Northern Illinois Conference (athletic conference)

The Northern Illinois Conference (NIC-10) is a high school athletic conference consisting of nine high public schools and one Catholic school in Illinois' Boone, Stephenson, and Winnebago Counties. Member schools are also full members of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), and are among the larger schools in that area, all competing in Class AA (in the two class system) of IHSA competitions.

Members

School	Location	Mascot	Colors	Year Joined	IHSA Classes A/AA[1]	Website	Reference
Auburn High School	Rockford	Knights	Red, Black	1960	AA/3A/4A [2]	http://www2.rps205.com/Schools/HS/Auburn/Pages/Home.aspx	[3]
Belvidere High School	Belvidere	Bucs	Gold, Purple	1963	A/AA/2A/3A [4]	http://www.district100.com/Schools/Belvidere/Pages/Home.aspx	[5]
Belvidere North High School	Belvidere	Blue Thunder	Navy Blue, Scarlet Red, Vegas Gold	2006	AA/2A/3A/4A [6]	http://www.district100.com/Schools/BelvidereNorth/Pages/Home.aspx	[7]
Boylan Catholic High School	Rockford	Titans	Green, White	1964	AA/2A/3A/4A [8]	http://www.boylan.org/	[9]
East High School	Rockford	E-Rabs	Red, Black	1940	AA/2A/3A/4A [10]	http://www2.rps205.com/Schools/HS/East/Pages/default.aspx	[11]
Freeport High School	Freeport	Pretzels	Orange, Black	1919	AA/2A/3A [12]	http://fsd145hs.sharpschool.net/	[13]
Guilford High School	Rockford	Vikings	Columbia Blue, White	1963	AA/3A/4A [14]	http://www2.rps205.com/Schools/HS/Guilford/Pages/Home.aspx	[15]
Harlem High School	Machesney Park	Huskies	Black, Orange	1963	AA/3A/4A [16]	http://www.harlem122.org/education/school/school.php?sectionid=6	[17]
Hononegah High School	Rockton	Indians	Purple, Gold	1982	AA/3A/4A [18]	http://www.hononegah.org/education/district/district.php?sectionid=1	[19]
Jefferson High School	Rockford	J-Hawks	[20] Red, White, Gold	1971	2A/3A/4A [21]	http://www2.rps205.com/Schools/HS/Jefferson/Pages/default.aspx	[22]

* Depending on the sport/activity, schools compete in a two class, three class, or four class system. The classes are listed in that order in this table.

History

The conference was originally founded as the Big 7 in 1919 and included Freeport High School, Rockford Central High School, Joliet High School, Elgin High School, DeKalb High School, Aurora East High School, and Aurora West High School. DeKalb left the conference in 1929, and was replaced by LaSalle-Peru High School. In the spring of 1940, Rockford High School closed with the opening of Rockford West and Rockford East high schools in the fall of 1940 (and the conference naturally became the Big 8). In 1960, Joliet High School left and quickly was replaced by the newly constructed Rockford Auburn High School. In 1963, Aurora East, Aurora West, and Elgin high schools departed, and were immediately replaced by Harlem High School, Belvidere High School, and the newly opened Rockford Guilford High School. 1964 saw LaSalle-Peru leave after being a member of the conference for 35 years and Boylan Central Catholic High School join. The addition of Rockford Jefferson High School in 1971 forced the conference to change their name to the Big 9.

In 1982, Hononegah High School joined the conference, and, to avoid the obvious confusion with the collegiate conference, The Big Ten, the conference was renamed the Northern Illinois Conference (NIC-10). For 7 years the conference remained status quo, however, when Rockford West High School was closed after the 1988–89 school year, the conference became the NIC-9. It once again returned to the NIC-10 when Belvidere North High School opened in 2007. Currently, Freeport High School remains the only original member of the conference and will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2019.^[23]

Membership timeline

Full members Various Conferences/Independent Other Conference Upstate 8 Conference Other Conference

State championships

58 IHSA State Championships have been earned by the conference membership:

• Basketball (boys)-8: Joliet Township (1936–37); Elgin (1923–24, 24–25); Rockford High School (1938–39); Rockford West (1954–55, 55–56); Freeport (1925–26, 50–51)^[24]
• Bowling (boys)-5: Jefferson (2002–03); Freeport (2007–08); Guilford (2010-11); Guilford (2013-14); Rockton (Hononegah) (2014-15)^[25]
• Bowling (girls)-7: Jefferson (2007–08); Harlem (1999–2000, 00–01, 01–02, 04–05, 10-11); Rockford East (1996–97)^[26]
• Chess-3: Jefferson (1990–91); Auburn (1991–92, 92–93)^[27]
• Cross Country (boys)-2: Belvidere North (2009–10, 10-11)^[28]
• Cross Country (girls)-1: Guilford (1981–82)^[29]
• Field Hockey (girls)-1: Rockford West (1975–76)^[30]
• Football-7: Belvidere (1993–94, 94–95); Rockford East (1974–75, 85–86); Guilford (1982–83); Boylan (2010-11, 2011-12)^[31]
• Golf (boys)-12: Rockford East (1941–42, 42–43, 43–44, 44–45, 46–47, 56–57); Rockford West (1940–41); Guilford (1974–75, 75–76, 83–84, 85–86); Boylan (2002-03)^[32]
• Golf (girls)-1: Guilford (1994–95)^[33]
• Golf (girls -individual)-1: RPS205 Coop Team (2015-16) Madasyn Pettersen (Auburn)
• Journalism-1: Jefferson (2006-07)^[34]
• Scholastic Bowl-2: Auburn (2007–08, 2014-15)^[35]
• Soccer (boys)-1: Boylan (2010-11)
• Softball-2: Harlem (1979–80, 98–99)^[36]
• Swimming & Diving (boys)-1: Rockford High School (1932–33)^[37]
• Track & Field (boys)-3: Rockford High School (1926–27, 32–33, 34–35)^[38]

References

1. http://www.ihsa.org/school/enrolla.htm
2. "Rockford (Auburn)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 12 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
3. "Rockford (Auburn)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
4. "Belvidere (H.S.)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 12 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
5. "Belvidere (H.S.)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
6. "Belvidere (North)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 12 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
7. "Belvidere (North)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
8. "Rockford (Boylan)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 12 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
9. "Rockford (Boylan)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
10. "Rockford (East)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 12 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
11. "Rockford (East)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
12. "Freeport (H.S.)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 12 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
13. "Freeport (H.S.)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
14. "Rockford (Guilford)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 12 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
15. "Rockford (Guilford)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
16. "Machesney Park (Harlem)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 12 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
17. "Machesney Park (Harlem)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
18. "Machesney Park (Harlem)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 12 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
19. "Rockton (Hononegah)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
20. "Jefferson High School Basketball". CBS Interactive. 11 January 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
21. "Rockton (Hononegah)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 12 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
22. "Rockford (Jefferson)". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 1 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
23. "Big 7". Illinois High School Glory Days. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
24. "Boys Basketball Championship Games". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Retrieved 27 April 2010.
25. "Boys Bowling Team Champions and Runners-Up". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Retrieved 5 February 2015.
26. "Girls Bowling Team Champions and Runners-Up". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Retrieved 27 April 2010.
27. "Chess Team Champions and Runners-Up". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Retrieved 27 April 2010.
28. "Boys Cross Country Team Champions and Runners-Up". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Retrieved 12 May 2010.
29. "Girls Cross Country Team Champions and Runners-Up". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Retrieved 27 April 2010.
30. "Girls Field Hockey Champions and Runners-Up". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Retrieved 27 April 2010.
31. "Boys Football Champions and Runners-Up". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Retrieved 27 April 2010.
32. "Boys Golf Team Champions and Runners-Up". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Retrieved 27 April 2010.
33. "Girls Golf Team Champions and Runners-Up". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Retrieved 27 April 2010.
34. "IHSA Journalism Top 10 Teams". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 16 November 2009. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
35. "Scholastic Bowl Champions and Runners-Up". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Retrieved 27 April 2010.
36. "Girls Softball Champions and Runners-Up". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Retrieved 27 April 2010.
37. "Boys Swimming & Diving Team Champions and Runners-Up". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Retrieved 27 April 2010.
38. "Boys Track & Field Team Champions and Runners-Up". Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Retrieved 27 April 2010.