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January 7, 1924 -- The West
Suburban Pioneer League was formed with six charter members: Downers Grove,
Hinsdale, Glenbard, Maine, West Chicago and York. Initial competition began
with two sports -- basketball and track & field. Hinsdale won both
conference titles.
September 1, 1924 -- The Fall Sports season was first contested in
the West Suburban Pioneer League, with both football and cross-country being
offered.
May 16, 1925 -- The Hinsdale High School track and field wins the
1925 IHSA Class B state championship, becoming the first school from the WSC
to be a team state champion. Harold Borsom wins two individual titles in the
long jump and the 200 yard low hurdles. George Homer takes home the state
title in the 50 yard dash. Both Borsom and Homer ran on the state champion
880 yard relay team.
September 6, 1926 -- Lightweight competition was started in the
sports of football and basketball.
September 3, 1928 -- Riverside-Brookfield was added to the membership
after the reorganization of the Suburban League.
June 6, 1931 -- Maine Township wins the National High School Track
Meet, better known as the University of Chicago Interscholastic. Individual
state champions Bob Kennicott and Marsh Miller lead Maine to the national
title. The team finished as state runners-up to Oak Park-River Forest a few
weeks earlier.
November 12, 1934 -- Lyons Township was added to the membership after
the Fall Sports season. The total membership now reached eight schools for
the 1934-1935 school year only.
June 3, 1935 -- West Chicago dropped from the West Suburban
Conference citing location and competition problems.
October 5, 1935 -- The Old Oaken Bucket was prepared by the manual
training shop of Hinsdale High School. This trophy has continually been
awarded to the winner of the Downers Grove North-Hinsdale Central football
game.
December 1, 1936 -- George Paskvan of Lyons Township was recognized
as a member of the first Champaign News Gazette All-State Football Team.
Paskvan would play collegiate at Wisconsin and eventually be inducted into
the University's Athletic Hall of Fame.
April 5, 1937 -- The sport season of golf was first played for a
conference championship during the spring of the 1936-1937 school year.
March 17, 1938 -- Glenbard High School became the first WSC school to
participate in the IHSA state basketball tournament in Huff Gym. Glenbard
was beaten 27-19 by Bradwood Reed-Custer in the first round. The Hilltoppers
leading scorer was Jim Olsen, who was the first West Suburban Conference
athlete to be named as all-state in both the sports of football and
basketball in the same year.
October 31, 1942 -- Lyons Township completes an undefeated season in
football, outscoring their opponents 139-0 in conference play. The Lions
would go 6-0 in West Suburban Conference action the following year,
outscoring their foes 159-6.
March 12, 1943 -- The sport of tennis was added to West Suburban
Conference competition.
May 13, 1944 -- Bob Abrahams of Lyons Township became the first of
three straight individual state golf champions from the West Suburban
Conference. Howard Whiteway of Glenbard, and Henry Heinly of Hinsdale would
win state titles the next two years in 1945 and 1946.
November 9, 1946 -- Warren Druetzler of Lyons Township won the first
ever IHSA individual cross-country state championship at Urbana. Druetzler
ran the two mile course in 10:07.8.
September 7, 1948 -- Freshman-Sophomore competition was first offered
by the West Suburban Conference, ending the Heavyweight-Lightweight
competition. Sports with two competition levels now included football,
basketball and track and field.
April 5, 1949 -- A third team sport, baseball, was played on a
varsity level for the first time for a conference championship in the West
Suburban League.
November 4, 1950 -- George Fisher of Maine scores seven touchdowns in
one game against Downers Grove, and sets WSC records in both single game
scoring (42) and single season scoring (80).
September 1, 1951 -- Arlington Heights High School entered the
membership of the West Suburban. The conference once again totaled eight
active members.
March 21, 1953 -- Lyons Township became the state's third unbeaten
basketball state champion after a 72-60 victory against Peoria High School
at Huff Gym in Champaign. Coach Greg Sloan's team won all 29 games that
season and were led by six-foot, seven-inch junior center Ted Caiazza, who
tallied 25 points in the title game.
February 26, 1954 -- Ron Hain of Hinsdale established a new West
Suburban Conference single game scoring record in basketball with a 49-point
performance against Riverside-Brookfield. Hain's new mark broke the old
record previously held by Ted Caiazza. On this same day, Caiazza established
a new conference scoring record for points in a season with 394.
May 15, 1954 -- Lyons Township track and field coach Russ Deason wins
his fifth state title in seven years. From 1948 through 1954, Lyons Township
won seven straight WSC outdoor track titles and finished either first or
second at the state meet, in every year but one.
November 5, 1956 -- Wrestling was added to the West Suburban
Conference as an annual competition. The WSC now offered eight different
sports for league titles.
November 1, 1958 -- Bob Neumann, a six-foot tailback from Maine High
School, scored three touchdowns in the last game of the season, to give him
19 touchdowns for the season, and 115 total points. Neumann scored more
points than any player in any league for a single season dating back since
1951.
June 5, 1959 -- Maine High School won their second straight baseball
state championship, after winning their third consecutive WSC title earlier
that season. Coach Al Carstens outscored their opponents 42-8 during their
two-year state tournament stint.
May 28, 1960 -- Hinsdale's Marty Riessen wins his fourth straight
singles state championship by outpointing his four state tournament
opponents 48-2. Riessen also won four successive West Suburban Conference
titles, and became only the the second prep tennis player to win four
singles state crowns.
November 3, 1962 -- The Hinsdale football team records its third
straight unbeaten season, and lays claim to its third successive state-rated
title. Over the three years, the Red Devils go 21-0 in conference play, and
outscore their opponents 695-94.
January 6, 1964 -- The sport of gymnastics was added in West Suburban
Conference competition.
May 19, 1964 -- Larry Kelly of Maine Township sets a new National
High School record in the 880 yard dash at the IHSA state meet in Champaign
with a time of 1:50.4. Kelly breaks the state record by more than
four-and-one-half seconds and wins the race by 15 yards.
November 8, 1965 -- The conference added the sports of swimming and
indoor track and field during the 1965-1966 school season.
June 3, 1966 -- Arlington Heights High School dropped from the West
Suburban Conference.
September 5, 1966 -- Proviso West High School was added to the
membership of the West Suburban Conference. The league remained at a total
of eight members.
June 2, 1967 -- Lyons Township becomes only the second unbeaten
baseball state championship, after completing the season with a perfect 24-0
record. The Lions, coached by Dick Leiber, allowed only one run in the three
game state tourney -- and shut out their opponents in both the semi-final
and championship game.
March 8, 1968 -- The York boys basketball team had their 35-game home
court win streak snapped. It's the longest home court streak to date by a
school in West Suburban Conference history.
June 7, 1968 -- Glenbard West and York shared the last President's
Cup of the West Suburban Conference. The Cup started in the league's initial
year (1924) and was awarded to the school which placed the highest in a
combination of all sports offered by the WSC. The cup was discontinued
because not all of the member schools participated in all of the West
Suburban Conference activities.
February 21, 1969 -- Jeff Dawson of Downers Grove North breaks former
Trojan Rick Howat's single season scoring record. Dawson enjoys his fourth
40-point game of the year, and ends the season with 455 points in conference
play. Dawson also equaled the conference single game scoring mark of 49
points earlier in the year.
March 21, 1970 -- The Lyons Township basketball team finished the
season with a perfect 31-0 record, after defeating East Moline 71-52 in the
state title game. Six-foot, eight-inch junior Owen Brown recorded a
24-point, 24-rebound performance in the championship game. The Lions were
coached by Ron Nikcevich, who had coached conference rival
Riverside-Brookfield the past ten years.
September 4, 1971 -- Hinsdale Central's Peter Blysma caught nine
passes for 317 yards, setting a state record for most yards receiving in a
game. The mark would stand for 40 years.
June 9, 1972 -- Maine East, an original charter member of the West
Suburban Conference, dropped from the WSC to compete in a geographical
location better suited for their school. The league returns to a seven team
conference.
September 5, 1972 -- Girls interscholastic athletic competition was
started during the 1972-1973 school year with sports initially being
contested. Archery, volleyball, basketball, badminton, softball and track
and field were all contested with a conference championship.
September 4, 1973 -- Four more sports were added to the West Suburban
Conference girls athletic program with the addition of tennis, swimming,
gymnastics and bowling throughout the new school year.
September 1, 1975 -- Oak Park-River Forest and Proviso East both
joined the membership of the West Suburban Conference after the demise of
the Suburban League, which ceased to exist after the 1974-75 school year.
The WSC reached a record nine members in the league. Also, on this
date, interscholastic soccer became the 12th sport for boys sponsored by the
West Suburban Conference.
October 25, 1975 -- Even though they didn't win a conference title
this year, the Huskies of Oak Park-River Forest captured the Girls Tennis
State Championship for the fourth straight time. This was the first IHSA
state championship team representing the WSC on the girls circuit. Susie
Replogle became the first West Suburban Conference individual state champion
female with her second straight singles title.
May 28, 1976 -- Greg Foster of Proviso East equaled the national prep
record in the 120-yard high hurdles with a 13.24 clocking in the semifinals
of the IHSA track meet.
June 4, 1976 -- The Girls Sports Coordinators elected to drop archery
from conference competition, stressing safety and lack of interest. The IHSA
also dropped this sport from its sponsored state series tournaments.
November 27, 1976 -- Glenbard West played in the state championship
game of the Class 5A state football playoffs, marking the first West
Suburban Conference school to do so. The Hilltoppers were defeated 22-21 in
overtime by Saint Laurence.
May 20, 1978 -- Coach Don Watson and Hinsdale Central won their 12th
straight state title in boys swimming. No other IHSA school, in any sport,
won as many consecutive team state titles..
September 5, 1978 -- Cross Country was added to girls competition and
was scheduled concurrently along with the boys cross country season.
September 27, 1979 -- Hinsdale Central's David Strauch kicked a
52-yard field goal against Glenbard West, the second longest in state
history, and longest kick in Illinois high school competition since 1924.
November 3, 1979 -- Interscholastic bowling was dropped by the West
Suburban Conference as a league sport; however, many schools continued to
participate in the sport through the state tournament series and in
independent meets.
December 1, 1979 -- Oak Park-River Forest wins their second straight
girls volleyball state title by defeating Oak Forest 20-10, 20-18 in the
championship match. Coach Shirley Redmond's team won 63 of 66 contests over
those two years.
February 22, 1980 -- Proviso East's Glenn Rivers becomes the only
player ever to score 1,000 points in his West Suburban Conference basketball
career. Rivers ends his three-year varsity tenure with 1,035 points, three
conference titles and wins in 46 of the 48 games he played.
May 2, 1980 -- The state's longest dual meet win streak in boys
tennis was snapped by Deerfield, as Hinsdale Central lost for the first time
after 106 straight victories.
May 15, 1982 -- York's Linda French won her third badminton singles
state title in four years. Winning in straight sets in her freshman, junior and senior seasons; French finished second in 1980 in a three set
championship final match. Linda's older sister Ann, won the state's first
two singles titles in 1977 and 1978. The French family won five of the six
state singles titles contested by the IHSA.
June 11, 1982 -- Riverside-Brookfield, a member of the West Suburban
Conference for 55 years, dropped from the league to compete in the nearby
Des Plaines Valley League, citing declining enrollment. Within two years,
the Bulldogs became an independent with no conference affiliation.
November 25, 1983 -- Glenbard West becomes the first IHSA state
champion from the West Suburban Conference as they defeat Bartonville
Limestone 21-7 to capture the Class 5A crown. Coach Jim Covert's Hilltoppers
finish the season with a perfect 13-0 record.
March 31, 1984 -- The York Dukes stun the top-ranked team in
the nation, Peoria Richwoods, 55-46 in the championship game of the 1984
IHSA girls basketball state tournament. It would be Richwoods only
loss over a three-year, 95-game stretch.
November 10, 1984 -- York coach Joe Newton wins his fifth straight IHSA
Class "AA" cross country state championship, and his sixth in seven years.
The Dukes have won 12 state titles, and have had six second place finishes
over the past 23 years.
February 2, 1985 -- Jeanne Klepek of Lyons Township wins her third
successive All-Around state title at the girls gymnastics state meet. Over
her four year career, Klepek won outright titles in all four gymnastics
events and shared titles on three other occasions.
April 8, 1985 -- Girls soccer became the tenth sport currently offered
by the West Suburban Conference with its inception. This became the first
girls sport to be recognized by the WSC without an IHSA sponsored state
championship.
September 12, 1985 -- Downers Grove North had their state record
girls cross country dual meet win streak snapped at 69 by Glenbard West
during the second meet of the season. The Trojans' streak, which started on
November 12, 1976, included 47 consecutive wins inside the WSC. Coach Bruce
Ritter's teams won the first eight conference titles from 1977 to 1984.
October 30, 1985 -- The West Suburban Conference places three of its
eight football teams in the IHSA Playoff state series, a first for the
league. Oak Park-River Forest and York competed in the Class 6A series, and
Glenbard West played in Class 5A.
September 2, 1986 -- Competition began in the West Suburban
Conference after re-alignment with the now defunct Des Plaines Valley
League. There was a total of fourteen tams that were divided into two
seven-team divisions. The Silver Division included Downers Grove North,
Hinsdale Central, Lyons Township, Oak Park-River Forest, Proviso West and
York. The Gold Division was comprised of Addison-Trail, Downers Grove South,
Hinsdale South, Leyden, Morton, Proviso East and Willowbrook. Each section
played their own schedule with various cross-over games between the two
divisions.
November 9, 1986 -- After pausing the sport for six years, girls
bowling returned to the West Suburban Conference.
December 14, 1990 -- Shelia Carroll of Lyons Township set a state
record 22 steals in a single game against Morton in a West Suburban
Conference crossover contest.
February 16, 1991 -- The Addison-Trail girls gymnastics team
and the Proviso East wrestling team win IHSA state titles on the same day,
marking the first team state champions from the WSC Gold Division.
March 9, 1992 -- The sport of boys volleyball was added to West Suburban
Conference competition.
December 10, 1992 -- The Proviso East boys basketball team wins their
63rd consecutive game, marking the third longest streak in state history.
The streak started on December 21, 1990.
May 12, 1995 -- James Frank of Downers Grove North set a state record
by collecting eight hits in single game against York. The game lasted 23
innings and started on April 28 (where 8 innings were played), continued on
May 8 (for another 12 innings) and finished on May 12 (three innings). Scott
Schmidt of York and Matt Hittable of Downers North both pitched 15 innings
against each other. The Trojans won the game 12-11.
May 11, 1996 -- Glenbard West's Josh Levin records a perfect 10 in
pommel horse competition at the 1996 IHSA boys gymnastics state meet. Levin
becomes the only person to ever receive a perfect score on any apparatus in
state history.
October 16, 1999 -- Sophomore Richard Franklin of Hinsdale Central
shoots a hole-in-one on the 17th hole of the IHSA Golf state finals.
Franklin becomes only the eighth person in state history to record an ace in
state finals competition.
November 6, 1999 -- After finishing as state runner-up in three of
the past four IHSA cross country state meets, York won the 1999 team title
with the lowest score (24) in state history. Each of the top five Dukes'
runner placed in the top ten scoring positions, as York placed first, third,
fourth, sixth and tenth. York's Donald Sage was the individual state champ,
running the three-mile course in 14:03.
May 16, 2000 -- The longest softball game in Illinois high school
history ends in the 28th inning, as Oak Park-River Forest defeats Glenbard
West 1-0. The game started on May 10 and was suspended due to darkness after
19 innings of play.
August 15, 2001 -- Girls golf became an official sport in the West
Suburban Conference.
January 5, 2002 -- Julie Todd of Downers Grove South bowls a perfect
300 game in girls bowling competition.
February 9, 2002 -- Dee Brown of Proviso East sets a West Suburban
Conference record 12 three-point baskets in a single basketball game against
Addison-Trail.
February 12, 2002 -- Proviso East's Shannon Brown scores 50 points
against Hinsdale South to become the first player in West Suburban
Conference history to reach the 50-point plateau. At halftime Brown had 27
points -- the same number of points that the entire Hornets team had.
October 5, 2004 -- Matt Tutoch of Hinsdale Central scored a goal 11
seconds into the boys soccer game against York, establishing a record for
the quickest goal ever in West Suburban Conference play.
May 8, 2007 -- The Oak Park-River Forest Huskies threw their third
no-hitter in four days against WSC competition. Zach Vanderlaan no-hit
Proviso West on May 5; Kyle Glancy no-hit Addison-Trail on May 7; and Drew
Golz no-hit Proviso West on May 8.
April 8, 2008 -- Hinsdale Central defeated Addison-Trail 38-36 in the
highest scoring game in IHSA boys volleyball history.
October 16, 2009 -- Hinsdale Central's Erin Ahern became only the
third person to score a hole-in-one at the IHSA girls golf tournament.
Ahern's aced the 13th hole in Friday competition at Hickory Ridge Golf Club
in Carbondale.
September 6, 2013 -- Willowbrook's Brian Johnson set a state record
by throwing for 675 yards in a football crossover game against Lyons
Township. Johnson was 40-for-52 with seven touchdowns. The Warriors beat the
Lions 62-49.
September 28, 2015 -- The Downers Grove South girls cross country
team wins their 100th consecutive dual cross country meet -- a state record
May 30, 2015 -- At the boys tennis state finals, the top four
finishers were made up exclusively of West Suburban Conference participants.
Martin Joyce of Hinsdale Central defeated Gianni Ross of Lyons Township in
the championship match. And Alex Ross of Lyons Township defeated Edward Grabill of Hinsdale Central for third place. Hinsdale Central wins the
team title as well, marking the school's eighth team state title during the
2014-2015 school year -- a new state record.
April 15, 2016 -- The Downers Grove South baseball team was defeated
for the first time in 40 games in WSC Gold Division play, losing to Hinsdale
South 3-1. The Mustangs won back-to-back conference titles with
perfect 18-0 records during 2014 and 2015 -- becoming the only teams to
finish the season with an undefeated record in Gold Division history.
April 8, 2017 -- The Glenbard West boys volleyball team wins a state
record 69 consecutive matches. The streak starts on May 2, 2015 (19 matches
in 2015); goes through the entire 2016 season (42); and includes the first
eight matches of 2017.
June 3, 2017 -- Oak Park-River Forest softball pitcher Chardonnay
Harris pitched her second consecutive perfect game in the IHSA playoffs.
Harris struck out all twelve batters in the sectional semifinal against
Evanston, and fanned 11 in the Huskies sectional championship game win over
Lane Tech.
May 6, 2019 -- Medelin Loza of Morton scored the quickest goal in a
game in state history as she scored against Downers Grove South 0.5 seconds
into the game.
May 22, 2020 -- The Covid-19 pandemic cancels the spring sports
season, denying Glenbard West's Katelynn Hart an opportunity to win her 11th
and 12th individual state title. Hart won four straight cross-country
individual championships, and won both the 1600 meter and 3200 meter runs in
each of her freshman, sophomore and junior years.
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