East Central Flyway Conference

The East Central Flyway Conference is a former high school athletic conference in Wisconsin, competing from 2001 to 2007. All members belonged to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

History

The East Central Flyway Conference was created in 2001 from a merger of two previously established conferences for small schools in east central Wisconsin. Eight members (Berlin, Laconia, Lourdes Academy in Oshkosh, Markesan, Omro, Ripon, Wautoma and Winneconne) were formerly in the East Central Conference and nine schools came from the Flyway Conference (Central Wisconsin Christian in Waupun, Horicon, Lomira, Mayville, North Fond du Lac, Oakfield, St. Lawrence Seminary in Mount Calvary, and St. Mary’s Springs and Winnebago Lutheran, both out of Fond du Lac). The conference was separated into two divisions with the ECC schools forming the Lakes Division and the Flyway members comprising the Rivers Division: Lakes DivisionRivers DivisionBerlinCentral Wisconsin ChristianLaconiaHoriconLourdes AcademyLomiraMarkesanMayvilleOmroNorth Fond du LacRiponOakfieldWautomaSt. Lawrence SeminaryWinneconneSt. Mary’s SpringsWinnebago Lutheran The first membership changes occurred in 2004, when Central Wisconsin Christian and St. Lawrence Seminary left the East Central Flyway. Central Wisconsin Christian joined the Trailways Conference while St. Lawrence became an independent. Waupun, formerly of the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference, joined the Lakes Division with Laconia moving over to the Rivers Division: Lakes DivisionRivers DivisionBerlinHoriconLourdes AcademyLaconiaMarkesanLomiraOmroMayvilleRiponNorth Fond du LacWaupunOakfieldWautomaSt. Mary’s SpringsWinneconneWinnebago Lutheran The most significant change came two years later when ten schools left the conference. Six schools from the Rivers Division (Horicon, Laconia, Lomira, Mayville, North Fond du Lac and St. Mary’s Springs) joined with Kettle Moraine Lutheran in Jackson in forming the Wisconsin Flyway Conference, three schools (Lourdes Academy, Markesan and Oakfield) became members of the Trailways Conference, and Wautoma joined the South Central Conference. The remaining six schools continued competition for one more season before disbanding in 2007. Four schools (Berlin, Omro, Ripon and Winneconne) became charter members of the Eastern Valley Conference, Waupun was accepted into the Eastern Wisconsin Conference and Winnebago Lutheran joined the Wisconsin Flyway Conference.

Football For football, the East Central Flyway Conference was partitioned into the Lakes and Rivers divisions just like it was for other sports, with a few differences in alignment. Mayville and St. Mary's Springs swapped divisions with Laconia, Lourdes Academy and Markesan, and Waupun was a football-only member of the conference until 2004, when they left the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference to become an all-sport member of the ECFC. Central Wisconsin Christian and St. Lawrence Seminary did not sponsor football and, therefore, did not participate: Lakes DivisionRivers DivisionBerlinHoriconMayvilleLaconiaOmroLomiraRiponLourdes AcademySt. Mary's SpringsMarkesanWaupunNorth Fond du LacWautomaOakfieldWinneconneWinnebago Lutheran For the 2003 football season, the conference lost Lourdes Academy to the Midwest Classic Conference and Oakfield to the large-school division of the Trailways Conference. St. Mary's Springs moved over to the Rivers Division to keep an even seven members per division until the formation of the Wisconsin Flyway Conference broke up ECFC membership in 2006.

Conference membership history

Final members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceBerlinBerlin, WIPublicIndians 20012007Eastern ValleySouth CentralOmroOmro, WIPublicFoxes 20012007Eastern ValleyWisconsin FlywayRiponRipon, WIPublicTigers 20012007Eastern ValleySouth CentralWaupunWaupun, WIPublicWarriors 20042007Eastern WisconsinCapitolWinnebago LutheranFond du Lac, WIPrivate (Lutheran, WELS)Vikings 20012007Wisconsin FlywayWinneconneWinneconne, WIPublicWolves 20012007Eastern ValleyBay

Previous members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsJoinedLeftConference JoinedCurrent ConferenceCentral Wisconsin ChristianWaupun, WIPrivate (Reformed)Crusaders 20012004TrailwaysHoriconHoricon, WIPublicMarshmen 20012006Wisconsin FlywayTrailwaysLaconiaRosendale, WIPublicSpartans 20012006East CentralLomiraLomira, WIPublicLions 20012006Wisconsin FlywayLourdes AcademyOshkosh, WIPrivate (Catholic)Knights 20012006TrailwaysMarkesanMarkesan, WIPublicHornets 20012006TrailwaysMayvilleMayville, WIPublicCardinals 20012006Wisconsin FlywayNorth Fond du LacNorth Fond du Lac, WIPublicOrioles 20012006Wisconsin FlywayOakfieldOakfield, WIPublicOaks 20012006TrailwaysSt. Lawrence SeminaryMount Calvary, WIPrivate (Catholic, Capuchin)Hilltoppers 20012004IndependentSt. Mary's SpringsFond du Lac, WIPrivate (Catholic)Ledgers 20012006Wisconsin FlywayWautomaWautoma, WIPublicHornets 20012006South Central

Football-only members SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsSeasonsPrimary ConferenceWaupunWaupun, WIPublicWarriors 2001-2003Wisconsin Little Ten

Membership timeline

Full members

Football members

List of state champions

Fall sports + FootballSchoolYearDivisionSt. Mary's Springs2002Division 6 +Girls VolleyballSchoolYearDivisionWaupun2004Division 2Waupun2005Division 2

Winter sports None

Spring sports +BaseballSchoolYearDivisionWaupun2007Division 2 +SoftballSchoolYearDivisionHoricon2002Division 3Horicon2003Division 3 +Boys Track & FieldSchoolYearDivisionRipon2006Division 2

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsOmro32002, 2004, 2005Ripon32001, 2003, 2006Mayville22002, 2005Winneconne22003, 2005Berlin12004Horicon12006North Fond du Lac12004St. Mary's Springs12003Waupun12007Central Wisconsin Christian0Laconia0Lomira0Lourdes Academy0 Markesan0Oakfield0St. Lawrence Seminary0Wautoma0Winnebago Lutheran0

Girls Basketball SchoolQuantityYearsLaconia32002, 2003, 2004Lomira22004, 2005 Markesan22003, 2005Ripon22006, 2007North Fond du Lac12006St. Mary's Springs12002Winnebago Lutheran12003Berlin0Central Wisconsin Christian0Horicon0Lourdes Academy0Mayville0Oakfield0Omro0Waupun0Wautoma0Winneconne0

Football SchoolQuantityYearsRipon32003, 2004, 2005Winnebago Lutheran32003, 2004, 2005Lomira22002, 2004Mayville22001, 2004St. Mary's Springs22002, 2004Horicon12005Laconia12001 Markesan12005North Fond du Lac12002Waupun12006Berlin0Lourdes Academy0Oakfield0Omro0Wautoma0Winneconne0

References