Mississippi Athletic Conference
Encyclopedia
The Mississippi Athletic Conference (MAC Conference) is a high school athletic conference whose members are located in the Iowa
Quad-Cities, plus three other schools in eastern and southeastern Iowa.
Although the member schools field freshman — and in some cases, junior varsity — teams in many of the above-mentioned sports, conference championships are determined at sophomore and varsity
levels only. Also, not all schools field teams in every sport (e.g., North Scott does not have its own swimming teams).
Davenport North opened its doors in 1985 and was immediately admitted to the newly-renamed MAC. Pleasant Valley also became a part-time member in 1985, although it didn't compete in football, basketball, wrestling, baseball or softball until 1987 when the school became a full-fledged member.
; the other participating teams are Geneseo
and Riverdale
of Port Byron, Illinois
. No champion is crowned, although matchups are generally determined based on pre-season polls and past successes of the competing teams, with the two teams believed to be the "best" in the pre-season polls playing in the last game of the day.
A similar six-game Shootout competition for the girls takes place in January at Black Hawk College in Moline; the same six MAC schools compete against the metro Western Big Six schools, plus Geneseo and other schools from western Illinois.
In March, after the conclusion of the state basketball tournaments in both Iowa and Illinois, an all-star game consisting of the area's top senior players is played at Augustana College, with seniors from primarily the MAC matched against their counterparts from the Western Big 6. Both boys and girls games are played, with an MVP named for each game.
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
Quad-Cities, plus three other schools in eastern and southeastern Iowa.
Member schools
There are 10 full members of the Mississippi Athletic Conference. Nine of those schools are in Class 4A, Iowa's largest enrollment class. The smallest — Davenport Assumption — is in Class 3A (the second largest among Iowa's four enrollment classes); however, Assumption does play with the Class 4A schools in football and boys' golf.| Institution | Location | Founded | Mascot | Colors | Affiliation | 9-12 Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bettendorf Bettendorf High School Bettendorf High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Bettendorf, Iowa. Roughly 100 instructors teach more than 1500 students using a four-period block daily schedule with 85 minute blocks, BHS also offers classes as 40 minutes skinny's which meet all year for 40 minutes each... |
Bettendorf Bettendorf, Iowa Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Bettendorf is the fifteenth largest city in the U.S. state of Iowa and the fourth largest city in the "Quad Cities". As of the 2010 United States Census the population grew to 33,217. Bettendorf is one of the Quad Cities, along with... |
1951 | Bulldogs | Public | 1,478 | |
| Burlington Burlington High School (Iowa) Burlington High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Burlington, Iowa. The school is part of the Burlington Community School District, and it has an enrollment of approximately 1,400 students in grades 9 through 12.... |
Burlington Burlington, Iowa Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,663 in the 2010 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in the 2000 census. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area including West Burlington, Iowa and Middletown, Iowa and... |
1914 | Grayhounds | Public | 1,400 (approximately) | |
| Clinton Clinton High School (Iowa) Clinton High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Clinton, Iowa. The school is part of the Clinton Community School District, and it has an enrollment of approximately 1,250 students in grades 9 through 12.-Athletics:... |
Clinton Clinton, Iowa Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 26231as of 2010. Clinton, along with DeWitt, Iowa , was named in honor of the seventh governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton. Clinton is the principal city of the Clinton Micropolitan Statistical... |
???? | River Kings/River Queens | Public | 1,253 | |
| Davenport Assumption Assumption High School (Davenport, Iowa) Assumption High School is a Roman Catholic high school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport. Charles Elbert is the current principal of Assumption High.... |
Davenport Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk... |
1958 | Knights | Private/Catholic | 400 (approximately) | |
| Davenport Central Davenport Central High School Davenport Central High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Davenport, Iowa. Opened in 1907 as "Davenport High School," Central is one of three public high schools part of the Davenport Community School District. The school, whose western side is located along U.S... |
Davenport Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk... |
1904 | Blue Devils | Public | 1,458 | |
| Davenport North Davenport North High School Davenport North High School is a high school built in the northern area of Davenport, Iowa. North High School was established in 1985 in the building that was formerly Wood Junior High.... |
Davenport Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk... |
1985 | Wildcats | Public | 1,019 | |
| Davenport West | Davenport Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk... |
1960 | Falcons | Public | 1,982 | |
| Muscatine Muscatine High School Muscatine High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Muscatine, Iowa. The school is part of the Muscatine Community School District, and has an enrollment of approximately 1,700 students in grades nine through twelve.... |
Muscatine Muscatine, Iowa Muscatine is a city in Muscatine County, Iowa, United States. The population was 22,886 in the 2010 census, an increase from 22,697 in the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Muscatine County... |
1868 | Muskies | Public | 1,800 (approximately) | |
| North Scott North Scott High School North Scott High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Eldridge, Iowa. The school is part of the North Scott Community School District, and has an enrollment of approximately 1,000 students in grades nine through 12.... |
Eldridge Eldridge, Iowa Eldridge is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,651 at the 2010 census; Eldridge is a part of the Quad Cities metropolitan area and is considered a suburb.-History:... |
1958 | Lancers | Public | 1,056 | |
| Pleasant Valley Pleasant Valley High School (Iowa) Pleasant Valley High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Bettendorf, Iowa. The school is part of the Pleasant Valley Community School District, and it has an enrollment of approximately 1,177 students in grades 9 through 12.... |
Pleasant Valley Pleasant Valley, Iowa Pleasant Valley Township is a township in Scott County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2000 census, its population was 33,144.-Geography:Pleasant Valley Township covers an area of and is located on the shore of the Mississippi River between the cities of Davenport and Le Claire. It contains the... |
1962 | Spartans | Public | 1,132 | |
Sports
The conference offers the following sports:- Fall — FootballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, volleyballVolleyballVolleyball 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...
, boys' cross-country, girls' cross-country, boys' golfGolfGolf 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....
and girls' swimmingSwimming (sport)Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
. - Winter — Boys' basketballBasketballBasketball 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...
, girls' basketball, wrestlingScholastic wrestlingScholastic 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...
and boys' swimming. BowlingBowlingBowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
will be added as a sport starting in 2006-2007. - Spring — Boys' track and fieldTrack and fieldTrack 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...
, girls' track and field, boys' soccerFootball (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, girls' soccer, boys' tennisTennisTennis 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...
, girls' tennis and girls' golf. - Summer — BaseballBaseballBaseball 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...
and softballSoftballSoftball 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...
.
Although the member schools field freshman — and in some cases, junior varsity — teams in many of the above-mentioned sports, conference championships are determined at sophomore and varsity
Varsity team
In the United States and Canada, varsity sports teams are the principal athletic teams representing a college, university, high school or other secondary school. Such teams compete against the principal athletic teams at other colleges/universities, or in the case of secondary schools, against...
levels only. Also, not all schools field teams in every sport (e.g., North Scott does not have its own swimming teams).
History
The MAC — as it is known to locals — was formed in 1978. Charter members Bettendorf, Clinton and Muscatine had been members of the Mississippi Valley Conference, while Davenport schools Assumption, Central and West were part of the Quad-City Metro Conference. North Scott, which was participating in its first "big school" conference, had been in the Big Bend Conference (along with several smaller schools), and Burlington was not affiliated with any conference. At the time, the conference was known as the "Mississippi Eight."Davenport North opened its doors in 1985 and was immediately admitted to the newly-renamed MAC. Pleasant Valley also became a part-time member in 1985, although it didn't compete in football, basketball, wrestling, baseball or softball until 1987 when the school became a full-fledged member.
| School | Years | Consolidations | Conference Came From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bettendorf Bettendorf High School Bettendorf High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Bettendorf, Iowa. Roughly 100 instructors teach more than 1500 students using a four-period block daily schedule with 85 minute blocks, BHS also offers classes as 40 minutes skinny's which meet all year for 40 minutes each... |
1978–Present | n/a | Mississippi Valley Conference |
| Burlington Burlington High School (Iowa) Burlington High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Burlington, Iowa. The school is part of the Burlington Community School District, and it has an enrollment of approximately 1,400 students in grades 9 through 12.... |
1978–Present | n/a | independent |
| Clinton Clinton High School (Iowa) Clinton High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Clinton, Iowa. The school is part of the Clinton Community School District, and it has an enrollment of approximately 1,250 students in grades 9 through 12.-Athletics:... |
1978–Present | Lyons (1954) | Mississippi Valley Conference |
| Davenport Assumption Assumption High School (Davenport, Iowa) Assumption High School is a Roman Catholic high school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport. Charles Elbert is the current principal of Assumption High.... |
1978–Present | (previously St. Ambrose Academy through 1958) | Quad-City Metro |
| Davenport Central Davenport Central High School Davenport Central High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Davenport, Iowa. Opened in 1907 as "Davenport High School," Central is one of three public high schools part of the Davenport Community School District. The school, whose western side is located along U.S... |
1978–Present | n/a | Quad-City Metro |
| Davenport North Davenport North High School Davenport North High School is a high school built in the northern area of Davenport, Iowa. North High School was established in 1985 in the building that was formerly Wood Junior High.... |
1985–Present | n/a | n/a |
| Davenport West | 1978–Present | n/a | Quad-City Metro |
| Muscatine Muscatine High School Muscatine High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Muscatine, Iowa. The school is part of the Muscatine Community School District, and has an enrollment of approximately 1,700 students in grades nine through twelve.... |
1978–Present | Montpelier (1970s) | Mississippi Valley Conference |
| North Scott North Scott High School North Scott High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Eldridge, Iowa. The school is part of the North Scott Community School District, and has an enrollment of approximately 1,000 students in grades nine through 12.... |
1978–Present | (no existing high school prior to 1958) | Big Bend Conference |
| Pleasant Valley Pleasant Valley High School (Iowa) Pleasant Valley High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Bettendorf, Iowa. The school is part of the Pleasant Valley Community School District, and it has an enrollment of approximately 1,177 students in grades 9 through 12.... |
1987–Present (as full-time member) | Le Claire (1966) | independent |
Basketball rivalries with Western Big 6
In December, seven MAC teams — Davenport North, Davenport West, Davenport Central, Davenport Assumption, North Scott, Bettendorf and Pleasant Valley — compete in the annual Genesis PSP Shootout, a competition matching the Iowa schools against six teams from the Illinois Quad-Cities. The six Illinois teams are Moline, United Township (of East Moline), Rock Island, Rock Island Alleman, and Galesburg, all representing the Western Big 6 ConferenceWestern Big 6 Conference
The Western Big 6 Conference is a high school conference in western central Illinois. The conference participates in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association...
; the other participating teams are Geneseo
Geneseo High School
Geneseo High School is located in Geneseo, Illinois, USA. The school is part of the Geneseo Community Unit School District 228, which covers Geneseo, Atkinson, and parts of Colona. The school is well known for its strong football program, the Geneseo Maple Leafs, also known as the Green Machine...
and Riverdale
Riverdale High School (Port Byron, Illinois)
Riverdale High School, or RHS, is a public four-year high school located at 9622 256th Street North in Port Byron, Illinois, a village in Rock Island County, Illinois, in the Midwestern United States. RHS is part of Riverdale Community Unit School District 100, which also includes Riverdale Middle...
of Port Byron, Illinois
Port Byron, Illinois
Port Byron is a village in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,535 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Port Byron is located at ....
. No champion is crowned, although matchups are generally determined based on pre-season polls and past successes of the competing teams, with the two teams believed to be the "best" in the pre-season polls playing in the last game of the day.
A similar six-game Shootout competition for the girls takes place in January at Black Hawk College in Moline; the same six MAC schools compete against the metro Western Big Six schools, plus Geneseo and other schools from western Illinois.
In March, after the conclusion of the state basketball tournaments in both Iowa and Illinois, an all-star game consisting of the area's top senior players is played at Augustana College, with seniors from primarily the MAC matched against their counterparts from the Western Big 6. Both boys and girls games are played, with an MVP named for each game.
External links
- Mississippi Athletic Conference — official site.