East Suburban Catholic Conference
Encyclopedia
The East Suburban Catholic Conference (ESCC) is an athletic conference consisting of 13 Catholic high schools in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois
(though despite its name, two schools are located in the city itself). The conference became independent in 1974.
While originally only supporting competition in men's sports, the conference began supporting women's athletics in 1991. Today, there are eleven women's teams and ten men's teams.
Despite not being as old as other conferences, and not having any women's sports until relatively recent history, the teams in the conference have finished in the top four of Illinois High School Association
(IHSA) sponsored state tournaments 76 times in nine different sports.
Notre Dame and St. Patrick are all male institutions, and thus do not field women's teams. Three members (Bishop McNamara, Fenwick, and Providence) are coed schools whose men's teams compete in the Chicago Catholic League
(CCL). Since the CCL does not sponsor competition for women, these schools are represented in the ESCC by their women's teams. The rest of the schools are coed, and are represented in the ESCC by both their men's and women's teams.
Somewhat unusual by the standards of the metropolitan Chicago area, the conference is spread over a five county area. While most of the members are in Cook County
, Bishop McNamra is in Kankakee County to Chicago's far south. Joliet Catholic and Providence are in Will County to Chicago's southwest. Benet Academy is in DuPage County
which is to the west of Chicago. Carmel is far to the north in Lake County
. The driving distance from the two furthest schools (Carmel and Bishop McNamara) is approximately 100 miles (160.9 km).
in 1960. Among the six founding members, only Joliet Catholic, Notre Dame, and Benet Academy (then known as St. Procopius) are currently ESCC members. Carmel joined in 1966.
In 1970, Joliet Catholic temporarily left, with four new schools joining: Marist, St. Joseph, St. Patrick, and St. Viator. With the conference now at 14, the conference divided into two divisions. The East Division included the four new schools, Carmel, Notre Dame, and Holy Cross High School
. In 1971 St. Francis de Sales High School
joined the East Division.
In 1974, the two divisions split forming the West Suburban Catholic Conference and the ESCC (in 1989, the West Suburban Catholic Conference would drop the "West" and return to using the original conference name). After one year, St. Joseph left to pursue one year as an independent school, and came back to replace St. Francis de Sales which left after the 1975-76 season. Joliet Catholic joined in 1982. The conference elected to expand in 1990 by adding Benet Academy and Marian Catholic.
As a result of the number of coed schools in the conference, the conference began sponsoring competition for women in 1991.
In 1996, for football only, the ESCC and Chicago Catholic League merged to form the Chicago Metro League. This relationship ended after the 2002 football season, with Holy Cross High School joining the Chicago Catholic League permanently for all sports, and Nazareth Academy joining the ESCC.
In 2010, St. Joseph High School withdrew from the conference.
, cross country
, golf
, soccer, tennis
, track and field
, and volleyball
. Men's competition is sponsored in baseball
, football
, and wrestling
, while competition for women is sponsored in softball
. With each sport, the conference recognizes "All-Conference" and "Scholar Athlete" performances. All of these sports have state tournaments sponsored by the Illinois High School Association
(IHSA).
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
(though despite its name, two schools are located in the city itself). The conference became independent in 1974.
While originally only supporting competition in men's sports, the conference began supporting women's athletics in 1991. Today, there are eleven women's teams and ten men's teams.
Despite not being as old as other conferences, and not having any women's sports until relatively recent history, the teams in the conference have finished in the top four of Illinois High School Association
Illinois High School Association
The Illinois High School Association is one of 521 state high school associations in the United States, designed to regulate competition in most interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level. It is a charter member of the National Federation of State High...
(IHSA) sponsored state tournaments 76 times in nine different sports.
Current Membership
| School | Town | Team Name | Colors | IHSA Classes (2/3/4) | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benet Academy Benet Academy Benet Academy is a co-educational, college-preparatory, Benedictine high school in Lisle, Illinois, United States, overseen by the Diocese of Joliet. Founded in 1887, the school was initially established in Chicago as the all-boys St. Procopius College and Academy by Benedictine monks, who also... |
Lisle Lisle, Illinois Lisle is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,930 at the 2011 census, and estimated to be 23,135 as of 2008. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor... |
Redwings Redwing The Redwing is a bird in the thrush family Turdidae, native to Europe and Asia, slightly smaller than the related Song Thrush.-Taxonomy:... |
AA/3A/4A | ||
| Bishop McNamara High School Bishop McNamara High School (Kankakee, Illinois) Bishop McNamara High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Kankakee, Illinois. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Illinois.-History:... |
Kankakee Kankakee, Illinois Kankakee is a city in Kankakee County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 25,561, and 26,840 as of a 2009 estimate. It is the county seat of Kankakee County... |
Fightin' Irish Irish people The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha... |
A/1A/2A | ||
| Carmel High School Carmel High School (Mundelein, Illinois) Carmel Catholic High School is a co-educational, college preparatory, Catholic high school run jointly by the priests and brothers of the Order of Carmelites and the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Located in Mundelein, Illinois, Carmel serves all of Lake County, as well as some of... |
Mundelein Mundelein, Illinois Mundelein is a village in Lake County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 31,064.-History:The community now known as Mundelein has been inhabited since at least 1650, when the Potowatami Indians were known to have been trading with French fur traders.... |
Corsair Corsair Corsairs were privateers, authorized to conduct raids on shipping of a nation at war with France, on behalf of the French Crown. Seized vessels and cargo were sold at auction, with the corsair captain entitled to a portion of the proceeds... s |
AA/3A/4A | ||
| Fenwick High School Fenwick High School Fenwick High School is a private university-preparatory school located in Oak Park, Illinois, founded in 1929 as part of the Province of St. Albert the Great . It is the only school operated and staffed by the Catholic Order of Dominican friars in the United States. It is named in honor of... |
Oak Park Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,... |
Friar Friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:... s |
AA/3A/4A | ||
| Joliet Catholic Academy Joliet Catholic Academy Joliet Catholic Academy is a coed Catholic High School located in Joliet, Illinois. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet. One of the oldest Catholic high schools in the Chicago area, Joliet Catholic is perhaps best known for its prowess in football... |
Joliet Joliet, Illinois Joliet is a city in Will and Kendall Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. As of the 2010 census, the city was the fourth-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 147,433. It continues to be Illinois' fastest growing... |
Hilltoppers/Angel Angel Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an... s1 |
AA/2A/3A | ||
| Marian Catholic High School Marian Catholic High School Marian Catholic High School is a co-educational, college preparatory secondary school in Chicago Heights, Illinois. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago.-History:... |
Chicago Heights Chicago Heights, Illinois Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 31,373 at the 2005 census. Chicago Heights is nicknamed 'Crossroads of the Nation'.-History:... |
Spartans Spartan Army The Spartan army was the military force of Sparta, one of the leading city-states of ancient Greece. The army stood at the centre of the Spartan state, whose citizens' primary obligation was to be good soldiers. Subject to military drill from infancy, the Spartans were one of the most feared... |
AA/3A/4A | ||
| Marist High School | Chicago | RedHawks Hawk The term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,... |
AA/3A/4A | ||
| Nazareth Academy Nazareth Academy (La Grange Park, Illinois) Nazareth Academy is a Roman Catholic college-preparatory high school located in LaGrange Park, Illinois, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. It was founded in 1900 by the Sisters of St. Joseph.-History:... |
La Grange Park La Grange Park, Illinois La Grange Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village, which is a suburb of Chicago, population was 13,295.-Geography:La Grange Park is located at .... |
Roadrunner Roadrunner Roadrunners are birds of the genus Geococcyx.Roadrunner or Road Runner may also refer to:* Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, an animated character based on the bird** The Road Runner Show, compiled cartoons including the character... s |
AA/2A/3A | ||
| Notre Dame College Prep | Niles Niles, Illinois Niles is a village in Maine and Niles Townships, Cook County, Illinois, United States. The 2010 population from the U.S. Census Bureau is 29,803.The current mayor of Niles is Robert M. Callero.-History:Niles was first settled in 1827.... |
Dons Don (honorific) Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:... |
AA/3A/4A | ||
| Providence Catholic High School Providence Catholic High School Providence Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic secondary school located in New Lenox, Illinois. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet, Providence Catholic is a private school run by the Order of Saint Augustine. The president of Providence is Father Richard McGrath, OSA, with Mr... |
New Lenox New Lenox, Illinois New Lenox is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. The village population is estimated to be 24,938 as of 2006. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning forecasts New Lenox will have a population of 90,652 in 2030.-Geography:... |
Celtics | AA/3A/4A | ||
| St. Patrick High School St. Patrick High School (Chicago) St. Patrick High School is an all male college preparatory Catholic high school located in the Portage Park neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois. Opened in 1861, it is among the oldest continuously open high schools in the Chicago area... |
Chicago | Shamrock Shamrock The shamrock is a three-leafed old white clover. It is known as a symbol of Ireland. The name shamrock is derived from Irish , which is the diminutive version of the Irish word for clover .... s |
AA/3A/4A | ||
| St. Viator High School St. Viator High School St. Viator High School is a Roman Catholic co-educational secondary school in Arlington Heights, Illinois. It serves as a college preparatory school with approximately eleven-hundred students from the mid- and outer-northwest suburbs of Chicago... |
Arlington Heights Arlington Heights, Illinois Arlington Heights is a village in Cook and Lake counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about 25 miles northwest of the city's downtown. The population was 75,101 at the 2010 census.... |
Lion Lion The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger... s |
AA/2A/3A |
Notre Dame and St. Patrick are all male institutions, and thus do not field women's teams. Three members (Bishop McNamara, Fenwick, and Providence) are coed schools whose men's teams compete in the Chicago Catholic League
Chicago Catholic League
The Chicago Catholic League is a high school athletic conference based in Chicago, Illinois, USA. All of the schools are currently part of the Illinois High School Association, the governing body for Illinois scholastic sports...
(CCL). Since the CCL does not sponsor competition for women, these schools are represented in the ESCC by their women's teams. The rest of the schools are coed, and are represented in the ESCC by both their men's and women's teams.
Somewhat unusual by the standards of the metropolitan Chicago area, the conference is spread over a five county area. While most of the members are in Cook County
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
, Bishop McNamra is in Kankakee County to Chicago's far south. Joliet Catholic and Providence are in Will County to Chicago's southwest. Benet Academy is in DuPage County
DuPage County, Illinois
As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 916,924, White Americans made up 77.9% of Dupage County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 70.5% of the population. Black Americans made up 4.6% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.3% of Dupage County's population...
which is to the west of Chicago. Carmel is far to the north in Lake County
Lake County, Illinois
Lake County is a county in the northeastern corner of the state of Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 703,462, which is an increase of 9.2% from 644,356 in 2000. Its county seat is Waukegan. The county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area...
. The driving distance from the two furthest schools (Carmel and Bishop McNamara) is approximately 100 miles (160.9 km).
History
The conference can trace its roots back to the founding of the Suburban Catholic ConferenceSuburban Catholic Conference
The Suburban Christian Conference is a system of Christian schools in Chicago's suburbs organized to compete against each other athletically.-History:...
in 1960. Among the six founding members, only Joliet Catholic, Notre Dame, and Benet Academy (then known as St. Procopius) are currently ESCC members. Carmel joined in 1966.
In 1970, Joliet Catholic temporarily left, with four new schools joining: Marist, St. Joseph, St. Patrick, and St. Viator. With the conference now at 14, the conference divided into two divisions. The East Division included the four new schools, Carmel, Notre Dame, and Holy Cross High School
Holy Cross High School (River Grove)
Holy Cross High School was an all-boys, Roman Catholic high school in River Grove, Illinois, USA that operated from August 1961 until June 2004. In December, 2003, the school announced that they no longer had enough funding or interest in enrollment to continue. Only 79 students took the entrance...
. In 1971 St. Francis de Sales High School
St. Francis de Sales High School (Chicago, Illinois)
St. Francis de Sales High School is a private, Roman Catholic High School in Chicago, Illinois. It is located on the southeast side of the city, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago.-History:The school is named for St...
joined the East Division.
In 1974, the two divisions split forming the West Suburban Catholic Conference and the ESCC (in 1989, the West Suburban Catholic Conference would drop the "West" and return to using the original conference name). After one year, St. Joseph left to pursue one year as an independent school, and came back to replace St. Francis de Sales which left after the 1975-76 season. Joliet Catholic joined in 1982. The conference elected to expand in 1990 by adding Benet Academy and Marian Catholic.
As a result of the number of coed schools in the conference, the conference began sponsoring competition for women in 1991.
In 1996, for football only, the ESCC and Chicago Catholic League merged to form the Chicago Metro League. This relationship ended after the 2002 football season, with Holy Cross High School joining the Chicago Catholic League permanently for all sports, and Nazareth Academy joining the ESCC.
In 2010, St. Joseph High School withdrew from the conference.
Sports sponsored
The conference sponsors competition for men and women in basketballBasketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, soccer, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
, and volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
. Men's competition is sponsored in baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
, and wrestling
Scholastic wrestling
Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently...
, while competition for women is sponsored in softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
. With each sport, the conference recognizes "All-Conference" and "Scholar Athlete" performances. All of these sports have state tournaments sponsored by the Illinois High School Association
Illinois High School Association
The Illinois High School Association is one of 521 state high school associations in the United States, designed to regulate competition in most interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level. It is a charter member of the National Federation of State High...
(IHSA).
Top Finishes
The following teams, while members of the ESCC, finished in the top four of their respective state tournaments sponsored by the IHSA. In total, the conference has finished fourth 14 times, 3rd place 21 times, 2nd place 15 times, and State Champion in their respective class 26 times. This information is referenced in the individual record pages for each school.- Baseball: Carmel (3rd 2003–04) • Joliet Catholic (3rd 2007–08; 2nd 1989–90, 99–2000, 03–04; State Champions 1993–94) • Marist (3rd 2000–01; State Champions 1977–78) • Notre Dame (State Champions 2003–04) • St. Patrick (2nd 2005–06)
- Basketball (boys): St. Joseph (4th 1983–84; 3rd 86–87; 2nd 77–78; State Champions 98–99)
- Basketball (girls): Bishop McNamara (4th 07–08) • Fenwick (3rd 1999–2000, 03–04; 2nd 02–03; State Champions 00–01, 06–07) • Marian Catholic (4th 2003–04; 3rd 06–07; 2nd 01–02) • Marist (4th 07–08)
- Cross Country (boys): Benet (3rd 1991–92) • Marist (4th 1982–83; 3rd 96–97 1st 10)
- Cross Country (girls): Benet (4th 1996–97; 3rd 2006–07)
- Football: Carmel (State Champions 2003–04) • Joliet Catholic (2nd 1992–93, 96–97; State Champions 1987–88, 90–91, 99–2000, 00–01, 01–02, 03–04, 04–05, 07–08) • Marian Catholic (State Champions 1993–94) • Marist (2nd 1986–87, 2009–10) • Notre Dame (2nd 1989–90)
- Golf (boys): Carmel (3rd 1975–76) • St. Viator (3rd 1983–84; 2nd 2006–07; State Champions 2003–04 07–08, 08–09)
- Golf (girls): Marian Catholic (4th 2006–07; 3rd 07–08; 2nd 05–06)
- Soccer (boys): Benet (State Champions 2000–01, 01–02) • St. Joseph (4th 1984–85, 2004–05; 3rd 1989–90, 99–2000; 2nd 1997–98) • St. Viator (4th 2001–02; 3rd 1996–97, 97–98, 2004–05; 2nd 2000–01; State Champions 2003–04)
- Soccer (girls): Fenwick (4th 2003–04) • St. Viator (State Champions 2001–02, 02–03, 04–05)
- Softball: Fenwick (4th 1997–98)
- Volleyball (boys): Marist (4th 1995–96; State Champions 2001–02)
- Volleyball (girls): Joliet Catholic (4th 1998–99, 2005–06; 3rd 2006–07; State Champions 2003–04 08-09)
- Wrestling: Marist (3rd 1984–85, 88–89, 90–91; 2nd 96–97; State Champions 82–83, 86–87)
Hall of Fame
Since 2006, the conference has recognized administrators, coaches, and former athletes for their excellence. Among the notable inductees:- Mike AlstottMike AlstottMichael Joseph Alstott , nicknamed "A-Train", is a former American football fullback in the National Football League. He spent his entire 12-year career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played college football at Purdue...
(Joliet Catholic) •• Class of 2006 •• fullback for the NFL Tampa Bay BuccaneersTampa Bay BuccaneersThe Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West... - Jim LesJim Les-External links:**...
(Notre Dame) •• Class of 2006 •• NBA guard, Former head men's basketball coach at Bradley UniversityBradley UniversityBradley University, founded in 1897, is a private, co-educational university located in Peoria, Illinois. It is a small institution with an enrollment of approximately 6,100 undergraduate and postgraduate students and a full-time faculty of approximately 350.... - Scott StahoviakScott StahoviakScott Edmund Stahoviak is a former Minnesota Twins first baseman. He was born on March 6, 1970, in Waukegan, Illinois. He attended Creighton University, and was an integral part of Creighton's NCAA College World Series appearance in 1991...
(Carmel) •• Class of 2007 •• Major League BaseballMajor League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
first baseman and first round draft pick (1991) for the Minnesota TwinsMinnesota TwinsThe Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the... - Isiah ThomasIsiah ThomasIsiah Lord Thomas III , nicknamed "Zeke",is the men's basketball coach for the FIU Golden Panthers, and a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association from 1981 until 1994. He led the "Bad Boys" to the NBA...
(St. Joseph) •• Class of 2006 •• NBA player, coach, executive - Jeff ZgoninaJeff ZgoninaJeffrey Marc "Jeff" Zgonina is an American football defensive tackle for the Houston Texans in the National Football League...
(Carmel) •• Class of 2006 •• NFL defensive tackle