Draft:Madison Suburban Conference

The Madison Suburban Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, founded in 1926 and ending competition in 1969. Its members were located in south central Wisconsin, predominantly around the Madison area.

History

Founding and Early Years (1926-1952)

The Madison Suburban Conference formed in 1926 by ten schools in and around Dane County that were smaller in enrollment than those in the city of Madison: Cambridge, Deerfield, DeForest, Lodi, Marshall, Middleton, Oregon, Sun Prairie, Verona and Waterloo. It was subdivided into Eastern and Western sections after the first season of competition:

Eastern Section	Western Section
Cambridge	DeForest
Deerfield	Lodi
Marshall	Middleton
Sun Prairie	Oregon
Waterloo	Verona

Divisions were eliminated for the 1931-32 season, and Lodi left the conference for the Tri-County League at that season’s conclusion. Johnson Creek joined the conference in 1935 after moving over from the Little Five Conference.

Post-War Expansion (1952-1963)

Growth in the Madison area during the post-war years accompanied some substantial shifts with the athletic conferences in south central Wisconsin. Middleton exited the Madison Suburban Conference in 1952 to join the new Badger Conference, and Juneau joined the following year after the break-up of the 4-C Conference. Verona left in 1954 to join the Tri-County League, and in 1955 the conference would add three schools that left the Badger Conference: Evansville, Lake Mills and Milton.

Final Expansion and Collapse (1963-1969)

In 1963, the high school athletic conferences in the Madison area went through some significant realignment. Sun Prairie left the conference to join the Badger Conference that year, and their place was immediately taken by the new high school in McFarland. The conference also absorbed the former Tri-County League, which had been contracted to six schools due to a series of consolidations and the defection of the new Sauk Prairie High School to the South Central Conference. Former members Lodi and Verona rejoined the conference, and they were accompanied by Poynette, River Valley in Spring Green, Waunakee and Wisconsin Heights in Mazomanie. In order to accomodate the new schools, the Madison Suburban Conference was subdivided into three sections of six schools each:

Central Section	Eastern Section	Western Section
DeForest	Cambridge	Lodi
Evansville	Deerfield	Poynette
Lake Mills	Johnson Creek	River Valley
Milton	Juneau	Verona
Oregon	Marshall	Waunakee
Waterloo	McFarland	Wisconsin Heights

River Valley would leave after only one season in the conference to join the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League, and their place was taken by Lakeside Lutheran High School in Lake Mills. They joined the Eastern Section with McFarland moving over to the Western Section:

Central Section	Eastern Section	Western Section
DeForest	Cambridge	Lodi
Evansville	Deerfield	McFarland
Lake Mills	Johnson Creek	Poynette
Milton	Juneau	Verona
Oregon	Lakeside Lutheran	Waunakee
Waterloo	Marshall	Wisconsin Heights

In the long term, this level of growth proved to be unsustainable and in 1969, the Madison Suburban Conference split up into three separate conferences, predominantly along the final sectional alignment. All six schools in the Western Section (along with DeForest and Waterloo from the Central Section) formed the Capitol Conference, the six schools in the Eastern Section (along with Palmyra and Queen of Apostles in Madison) formed the Eastern Suburban Conference, and the four remaining schools in the Central Section (along with Beloit Turner and Clinton) formed the Central Suburban Conference.

Conference Membership History

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	Joined	Left	Conference Joined	Current Conference
Cambridge	Cambridge, WI	Public	266	Bluejays		1926	1969	Eastern Suburban	Capitol
Deerfield	Deerfield, WI	Public	216	Demons		1926	1969	Eastern Suburban	Trailways
DeForest	DeForest, WI	Public	1,093	Norskies		1926	1969	Capitol	Badger
Lodi	Lodi, WI	Public	451	Blue Devils		1926, 1963	1932, 1969	Tri-County, Capitol	Capitol
Marshall	Marshall, WI	Public	292	Cardinals		1926	1969	Eastern Suburban	Capitol
Middleton	Middleton, WI	Public	2,357	Cardinals		1926	1952	Badger	Big Eight
Oregon	Oregon, WI	Public	1,248	Panthers		1926	1969	Central Suburban	Badger
Sun Prairie	Sun Prairie, WI	Public	1,239	Cardinals		1926	1963	Badger	Big Eight
Verona	Verona, WI	Public	1,801	Wildcats		1926, 1963	1954, 1969	Tri-County, Capitol	Big Eight
Waterloo	Waterloo, WI	Public	259	Pirates		1926	1969	Capitol	Capitol
Johnson Creek	Johnson Creek, WI	Public	180	Bluejays		1935	1969	Eastern Suburban	Trailways
Juneau	Juneau, WI	Public	278	Chiefs		1953	1969	Eastern Suburban	Trailways
Evansville	Evansville, WI	Public	507	Blue Devils		1955	1969	Central Suburban	Rock Valley
Lake Mills	Lake Mills, WI	Public	491	L-Cats		1955	1969	Central Suburban	Capitol
Milton	Milton, WI	Public	1,059	RedHawks		1955	1969	Central Suburban	Badger
McFarland	McFarland, WI	Public	774	Spartans		1963	1969	Capitol	Badger
Poynette	Poynette, WI	Public	310	Pumas		1963	1969	Capitol	Capitol
River Valley	Spring Green, WI	Public	389	Blackhawks		1963	1964	SWAL	Southwest Wisconsin
Waunakee	Waunakee, WI	Public	1,309	Warriors		1963	1969	Capitol	Badger
Wisconsin Heights	Mazomanie, WI	Public	228	Vanguards		1963	1969	Capitol	Capitol
Lakeside Lutheran	Lake Mills, WI	Private (WELS)	506	Warriors		1964	1969	Eastern Suburban	Capitol

List of State Champions

Fall Sports

None

Winter Sports

Curling

School	Year	Division
Poynette	1966	Single Division

Spring Sports

None