Cahokia Conference

Cahokia Conference
Conference	IHSA
Founded	1928
No. of teams	12
Region	Southwestern Illinois (near St. Louis)

The Cahokia Conference is a high school athletic and competitive activity organization which currently consists of 18 schools in southwestern Illinois. All of the schools are located in Clinton, Madison, Marion, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair, and Washington counties. The conference began in 1928.^[1]

List of member schools

Dupo is a member of the Cahokia Conference in all sports except football, where it competes in the Prairie State Conference starting with the 2017 season.^[2] Carlyle will also not be a member for football starting in 2020 due to moving from 11-man football to 8-man football.^[3]

Two schools, Valmeyer and Steeleville, were added for the 2006–07 season. The addition split the conference into two divisions, the Mississippi and the Kaskaskia. Salem was admitted to the conference in 2017, joining the Mississippi Division.

Expansion and realignment occurred starting with the 2022–23 school year. Chester, Okawville, Roxana, Sparta and East Alton-Wood River all joined the Cahokia.^[4] After all schools join, The conference would then realign into three divisions:

Mississippi Division - Breese (Central), Columbia, Freeburg, Roxana, Salem and Wood River (East Alton-W.R.)
Kaskaskia Division - Dupo, Lebanon, Marissa, New Athens, Steeleville, Valmeyer
Illinois Division - Carlyle, Chester, Okawville, Red Bud, Sparta and Trenton (Wesclin)

Mississippi Division

School	Location	Team Name	County	School Enrollment (2023–24)	Year Joined	Previous Conference
Breese Central	Breese	Cougars	Clinton	620	1983	Quad County
Columbia	Columbia	Eagles	Monroe	618	1960	Kaskaskia
East Alton-Wood River	Wood River	Oilers	Madison	565	2021	Prairie State
Freeburg	Freeburg	Midgets	St. Clair	663	1928
Roxana	Roxana	Shells	Madison	520	2022	South Central
Salem	Salem	Wildcats	Marion	678	2017	Apollo

Kaskaskia Division

School	Location	Team Name	County	School Enrollment (2023–24)	Year Joined	Previous Conference
Dupo¹	Dupo	Tigers	St. Clair	258	1928 1971	Quad county Midwestern
Lebanon	Lebanon	Greyhounds	St. Clair	138	1929
Marissa²	Marissa	Meteors	St. Clair	159	1928 1983
New Athens	New Athens	Yellow Jackets	St. Clair	139	1928
Steeleville	Steeleville	Warriors	Randolph	139	2006
Valmeyer	Valmeyer	Pirates	Monroe	126	2006

Illinois Division

School	Location	Team Name	County	School Enrollment (2023–24)	Year Joined	Previous Conference
Carlyle	Carlyle	Indians	Clinton	300	1988	Southwest Egyptian
Chester	Chester	Yellow Jackets	Randolph	330	2022	Black Diamond-West
Okawville	Okawville	Rockets Lady Rockets	Washington	192	2022	Independent
Red Bud	Red Bud	Musketeers	Randolph	371	1972	Chartres
Sparta	Sparta	Bulldogs	Randolph	316	2022	Southern Illinois River-to-River
Wesclin	Trenton	Warriors	Clinton	385	1983

Dupo played in Midwestern Conference 1956–71.
Marissa left in 1933, and rejoined in 1983.

Former Schools

Partial list, more schools to be added.

School	Location	Team Name	Colors	County	Year Joined	Previous Conference	Year Left	Conference Joined
O'Fallon	O'Fallon	Panthers		St. Clair	1928	Independents (SWC 1926)	1971	Mississippi Valley
Waterloo	Waterloo	Bulldogs		Monroe	Unknown	Unknown	1997	Mississippi Valley

Sports

Each year a conference champion is determined in each division for volleyball, boys and girls basketball, baseball, and softball by each division member playing round-robin home and away. The team with the best win–loss record is the champion.

For boys and girls golf and boys soccer one champion is determined by round–robin play, with each school in the conference playing each other once. The team with the best win–loss record is the champion.

Cross country and track & field for boys and girls each have one champion determined by the winner of each sport's conference meet. The scholastic bowl champion is the winner of the conference tournament.

Like golf and soccer, the conference football championship is determined based on round–robin play. However, only seven teams (the Mississippi division and Dupo) field football teams. As noted above, Carlyle will begin 8-man play in 2020 moving the conference to 6 schools for the short-term.

There is no cross-over for conference play due to the size discrepancy between schools in the Mississippi Division and schools in the Kaskaskia Division.

State trophies

Breese (Central)

1989 Scholastic Bowl Runner-Up
1992 Girls Volleyball Third Place (Class A)
1996 Girls Volleyball Champions (Class A)
1999 Girls Volleyball Third Place (Class A)
2005 Girls Volleyball Champions (Class A)
2006 Girls Volleyball Runner-Up (Class A)
2007 Girls Basketball Champions (Class A)
2007 Girls Volleyball Champions (Class 2A)
2009 Girls Track and Field Second Place (Class 1A)
2010 Girls Volleyball Second Place (Class 2A)
2010 Boys Basketball Fourth Place (Class 2A)
2011 Girls Volleyball Third Place (Class 2A)
2012 Girls Basketball Runner-Up (Class 2A)
2012 Boys Basketball Champions (Class 2A)
2013 Girls Competitive Cheerleading Third Place (Class S)
2014 Girls Volleyball Third Place (Class 2A)
2014 Girls Competitive Cheerleading Champions (Class S)
2015 Girls Competitive Cheerleading Champions (Class S)
2015 Girls Basketball Runner-Up (Class 2A)
2016 Girls Competitive Cheerleading Third Place (Class S)
2016 Boys Basketball Third Place (Class 2A)
2017 Girls Competitive Cheerleading Champions (Class S)
2018 Girls Basketball Fourth Place (Class 3A)
2021 Girls Competitive Cheerleading Third Place (Class S)

Carlyle

1981 Boys Baseball Champions (Class A)
1988 Football Champions (Class 2A)
1989 Boys Basketball Champions (Class A)
1995 Girls Basketball Runner-Up (Class A)
1996 Girls Basketball Champions (Class A)
1997 Girls Basketball Champions (Class A)
2016 Girls Competitive Cheerleading Runner-up (Small)

Columbia

1987 Baseball Champions (Class A)
2005 Girls Volleyball Runner-Up (Class A)
2006 Girls Soccer Runner-Up (Class A)
2006 Baseball Fourth Place (Class A)
2007 Scholastic Bowl Runner-Up (Class A)
2007 Baseball Champions (Class A)
2007 Football Runner-Up (Class 3A)
2008 Girls Soccer Third Place (Class A)
2009 Competitive Cheerleading Third Place (Class S)
2010 Competitive Cheerleading Champions (Class S)
2010 Boys Soccer Third Place (Class 1A)
2011 Competitive Cheerleading Champions (Class S)
2012 Competitive Cheerleading Champions (Class S)
2013 Competitive Cheerleading Champions (Class M)
2014 Boys Soccer Champions (Class 1A)
2015 Competitive Cheerleading Second Place (Class M)
2019 Girls Soccer Champions (Class 1A)

Dupo

1990 Baseball Runner-Up (Class A)
1996 Baseball Champions (Class A)
2009 Softball Fourth Place (Class 1A)
2016 Softball Runner-Up (Class 2A)

Freeburg

1956 Baseball Runner-Up
1977 Girls Archery State Champions
1977 Girls Volleyball Third Place (Class A)
1978 Girls Archery Second Place
1979 Girls Volleyball Champions (Class A)
1981 Girls Volleyball Fourth Place (Class A)
1982 Girls Volleyball Champions (Class A)
1985 Softball Champions (Class A)
1989 Baseball Champions (Class A)
2002 Baseball Runner-Up (Class A)
2003 Girls Track Champions (Class A)
2004 Girls Track Champions (Class A)
2005 Girls Track Third Place (Class A)
2008 Girls Volleyball Champions (Class 2A)
2009 Girls Volleyball Champions (Class 2A)
2014 Baseball Third Place (Class 2A)
2016 Boys Cross Country Runner-Up (Class A)
2020 Baseball Champions (Class 2A)

Lebanon

1976 Boys Cross Country Champions (Class A)
1977 Boys Track Runner-Up (Class A)
1997 Softball Runner-Up (Class A)
2008 Softball Fourth Place (Class 1A)
2010 Softball Runner-Up (Class 1A)
2010 Baseball Third Place (Class 1A)
2018 Girls Basketball Third Place (Class 1A)

Marissa

1986 Baseball Champions (Class A)
2008 Baseball Runner-Up (Class 1A)
2009 Baseball Runner-Up (Class 1A)

New Athens

1948 Baseball Runner-Up
1978 Baseball Runner-Up (Class A)
1979 Baseball Champions (Class A)
2013 Girls Volleyball Fourth Place (Class 1A)
2014 Baseball Fourth Place (Class 1A)

Red Bud

1974 Volleyball Third Place (Class A)
2002 Volleyball Third Place (Class A)

Steeleville

1993 Baseball Runner-Up (Class A)
2019 Baseball Third Place (Class A)
2022 Boys Basketball Fourth Place (Class 1A)

Trenton (Wesclin)

1981 Boys Cross Country Runner-Up (Class A)
1982 Boys Cross Country Champions (Class A)
1990 Boys Basketball Champions (Class A)
2002 Boys Bowling Runner-up (Class A)
2006 Baseball Runner-Up (Class A)
2009 Competitive Cheerleading Champions (Class S)
2012 Baseball Fourth Place (Class 2A)
2018 ICTM Math Team Tenth Place (Class 1A)

Valmeyer

2012 Girls Volleyball Fourth Place (Class 1A)
2017 Baseball Runner-up (Class 1A)
2018 Baseball Runner-up (Class 1A)

Miscellaneous Facts

Baseball Achievements

No other small school athletic conference in the state of Illinois has claimed as many state baseball championships as the Cahokia Conference. The list of championships by current member teams includes 7 years (1979, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1996, and 2007), as well as 9 runner-up performances (1948, 1956, 1978, 1990, 1993, 2002, 2006, 2008, and 2009), and two third-place finishes (2010 & 2014).

2005 Volleyball Championship

In the 2005 state volleyball tournament Breese Central defeated Columbia in the championship match. This was the first time in IHSA Volleyball history that two teams from the same conference met in the title match. Ironically, the conference champion of 2005 was Freeburg, which had moved to class AA and won the first ever AA regional for a school from this conference.

References

^ "Correspondence". Edwardsville (IL) Intelligencer. 1929-02-27. Retrieved 2017-06-17.
^ "Dupo football leaving Cahokia Conference after 2016; will join Prairie State Conference". Belleville News Democrat. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
^ "8-man football ranks continue growth | Friday Night Drive". www.fridaynightdrive.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-29.
^ "East Alton Wood River Agrees To Join Cahokia Super Conference | WJBD-FM". www.southernillinoisnow.com. Archived from the original on 2020-06-06.

[1] "Correspondence". Edwardsville (IL) Intelligencer. 1929-02-27. Retrieved 2017-06-17.

[2] "Dupo football leaving Cahokia Conference after 2016; will join Prairie State Conference". Belleville News Democrat. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.

[3] "8-man football ranks continue growth | Friday Night Drive". www.fridaynightdrive.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-29.

[4] "East Alton Wood River Agrees To Join Cahokia Super Conference | WJBD-FM". www.southernillinoisnow.com. Archived from the original on 2020-06-06.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e 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 Twelve Black Diamond Cahokia Central Illinois Central State Eight Central Suburban Chicago Catholic Chicago Prairie Chicago Prep Chicago Public Chicagoland Christian DuKane DuPage Valley East Central Illinois East Suburban Catholic Egyptian Illini Fox Valley Gateway Metro Girls Catholic Greater Egyptian Heart of Illinois Illini Prairie Illinois Central Eight Independent School Inter County Interstate Eight Kishwaukee River Lake Shore Lincoln Prairie Lincoln Trail Little Illini Little Okaw Valley Little Ten Metropolitan Prep Mid-Illini Mid-Suburban Midland Trail Mississippi Valley MSM National Trail Noble League North Suburban Northeastern Northern Illinois Northern Lake County Northwest Upstate Illini Pike County Prairieland River Valley Sangamo South Central South Egyptian South Seven South Suburban Southern Illinois River-to-River Southland Southwest Prairie Southwest Suburban Southwestern 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 Big 8 Big Rivers Blackhawk B.L.P. Bureau Valley Capitol Cenois Chartres Central Egyptian Conference Coal Belt Coal Valley Corn Belt Cook County Des Plaines East Okaw Eastern Illinois Four Rivers Heart of Illinois (1970s) Illini 8 Illini Central Illini Valley Indian Valley Kankakee Valley La Moine Valley Little 6 Little 7 Little 8 Metro Suburban Mid-Northern Mid State Mid-State Six Midwest Midwestern New Salem North Central Illinois North Egypt Northern Illinois Big 12 Northwest 8 Northwestern Illinois Northwest Suburban Okaw Valley Olympic Quad Cities Metro Private School League Rock River Valley Route 72 Sangamon Valley SHARK South Inter-Athletic Southern Illini Southwest Egyptian Spoon River Stephenson County Suburban Suburban Christian Suburban Prairie Tollway Upstate Illini US Grant Wauseca West Prairie Trail Western Area Western Sun Wilco