Missouri River Conference

The Missouri River Activities Conference (also called MRAC) is a high school athletic conference whose members are located mostly in the metropolitan areas of western Iowa.

The metro-based conference includes 8 teams, five of which compete at the Iowa High School Athletic Association's highest level, 4A. The exceptions, Sioux City Heelan, Sergeant Bluff-Luton, and LeMars Community, compete in 3A, the next largest class.

Member schools

Institution Location Colors Affiliation 2018-2019 9-11 Enrollment[1] Mascot
Abraham Lincoln Council Bluffs           Public 989 Lynx
Bishop Heelan Catholic Sioux City           Private 367 Crusaders
East Sioux City           Public 1,016 Black Raiders
LeMars (joining in 2019) LeMars           Public 521 Bulldogs
North Sioux City           Public 1,122 Stars
Sergeant Bluff-Luton Sergeant Bluff           Public 382 Warriors
Thomas Jefferson Council Bluffs           Public 914 Yellow Jackets
West Sioux City           Public 926 Wolverines

History

For most of their athletics histories, the schools of the Missouri River Activities Conference were in other conferences. Beginning in the early 1970s, Sioux City schools began to compete with schools in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as a members of the boys-only Sioux Interstate Conference. In the late 1970s, the Sioux Delta Conference was formed between the Sioux City schools, LeMars Community, and Hull Western Christian to facilitate girls' athletic competition. A separate intrastate conference was necessary because the South Dakota High School Athletic Association conducted its girls' basketball tournament in the fall and volleyball tournament in the winter, opposite of many bordering states.

From the 1920s to the 1950s C.B. Abraham Lincoln and Sioux City East competed with three Omaha high schools (Central, South and Tech) and Lincoln High in the Missouri Valley Conference. Sioux City Central, which closed in 1975, was also a member.

In spring 1997, the South Dakota High School Activities Association effectively closed its borders to interstate athletic competition, forcing the dissolution of the Sioux Interstate Conference. The Sioux Delta Conference also dissolved that spring as both LeMars Community and Hull Western Christian had by this time found homes in the Lakes Conference, leaving the four Sioux City schools out in the cold.

The Council Bluffs schools, meanwhile, were once part of the Omaha metro league which included numerous schools in Nebraska. After bowing out of the Omaha metro league, the two schools became charter members of the River Cities Conference, a league that included Nebraska schools such as Beatrice, Ralston, South Sioux City, Omaha Gross, Omaha Roncalli, and Omaha Skutt.

With few options due to their size as 4A football schools, the Sioux City schools and Heelan sought out and were denied membership in both the Central Iowa Metro League and the River Cities Conference. Undaunted, the schools petitioned the Iowa Department of Education for placement in an athletic conference. As a result of those proceedings, the Missouri River Conference was formed to meet the needs of the Sioux City schools, pulling the Council Bluffs schools out of the River Cities Conference to complete the six-school lineup.

In 2010, Sergeant Bluff-Luton, a founding member of the War Eagle Conference in 1979, began competing as the league's seventh school.[2]

LeMars Community announced in February of 2018 that it would be joining the conference as the eighth member for the 2019-2020 academic year, leaving the Lakes Conference.[3] Lewis Central and Glenwood were also invited, but declined to continue competing in the Hawkeye Ten Conference.[4]

Sports

The conference offers the following sports:

References

  1. ↑ "Iowa High School Athletic Association BEDS Document" (PDF). Retrieved October 6, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Sergeant Bluff Luton To Join MRAC In 2010". KQEN News radio 1240. 31 March 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "LeMars set to join Missouri River Activities Conference". KMAland. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  4. ↑ "Glenwood, Lewis Central to decline invite from MRC". KMAland. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
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