The Scenic Central Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, founded in 1958 as an all-sport circuit and ending operations in 1979. Members were concentrated in the state's Driftless Area and affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
1958–1971
The Scenic Central Conference was originally formed in 1948 as a football-only conference among four small schools in western Wisconsin: Hillsboro, New Lisbon, Westby and Wonewoc. Ten years later, the Scenic Central became an all-sports conference when two previously established conferences merged: the Juneau County League (Elroy, Hillsboro, New Lisbon, Westby and Wonewoc) and the Monroe-Vernon Conference (Cashton, Kendall, Norwalk, Ontario and Wilton). Both conferences had experienced loss of members due to consolidation and defection to other conferences, and merged to preserve the athletic future of their member schools. After formation of the conference, consolidation continued to have its effect on schools in the Driftless Area, with Elroy and Kendall merging to create Royall in 1959 and Norwalk and Ontario merging to form Brookwood in 1960. The conference also lost Wilton in 1963 to consolidation into the Royall School District, they were replaced by Weston (formerly of the I-W League) to keep membership at eight schools. A ninth school was added when Kickapoo joined the Scenic Central Conference in 1965. A year later, New Lisbon and Royall left the Scenic Central to help form the short-lived Vacationland Conference. De Soto and North Crawford joined from the Kickapoo Valley League to take their place. Two years later, La Farge High School followed their Kickapoo Valley brethren into the Scenic Central Conference, and New Lisbon and Royall rejoined the Scenic Central after the Vacationland Conference disbanded in 1970.
1971–1979 1971 saw the Scenic Central Conference add three new members: Ithaca, Seneca and Wauzeka. All three schools came from the Kickapoo Valley League, which had disbanded after the previous school year. To accommodate the rapid growth of the Scenic Central into a fifteen-member loop, members were subdivided into Northern and Southern Divisions:
Northern DivisionSouthern DivisionCashtonBrookwoodDe SotoIthacaHillsboroLa FargeKickapooSenecaNew LisbonWauzekaNorth CrawfordWestonRoyallWonewoc-CenterWestby The conference would continue with this alignment for six seasons before Royall and Westby left to join the Coulee Conference in 1977. They exchanged conference affiliations with Bangor, who joined the Scenic Central for the last two years of its existence. Brookwood, Weston and Wonewoc-Center also exchanged divisions with De Soto, Kickapoo and North Crawford:
+Northern DivisionSouthern DivisionBangorDe SotoBrookwoodIthacaCashtonKickapooHillsboroLa FargeNew LisbonNorth CrawfordWestonSenecaWonewoc-CenterWauzeka The Scenic Central split into two conferences after the 1978–79 school year, with the seven schools in the Southern Division plus Weston forming the Ridge & Valley Conference and six remaining schools in the Northern Division joining with Necedah and former Scenic Central member Royall to create the Scenic Bluffs Conference.
Conference membership history
Final members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceBangorBangor, WIPublicCardinals 19771979Scenic BluffsBrookwoodOntario, WIPublicFalcons 19601979Scenic BluffsCashtonCashton, WIPublicEagles 19581979Scenic BluffsDe SotoDe Soto, WIPublicPirates 19661979Ridge & ValleyHillsboroHillsboro, WIPublicTigers 19581979Scenic BluffsIthacaIthaca, WIPublicBulldogs 19711979Ridge & ValleyKickapooViola, WIPublicPanthers 19651979Ridge & ValleyLa FargeLa Farge, WIPublicWildcats 19681979Ridge & ValleyNew LisbonNew Lisbon, WIPublicRockets 1958, 19701966, 1979Vacationland, Scenic BluffsScenic BluffsNorth CrawfordSoldiers Grove, WIPublicTrojans 19661979Ridge & ValleySenecaSeneca, WIPublicIndians 19711979Ridge & ValleyWauzekaWauzeka, WIPublicHornets 19711979Ridge & ValleyWestonCazenovia, WIPublicSilver Eagles 19631979Ridge & ValleyWonewoc-CenterWonewoc, WIPublicIndians 19581979Scenic Bluffs
Previous members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceElroyElroy, WIPublicHilltoppers 19581959Closed (consolidated into Royall)KendallKendall, WIPublicMustangs 19581959Closed (consolidated into Royall)NorwalkNorwalk, WIPublicHawks 19581960Closed (consolidated into Brookwood)OntarioOntario, WIPublicWildcats 19581960Closed (consolidated into Brookwood)RoyallElroy, WIPublicPanthers 1959, 19701966, 1977Vacationland, CouleeScenic BluffsWestbyWestby, WIPublicNorsemen 19581977CouleeWiltonWilton, WIPublicWarriors 19581963Closed (consolidated into Royall)
Football-only members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsSeasonsPrimary ConferenceHillsboroHillsboro, WIPublicTigers 1948-1957Juneau CountyNew LisbonNew Lisbon, WIPublicRockets 1948-1957Juneau CountyWestbyWestby, WIPublicNorsemen 1948-1957West Central, Juneau CountyWonewocWonewoc, WIPublicIndians 1948-1957Juneau CountyElroyElroy, WIPublicHilltoppers 1951-1957Juneau CountyKendallKendall, WIPublicMustangs 1951-1952Monroe-VernonMuscodaMuscoda, WIPublicIndians 1951-1952Wisconsin RiverCashtonCashton, WIPublicEagles 1953-1957Monroe-VernonDe SotoDe Soto, WIPublicPirates 1954-1965Kickapoo Valley
Membership timeline
Full members
Football members
List of state champions
Fall sports +FootballSchoolYearDivisionDe Soto1976Division 4
Winter sports None
Spring sports +Boys Track & FieldSchoolYearDivisionNorth Crawford1976Class C
List of conference champions
Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsHillsboro101959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1977, 1978North Crawford81968, 1969, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979Weston61972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979New Lisbon31972, 1973, 1974Brookwood21964, 1965De Soto21977, 1978Wonewoc-Center21973, 1975Cashton11962Royall11971Wauzeka11974Westby11970Bangor0Elroy0 Ithaca0Kendall0Kickapoo0 La Farge0Norwalk0Ontario0Seneca0Wilton0
Football SchoolQuantityYearsWestby151948, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973New Lisbon51949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1958De Soto41974, 1976, 1977, 1978Royall41959, 1960, 1965, 1971Cashton31961, 1977, 1978Brookwood21971, 1972Hillsboro21954, 1960Kickapoo21970, 1975Weston21975, 1976Wonewoc-Center21954, 1955 Ithaca11973 La Farge11974Bangor0Elroy0Kendall0Muscoda0North Crawford0Seneca0Wauzeka0
References