| Another Confusing Cody Column |
County Meets Rare, But
Strong
Strong
Kane, McHenry and Ogle counties still have annual track and
field meets ...
field meets ...
In this day of age, it's hard to imagine that there was a time when the most looked-
upon competition came from a few miles away.
For almost every small school in the area and almost every large school in the
suburbs, this is still true to this day. However, there was a time when a school's
enrollment wasn't much of a factor in competition as it is today. We see large
schools and small schools separated in almost all aspects of high school athletic
competition. With another round of class expansion in 2007, another set of
barriers have settled in.
State classification systems, while helping athletes and teams reach unseen
peaks, did cause the demise of geographical bragging rights.
Athletic conferences in the very beginning consisted of schools not too far from
each other, regardless of size. The Big 7, formed in 1918, was the first athletic
conference to take in schools from a great range: Aurora East, Aurora West,
DeKalb, Elgin, Freeport, Joliet and Rockford. The Northwest Conference followed
suit as the Tri-City (now Quad-) schools competed against Canton, Galesburg and
Kewanee. The NCIC, formed in 1929, had a range from Sterling to Belvidere.
Smaller schools did not have such a large area. Conference foes were a stone's
throw away. In some cases, there were multiple conferences represented in a
single county.
County meets seemed large for the 1920s, but they feel somewhat restricted today.
Kane County
In 1918, several Kane County high schools met for a track and field meet,
including both of the aforementioned Aurora schools and Elgin. Over time this
meet would be called the Kane County Track and Field Meet.
On Friday, Streamwood will host the 93rd annual Meet. Streamwood, the village,
did not exist until 1957. In fact, Streamwood High School is not in Kane County –
it's in Cook County. The cohesiveness of the western suburban schools, in a way,
allowed the meet location to be where it is.
Ninety-three years ago, Kane County was still considered a rural county. Large
cities anchored the landscape, while little ones dotted it. Gravel roads separated
the towns, in contrast to the four-lane divided concrete highways connecting most
today.
For most of it's history, the Kane County Meet pitted the larger schools against
one another while the little ones tried their best. There were little high schools in
Kane County as recently as 60 years ago: such as Big Rock, Burlington, Dundee,
Elburn, Kaneville, Lily Lake, and Plato Center.
Consolidations of the 1950s ended the runs of these schools. Big Rock joined with
Hinckley in DeKalb County; Burlington, Lily Lake and Plato Center all joined to form
Burlington Central; Elburn and Kaneville joined to become Kaneland; and Dundee
finally joined with Carpentersville Crown in 1982 to become Dundee-Crown. Only
after these consolidations did the westward movement from Chicago start to seep
into Kane County.
Normally when large schools begin to run away with the titles, the particular meets
start to run their course. Not Kane County. Schools like Central, Hampshire and
Kaneland are catching up to the Auroras and Elgins when it comes to competition
– all while faring well in their own conferences, based to their west. Perhaps the
“measuring stick” adage is still true, but after a while it will be to a point where the
Kane County Meet will still be a good one 93 years from now.
McHenry County
In the past 30 years, McHenry County has also seen its land become dotted with
new homes and families. This county also boasts a county-wide track and field
meet, with participating schools from each of the three track and field classes: from
1A Harvard (687) to 3A McHenry (2,572).
The largest schools mostly take home the highest finishes in the McHenry County
Meet. But for the smaller schools like Marengo and Richmond-Burton, it makes for
tough preparation for the Conference meet and the Sectional meet.
If growth projections are still at the current pace, perhaps the smaller McHenry
County schools will catch up to the larger ones for a perfect balance.
Ogle County
Talk of Rochelle – nestled in the far-southeast corner of Ogle County – feeling the
suburban growth movement was evident about five years ago. Things have since
cooled for the county's largest city, and growth hasn't been as substantial.
With a new school built to accommodate a couple-thousand students, and
sparkling athletic facilities to boot, Rochelle doesn't seem like the setting for a
county meet which also includes the likes of Byron, Forreston, Oregon, Polo and
Stillman Valley.
But on Tuesday, the 39th running of the Ogle County Meet took place in Rochelle.
Both Hub programs – boys and girls – had controlled the county bragging rights in
recent years. The girls won it four years in a row, while the boys won it three years
in a row.
Rochelle Township High is nearly two times as large as Byron High, but on the
girls' side of Tuesday's meet, the Tigresses ended the Lady Hubs' streak of four
straight titles. Byron won all but two of the girls' track events. On the boys' side, the
championship was decided by the 4x400 relay, with both Byron and Polo/Forreston
attempting to knock off the Hubs. But after Rochelle won the final race, the Hubs
came away with the title just one point ahead of Polo/Forreston.
Polo/Forreston, a first-year cooperative under the Polo Marco name, had never
come close to a Meet title until this year.
Anything Can Happen in Bragging Rights
The state of the area's three county-oriented track and field meets are very
strong. They survived through the times and are now flourishing. But there were
some counties that had a county-wide meet, ultimately to cease for one reason or
another.
But there's some wonder, though.
In LaSalle County, how would Seneca's teams compare to LaSalle-Peru, Ottawa or
Streator? How about Winnebago going up against the NIC-10 schools in
Winnebago County? Does Annawan/Wethersfield stand a chance against
Geneseo, the largest school in Henry County?
There's only one way to find out.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and writes columns
about Illinois high school sports. He can be reached at Northernillinoissportsbeat
(at) yahoo (dot) com. --- Talk about what's written on our Message Boards!
upon competition came from a few miles away.
For almost every small school in the area and almost every large school in the
suburbs, this is still true to this day. However, there was a time when a school's
enrollment wasn't much of a factor in competition as it is today. We see large
schools and small schools separated in almost all aspects of high school athletic
competition. With another round of class expansion in 2007, another set of
barriers have settled in.
State classification systems, while helping athletes and teams reach unseen
peaks, did cause the demise of geographical bragging rights.
Athletic conferences in the very beginning consisted of schools not too far from
each other, regardless of size. The Big 7, formed in 1918, was the first athletic
conference to take in schools from a great range: Aurora East, Aurora West,
DeKalb, Elgin, Freeport, Joliet and Rockford. The Northwest Conference followed
suit as the Tri-City (now Quad-) schools competed against Canton, Galesburg and
Kewanee. The NCIC, formed in 1929, had a range from Sterling to Belvidere.
Smaller schools did not have such a large area. Conference foes were a stone's
throw away. In some cases, there were multiple conferences represented in a
single county.
County meets seemed large for the 1920s, but they feel somewhat restricted today.
Kane County
In 1918, several Kane County high schools met for a track and field meet,
including both of the aforementioned Aurora schools and Elgin. Over time this
meet would be called the Kane County Track and Field Meet.
On Friday, Streamwood will host the 93rd annual Meet. Streamwood, the village,
did not exist until 1957. In fact, Streamwood High School is not in Kane County –
it's in Cook County. The cohesiveness of the western suburban schools, in a way,
allowed the meet location to be where it is.
Ninety-three years ago, Kane County was still considered a rural county. Large
cities anchored the landscape, while little ones dotted it. Gravel roads separated
the towns, in contrast to the four-lane divided concrete highways connecting most
today.
For most of it's history, the Kane County Meet pitted the larger schools against
one another while the little ones tried their best. There were little high schools in
Kane County as recently as 60 years ago: such as Big Rock, Burlington, Dundee,
Elburn, Kaneville, Lily Lake, and Plato Center.
Consolidations of the 1950s ended the runs of these schools. Big Rock joined with
Hinckley in DeKalb County; Burlington, Lily Lake and Plato Center all joined to form
Burlington Central; Elburn and Kaneville joined to become Kaneland; and Dundee
finally joined with Carpentersville Crown in 1982 to become Dundee-Crown. Only
after these consolidations did the westward movement from Chicago start to seep
into Kane County.
Normally when large schools begin to run away with the titles, the particular meets
start to run their course. Not Kane County. Schools like Central, Hampshire and
Kaneland are catching up to the Auroras and Elgins when it comes to competition
– all while faring well in their own conferences, based to their west. Perhaps the
“measuring stick” adage is still true, but after a while it will be to a point where the
Kane County Meet will still be a good one 93 years from now.
McHenry County
In the past 30 years, McHenry County has also seen its land become dotted with
new homes and families. This county also boasts a county-wide track and field
meet, with participating schools from each of the three track and field classes: from
1A Harvard (687) to 3A McHenry (2,572).
The largest schools mostly take home the highest finishes in the McHenry County
Meet. But for the smaller schools like Marengo and Richmond-Burton, it makes for
tough preparation for the Conference meet and the Sectional meet.
If growth projections are still at the current pace, perhaps the smaller McHenry
County schools will catch up to the larger ones for a perfect balance.
Ogle County
Talk of Rochelle – nestled in the far-southeast corner of Ogle County – feeling the
suburban growth movement was evident about five years ago. Things have since
cooled for the county's largest city, and growth hasn't been as substantial.
With a new school built to accommodate a couple-thousand students, and
sparkling athletic facilities to boot, Rochelle doesn't seem like the setting for a
county meet which also includes the likes of Byron, Forreston, Oregon, Polo and
Stillman Valley.
But on Tuesday, the 39th running of the Ogle County Meet took place in Rochelle.
Both Hub programs – boys and girls – had controlled the county bragging rights in
recent years. The girls won it four years in a row, while the boys won it three years
in a row.
Rochelle Township High is nearly two times as large as Byron High, but on the
girls' side of Tuesday's meet, the Tigresses ended the Lady Hubs' streak of four
straight titles. Byron won all but two of the girls' track events. On the boys' side, the
championship was decided by the 4x400 relay, with both Byron and Polo/Forreston
attempting to knock off the Hubs. But after Rochelle won the final race, the Hubs
came away with the title just one point ahead of Polo/Forreston.
Polo/Forreston, a first-year cooperative under the Polo Marco name, had never
come close to a Meet title until this year.
Anything Can Happen in Bragging Rights
The state of the area's three county-oriented track and field meets are very
strong. They survived through the times and are now flourishing. But there were
some counties that had a county-wide meet, ultimately to cease for one reason or
another.
But there's some wonder, though.
In LaSalle County, how would Seneca's teams compare to LaSalle-Peru, Ottawa or
Streator? How about Winnebago going up against the NIC-10 schools in
Winnebago County? Does Annawan/Wethersfield stand a chance against
Geneseo, the largest school in Henry County?
There's only one way to find out.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and writes columns
about Illinois high school sports. He can be reached at Northernillinoissportsbeat
(at) yahoo (dot) com. --- Talk about what's written on our Message Boards!
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