Mississippi Valley Conference (Illinois)
| Conference | IHSA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1971 |
| Folded | 2026 |
| No. of teams | 6 |
| Region | Metro-East region of southwestern Illinois (Jersey, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair counties) |
The Mississippi Valley Conference is a high school athletic league in the Metro-East region of southwestern Illinois. It has schools from the counties of Jersey, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair. All of its members are class "AA" in Illinois' two-class and three-class systems and "AAA" in the four-class system.
Member schools (2026)
| School | Location | Mascot | Colors | County | Enrollment | Year Joined | Previous Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civic Memorial High School | Bethalto, Illinois | Eagles | Madison | 766 | 1971 | Midwestern | |
| Highland High School | Highland, Illinois | Bulldogs | Madison | 967 | 1971 | Midwestern | |
| Jersey Community High School | Jerseyville, Illinois | Panthers | Jersey | 898 | 1971 | Independent | |
| Mascoutah Community High School | Mascoutah, Illinois | Indians | St. Clair | 966 | 1971 | Cahokia | |
| Triad High School | Troy, Illinois | Knights | Madison | 1,150 | 19711 1993 |
Midwestern South Central | |
| Waterloo High School | Waterloo, Illinois | Bulldogs | Monroe | 838 | 1997 | Cahokia |
- Triad left to become an Independent in 1978. They joined the SCC in 1985 prior to returning to the MVC.
Former members
| School | Location | Mascot | Colors | County | Enrollment | Year Joined | Previous Conference | Year Left | Conference Joined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Alton-Wood River High School | Wood River, Illinois | Oilers | Madison | 527 | 1971 | Southwestern | 1997 | South Central | |
| O'Fallon Township High School | O'Fallon, Illinois | Panthers | St. Clair | 2,473 | 1971 | Cahokia | 1993 | South Seven | |
| Roxana High School | Roxana, Illinois | Shells | Madison | 538 | 1971 | Midwestern | 1997 | South Central |
History
The Mississippi Valley Conference was formed in 1971 and has been one of the most stable conferences in Illinois high school athletics. The MVC was initially formed by Civic Memorial, Highland, Jersey Community, Mascoutah, O’Fallon, Roxana, Triad, and East Alton-Wood River High Schools. Ironically, the name Mississippi Valley had been used 2 times previous with the first occurrence happening in 1922 with teams from Macomb, Carthage, Pittsfield and Quincy from Illinois and Fort Madison and Keokuk in Iowa. This incarnation of the conference only lasted one season.[1] In 1957, the name was resurrected with teams from East Moline, Moline and Rock Island from Illinois joining an Iowa conference by the same name that included teams from Cedar Rapids and Davenport Iowa. This league is still in operation today in Iowa, however, the three Illinois schools left at the end of the 1969 school year.[2]
While conferences in Illinois have gone through many changes in membership, with some conferences expanding while others have disappeared over the years, the MVC has remained notably stable. O’Fallon withdrew in 1993 due to a significantly increasing student enrollment and joined the South Seven Conference, ultimately ending up as members of the Southwestern Conference. Triad left the MVC in 1979 but rejoined in 1993. Roxana and East Alton-Wood River withdrew from the Mississippi Valley in 1998 due to decreasing enrollment and joined the South Central Conference, where Roxana remains, while EAWR is now a member of the Prairie State Conference. Waterloo joined the MVC in 1998 to take the place of Roxana and East Alton-Wood River. The MVC currently has six schools, of which five are Charter members. During the 40+ year history of the league, there have only been three instances of schools entering or leaving the conference, and this is a point of pride for the MVC and its member schools. Mascoutah and Triad will be leaving the MVC for the Southwestern for the 26-27 school year. It was also announced that Highland would also be leaving at the end of the school year to join the South Seven Conference for 2026-27. With only three schools potentially competing for the 2026-27 season, the conference announced that it would be disbanding at the conclusion of the 2025-26 school year.[3] The remaining members would end up joining the Cahokia Conference.[4]
Membership timeline
Full members Full members (non-football) Partial member (listed sports) Full members (8-man football) Full members (Football Coop) Other Conference
Sports
A listing of the sports and the seasons they are played in:
|
Fall
|
Winter
|
Spring
|
In addition, schools compete in activities such as bass fishing, competitive cheerleading, competitive dance, and scholastic bowl - though none of those are organized at the conference level.
State Trophies
Bethalto (Civic Memorial)
- Competitive Dance: 2nd (1A-2013)
- Softball: 4th (3A-2011)
Highland
- Softball: 1st (3A-2021)
- Baseball: 1st (3A-2008, 3A-2015)
- Bass Fishing: 1st (2012)
- Competitive Dance: 1st (1A-2014)
Mascoutah
- Football: 1st (3A-1979)
- Softball: 4th (AA-1991)
- Speech, Individual Events: 2nd (1965)
Troy (Triad)
- Baseball: 4th (3A-2012)
- Boys Soccer: 3rd (2A-2009)
- Competitive Cheerleading: 1st (M-2005), 3rd (M-2008)
- Competitive Dance: 2nd (1A-2015)
- Girls Soccer: 1st (2A-2011), 2nd (A-2003), 1st (2A-2017)
- Wrestling: 4th (2A-2009)
Waterloo (H.S.)
- Baseball: 3rd (3A-2011)
- Boys Soccer: 3rd (2A-2010), 1st (2A-2017)
- Football: 2nd (3A-1993)
All-Conference teams
- 2023-2024
| Player | School | Year | Team | Position | Misc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaxon Brunaugh | Jersey | Junior | 1st Team | Guard | |
| Jake Ottensmeier | Highland | Senior | 1st Team | Guard | |
| Garrin Stone | Highland | Junior | 1st Team | ||
| Jayden McCoo | Mascoutah | Junior | 1st Team | Guard | MVP |
| Miles Ntekop | Mascoutah | Senior | 1st Team | Center | |
| Drew Winslow | Triad | Junior | 1st Team | ||
| Braxdon Decker | Highland | 2nd Team | |||
| Corey Harris | Mascoutah | Junior | 2nd Team | Guard | |
| Ethan Stewart | Triad | Junior | 2nd Team | Guard | |
| Adam Ogden | Civic Memorial | Junior | 2nd Team | Guard | |
| August Frankford | Civic Memorial | Junior | 2nd Team | Forward | |
| Francis Vogel | Jersey | Senior | Honorable Mention | Guard | |
| Grant Fleming | Highland | Junior | Honorable Mention | Forward | |
| Trey Koisher | Highland | Senior | Honorable Mention | Guard | |
| Tyler Thompson | Triad | Sophomore | Honorable Mention | Guard | |
| Landon Zawodniak | Triad | Senior | Honorable Mention | ||
| Jacob Jung | Mascoutah | Senior | Honorable Mention | Forward |
| Player | School | Year | Team | Position | Misc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tessa Crawford | Jersey | Senior | 1st Team | Guard | Co-MVP |
| Larissa Taylor | Highland | Senior | 1st Team | Center | Co-MVP |
| Abby Schultz | Highland | Senior | 1st Team | ||
| Lauren Maas | Highland | Senior | 2nd Team | ||
| Jordan Bircher | Highland | Sophomore | 2nd Team | ||
| Meredith Gray | Jersey | Sophomore | 2nd Team | Center | |
| Ella Smith | Jersey | Junior | Honorable Mention | Guard | |
| Sophie Schroeder | Highland | Sophomore | Honorable Mention |
References
- ↑ Illinois High School Glory Days-The Great Conferences
- ↑ Iowa High School Sports-Mississippi Valley Conference
- ↑ Writer, Colin Feeney, Contributing Sports. "Highland Set To Join South Seven Conference In 2026-27, Mississippi Valley Conference Will Fold After The Next School Year". RiverBender.com. Retrieved August 23, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ Hayes, Pete (May 21, 2025). "Roxana ousted from Cahokia Conference". The Telegraph. Retrieved August 23, 2026.