. Carroll, Mt. Morris and Polo in the South. The majority of the conference came from the Northwest 8 Conference (Ashton-Franklin Center, Durand, Milledgeville, Mt. Carroll, North Boone, Pearl City, River Ridge, Rockford Lutheran, South Beloit and Warren) which disbanded in 1990.

In 1993 Mt. Morris was merged into the Oregon School District and dropped out of the conference. In the same year, Huntley joined and the divisions were realigned into East - Durand, Huntley, Kirkland-Hiawatha, North Boone, Rockford Lutheran and South Beloit and West - Ashton-Franklin Center, Milledgeville, Mt Carroll, Pearl City, Polo, River Ridge and Warren. In 1995 Huntley dropped out and Pecatonica was added to the East division and East Dubuque, Forreston and La Moille were added to the West Division while Ashton-Franklin Center moved from the West division to the East. In 1996 the Northwest Illinois Conference (NWIC) and Upstate Illini merged under the Upstate Illini banner. Based on these new additions, three divisions were formed West - Dakota, East Dubuque, Galena, Lena-Winslow, Orangeville, River Ridge, Stockton and Warren. East - Ashton-Franklin Center, Durand, Kirkland-Hiawatha, North Boone, Pecatonica, Rockford Lutheran and South Beloit. South - Forreston, Freeport Aquin, Lanark (Eastland), Milledgeville, Mt. Carroll, Pearl City and Polo. In 1999 Savanna was added to the South Division and Rockford Christian Life to the East Division. The year 2000 was the last year under the Upstate Illini name due to the fact that six schools (Ashton-Franklin Center, Durand, Kirkland-Hiawatha, North Boone, Pecatonica and South Beloit) left in 2001 to form the Four Rivers Conference. Rockford Lutheran and Rockford Christian Life also departed the conference in 2001, seeking competition more suited to their locations and size. The remaining schools realigned under the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference banner.

All-Time Membership

The Upstate Illini Conference had various divisions throughout its history, the list of schools encompasses all of the schools which were once a part of the conference.

School	Location	Mascot	Colors	Year Joined	Year Left	IHSA Classes A/AA^[1]	IHSA Music Class^[2]	IHSA Football Class^[3]	Current NUIC Member
Aquin Catholic High School	Freeport, IL	Bulldogs	Navy Blue, Gold	1996	2000	A	D	1A	Yes
Ashton-Franklin Center High School	Ashton, IL	Raiders	Black, Gold, White	1991	2000	A	-	1A	Yes
Dakota High School	Dakota, IL	Indians	Maroon, White	1996	2000	A	C	1A	Yes
Durand High School	Durand, IL	Bulldogs	Royal Blue, White	1991	2000	A	C	1A	Yes
East Dubuque High School	East Dubuque, IL	Warriors	Royal Blue, White	1995	2000	A	C	1A	Yes
Eastland High School	Lanark, IL	Cougars	Royal Blue, Orange	1996	2000	A	C	Coops w/Pearl City	Yes
Forreston High School	Forreston, IL	Cardinals	Red, White, Black	1995	2000	A	C	1A	Yes
Galena High School	Galena, IL	Pirates	Royal Blue, White	1996	2000	A	C	1A	Yes
Huntley High School	Huntley, IL	Redskins	white Red, Black, White	1993	1995	A	A	3A	No
Kirkland-Hiawatha High School	Kirkland, IL	Hawks	Navy Blue, Gold	1996	2000	A	D	1A	No
La Moille High School	La Moille, IL	Lions	Red, White	1995	1996	A	D	1A	No
Lena-Winslow High School	Lena, IL	Panthers	Black, Gold	1996	2000	A	C	2A	Yes
Milledgeville High School	Milledgeville, IL	Missiles	Orange, Black	1991	2000	A	D	1A	Yes
Mount Carroll High School	Mount Carroll, IL	Hawks	Purple, Gold	1991	2000*	A	D	1A	No*
Mount Morris High School	Mount Morris, IL	Mounders	Red, Black	1991	1993	A	D	1A	No
North Boone High School	Poplar Grove, IL	Vikings	Green, White	1991	2000	A	C	2A	No
Orangeville High School	Orangeville, IL	Broncos	Purple, Gold	1996	2000	A	D	1A	Yes
Pearl City High School	Pearl City, IL	Wolves	Red, White, Black	1991	2000	A	D	2A	Yes
Pecatonica High School	Pecatonica, IL	Indians	Purple, Vegas Gold	1995	2000	A	C	1A	Yes
Polo High School	Polo, IL	Marcos	Blue, Gold	1991	2000	A	C	1A	Yes
River Ridge High School	Elizabeth, IL**	Wildcats	Navy Blue, Grey	1996	2000	A	D	Coop w/Warren	Yes
Rockford Christian Life High School	Rockford, IL	Eagles	Blue, Gray	1999	2000	A	C	2A	No
Rockford Lutheran High School	Rockford, IL	Crusaders	Purple, White	1991	2000	A	C	2A	No
Savanna High School	Savanna, IL	Indians	Red, White	1999	2000*	A	C	2A	No*
South Beloit High School	South Beloit, IL	Sobos	Scarlet Red, White	1996	2000	A	C	1A	Yes
Stockton High School	Stockton, IL	Blackhawks	Maroon, Gold	1996	2000	A	C	1A	Yes
Warren High School	Warren, IL	Warriors	Orange, Black	1996	2000	A	D	1A	Yes

*Mount Carroll and Savanna merged with Thomson creating the West Carroll School District in 2006.
**River Ridge High School relocated to Hanover, IL in 2004.

Membership timeline

Full members Full members (non-football) Full members (Football Coop) Other Conference Other Conference

References

External links

Illinois High School Association

Boys' Sports	Baseball Basketball (championship) Bowling Cross Country Football Golf Gymnastics Soccer Swimming and Diving Tennis Track and Field Volleyball Water Polo Wrestling

Girls' Sports	Badminton Basketball Bowling Competitive Cheerleading Cross Country Golf Gymnastics Soccer Softball Swimming and Diving Tennis Track and Field Volleyball Water Polo

Activities	Bass Fishing Chess Debate Drama and Group Interpretation Journalism Music Scholastic Bowl Individual Events

Special Co-ed Activities	Wheelchair basketball Three-Point Showdown Spirit

Emerging Sports	Boys' and Girls' Lacrosse Dance Team

Athletic Conferences	Apollo Big Northern Big Rivers Big Twelve Black Diamond Cahokia Central Illinois Conference Central State Eight Central Suburban Chicago Catholic Chicago Prep Chicago Public Corn Belt DuPage Valley East Central Illini East Suburban Catholic Egyptian Illini Fox Valley Girls Catholic Greater Egyptian Heart of Illinois Independent School Inter County Interstate Eight Lincoln Trail Little Illini Little Okaw Valley Little Ten Metro Suburban Metropolitan Prep Mid-Illini Mid-South Mid-State Six Mid-Suburban Midland Trail Mississippi Valley MSM National Trail North Suburban Northeastern Northern Illinois Big 12 Northern Illinois Northwest Upstate Illini Okaw Valley Pike County Prairie State Prairieland River Valley Sangamo Sangamon Valley South Central South Egyptian South Seven South Suburban Southern Illinois River-to-River Southland Southwestern Southwest Prairie Southwest Suburban Suburban Christian Three Rivers Tomahawk Tri-County Upstate Eight Vermilion Valley West Central West Suburban Western Big 6 Western Illinois Valley

Former Conferences	Ambraw Valley Bi-County Blackhawk Bureau Valley Capitol Cenois Central Egyptian Conference Coal Belt Cook County Des Plaines East Okaw Eastern Illinois Four Rivers Illini 8 Illini Central Illini Valley Indian Valley Kankakee Valley La Moine Valley Little 7 Little 8 Mid-Northern Mid-State Midwest Midwestern New Salem North Central Illinois North Egypt Northwest Illinois Northwest Suburban Olympic Quad Cities Metro Route 72 SHARK South Inter-Athletic Southern Illini Southwest Egyptian Spoon River Stephenson County Suburban Suburban Prairie Tollway Upstate Illini US Grant Wauseca West Prairie Trail Western Area Western Sun Wilco