The Lakeland Conference is a high school

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller Division (sport), divisions, with the best teams competing at successively ...

consisting of nineteen members in northwestern

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. Founded in 1934, the conference and its member schools are all members of the

Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) is the regulatory body for all high school sports in Wisconsin. Its history dates to 1895, making it the earliest continually existing high school athletic organization in the country. ...

History

1934-1957

The Lakeland Conference was formed by seven small northwestern Wisconsin high schools in 1934:

Cameron Cameron may refer to: People * Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan * Cameron (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Cameron (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) ;Mononym * Cam'ron (born 19 ...

, Chetek, Clear Lake, New Auburn, Shell Lake, Turtle Lake, and

Weyerhaeuser The Weyerhaeuser Company ( ) is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company has manufactured wood products for over a c ...

. Five of the original members of the Lakeland Conference were previously part of the Heart O'North Conference and left that conference due to growing size difference between the larger and smaller schools. All of the conference's original members were located in Barron, Chippewa,

Polk DNA polymerase kappa is a DNA polymerase that in humans is encoded by the ''POLK'' gene. It is involved in translesion synthesis DNA repair is a collection of processes by which a cell (biology), cell identifies and corrects damage to the ...

Rusk A rusk is a hard, dry Biscuit#Biscuits in British usage, biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a teether for babies. In some cultures, rusk is made of cake rather than bread: this is sometimes referred to as cake rusk. In the ...

, and

Washburn Washburn (alternatively Wasseburne, Wasseborne, Wasshebourne, Wassheborne, Washbourne, Washburne, Washborne, Washborn, Wasborn, Washbon) is a toponymic surname, probably of Old English origin, with likely Anglo-Norman and Norman-French influe ...

Counties. By the end of the decade, four new schools were added to the conference: Clayton in 1936,

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been ...

in 1937, Birchwood in 1938, and

Prairie Farm Prairie Farm is a village in Barron County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 494 at the 2020 census. The village is located within the Town of Prairie Farm, on eastern shore of the Prairie Farm Flowage, a reservoir on the Hay ...

in 1939. The next year, the Lakeland Conference split its eleven-member roster into Eastern and Western Sections: Aside from Weyerhaeuser's exit to become a charter member of the Flambeauland Conference in 1946 and their subsequent return five years later, conference membership remained consistent for sixteen years. In 1956, the Lakeland Conference welcomed three new members who were displaced when their conferences ceased operations in 1955: Balsam Lake and

Centuria ''Centuria'' (; : ''centuriae'') is a Latin term (from the stem ''centum'' meaning one hundred) denoting military units originally consisting of 100 men. The size of the centuria changed over time, and from the first century BC through most of ...

from the Northwest Border Conference and

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony the Tiger, cartoon mascot for Frosted Flakes cereal * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * ...

from the Flambeauland Conference. This expansion brought membership to fourteen schools in two divisions:

1957-1968

The Lakeland Conference lost three member schools in 1957. Chetek joined with larger schools in the Heart O'North Conference, and Balsam Lake and Centuria merged with Milltown of the Upper St. Croix Valley Conference to form the new Unity High School (not to be confused with the former Unity High School in

Unity, Wisconsin Unity is a village in Clark and Marathon counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is part of the Wausau, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 384 at the 2020 census. Of this, 233 were in Marathon County, and 151 were ...

). The new school inherited Milltown's conference membership, and the conference was left with eleven schools in two sections:

Siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology that lured sailors to their deaths. Places * Sir ...

was accepted into the Lakeland Conference as its twelfth member in 1959 and took up residence in the Western section. Two years later, Tony would merge with Ingram-Glen Flora of the Flambeau League to form the new

Flambeau High School Flambeau may refer to: * A torch, burning torch, especially one carried in procession **Flambeau, a multi-flame torch traditionally carried in night parades during New Orleans Mardi Gras, Louisiana **Fiesta Flambeau parade, during Fiesta San Antonio ...

, taking Tony's place in the Eastern Lakeland:

1968-1994

In 1968,

Winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

joined the Lakeland Conference after leaving its former home in the Flambeau League, a conference which would break up two years later. Prentice would follow Winter's footsteps in 1970 after the disbandment of the Flambeau League. Lake Holcombe would also join the Eastern Lakeland in 1970, following a 5-year stint in the Cloverbelt. Cameron moved over to the Western section to accommodate the expansion: Prentice left the Lakeland Conference in 1978 to take up residence in its current home, the

Marawood Conference The Marawood Conference is a high school athletic conference with its membership concentrated in north central Wisconsin. It was founded in 1949 and all member schools are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. Hist ...

. Two years later,

Northwood High School Northwood High School may refer to: * Northwood High School (Irvine, California) * Northwood High School (Louisiana) * Northwood High School (Maryland) * NorthWood High School, Nappanee, Indiana * Northwood High School (North Carolina), Pittsboro ...

in Minong joined the Western section of the conference after leaving the Indianhead Conference.

1994-2002

The conference would operate with fifteen members until 1994, when four schools displaced by the ending of the Upper St. Croix Valley Conference entered the Lakeland: Frederic,

Grantsburg Grantsburg is a village in Burnett County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,341 at the 2010 census. The village is located within the Town of Grantsburg. It was established by Canute Anderson. Geography Grantsburg is located ...

Luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at a ...

and Webster. The Lakeland Conference realigned itself into a three-division conference that year: This alignment would only remain in place for two years before going back to a two-division format in 1996.

Cornell Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...

became the Lakeland Conference's twentieth member school when it moved over from the

Cloverbelt Conference The Cloverbelt Conference is a high school athletic conference with its membership base concentrated in west central Wisconsin. Founded in 1927, the conference and its member schools are affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Asso ...

in 1998 and was aligned to the Eastern division:

2002-present

The Lakeland Conference returned to a three-division format in 2002 when it accepted two of the smaller schools from the Middle Border Conference as members (

St. Croix Falls St. Croix Falls is a city in Polk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,208 at the 2020 census. The city is located within the Town of St. Croix Falls along the St. Croix River, from which it takes its name. U.S. Route 8, Wi ...

and Unity). Both schools joined the conference's Western division: This alignment would remain for nearly twenty years and was relatively stable in terms of membership. Weyerhaeuser merged with Chetek of the Heart O'North Conference in 2010 with the new school ( Chetek-Weyerhaeuser) continuing Chetek's Heart O'North membership. Cameron and St. Croix Falls followed them to the Heart O'North in 2019 and 2021, respectively. The Lakeland Conference would also adopt its current two-division, nineteen-member alignment that year:

Conference membership history

Current members

Former members

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1934 till:2030 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:60 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:m bar:1 color:tan1 from:1934 till:1940 text:Cameron (1934-2019) bar:1 color:blue from:1940 till:1970 text: bar:1 color:skyblue from:1970 till:1994 text: bar:1 color:powderblue from:1994 till:1996 text: bar:1 color:blue from:1996 till:2002 text: bar:1 color:powderblue from:2002 till:2019 text: bar:2 color:tan1 from:1934 till:1940 text:Chetek (1934-1957) bar:2 color:blue from:1940 till:1957 text: bar:3 color:tan1 from:1934 till:1940 text:Clear Lake (1934-present) bar:3 color:skyblue from:1940 till:1994 text: bar:3 color:powderblue from:1994 till:1996 text: bar:3 color:skyblue from:1996 till:2002 text: bar:3 color:powderblue from:2002 till:2021 text: bar:3 color:skyblue from:2021 till:2030 text: bar:4 color:tan1 from:1934 till:1940 text:New Auburn (1934-present) bar:4 color:blue from:1940 till:2030 text: bar:5 color:tan1 from:1934 till:1940 text:Shell Lake (1934-present) bar:5 color:skyblue from:1940 till:1994 text: bar:5 color:powderblue from:1994 till:1996 text: bar:5 color:skyblue from:1996 till:2002 text: bar:5 color:powderblue from:2002 till:2021 text: bar:5 color:skyblue from:2021 till:2030 text: bar:6 color:tan1 from:1934 till:1940 text:Turtle Lake (1934-present) bar:6 color:skyblue from:1940 till:1994 text: bar:6 color:powderblue from:1994 till:1996 text: bar:6 color:skyblue from:1996 till:2002 text: bar:6 color:powderblue from:2002 till:2021 text: bar:6 color:skyblue from:2021 till:2030 text: bar:7 color:tan1 from:1934 till:1940 text:Weyerhaeuser (1934-1946, 1951-2010) bar:7 color:blue from:1940 till:1946 text: bar:7 color:blue from:1951 till:2010 text: bar:8 color:tan1 from:1936 till:1940 text:Clayton (1936-present) bar:8 color:skyblue from:1940 till:1994 text: bar:8 color:powderblue from:1994 till:1996 text: bar:8 color:skyblue from:1996 till:2002 text: bar:8 color:powderblue from:2002 till:2021 text: bar:8 color:blue from:2021 till:2030 text: bar:9 color:tan1 from:1937 till:1940 text:Bruce (1937-present) bar:9 color:blue from:1940 till:2030 text: bar:10 color:tan1 from:1938 till:1940 text:Birchwood (1938-present) bar:10 color:blue from:1940 till:2030 text: bar:11 color:tan1 from:1939 till:1940 text:Prairie Farm (1939-present) bar:11 color:skyblue from:1940 till:1994 text: bar:11 color:powderblue from:1994 till:1996 text: bar:11 color:blue from:1996 till:2002 text: bar:11 color:powderblue from:2002 till:2021 text: bar:11 color:blue from:2021 till:2030 text: bar:12 color:skyblue from:1956 till:1957 text:Balsam Lake (1956-1957) bar:13 color:skyblue from:1956 till:1957 text:Centuria (1956-1957) bar:14 color:blue from:1956 till:1961 text:Tony (1956-1961) bar:15 color:skyblue from:1959 till:2030 text:Siren (1959-present) bar:16 color:blue from:1961 till:2030 text:Flambeau (1961-present) bar:17 color:blue from:1968 till:2030 text:Winter (1968-present) bar:18 color:blue from:1970 till:2030 text:Lake Holcombe (1970-present) bar:19 color:blue from:1970 till:1978 text:Prentice (1970-1978) bar:20 color:skyblue from:1980 till:2002 text:Northwood (1980-present) bar:20 color:powderblue from:2002 till:2021 text: bar:20 color:skyblue from:2021 till:2030 text: bar:21 color:skyblue from:1994 till:2030 text:Frederic (1994-present) bar:22 color:skyblue from:1994 till:2030 text:Grantsburg (1994-present) bar:23 color:skyblue from:1994 till:2030 text:Luck (1994-present) bar:24 color:skyblue from:1994 till:2030 text:Webster (1994-present) bar:25 color:blue from:1998 till:2030 text:Cornell (1998-present) bar:26 color:skyblue from:2002 till:2021 text:St. Croix Falls (2002-2021) bar:27 color:skyblue from:2002 till:2030 text:Unity (2002-present) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 start:1934

Membership map

List of state champions

Fall sports

Winter sports

Spring sports

List of conference champions

Boys Basketball

Girls Basketball

Football

8-player (1938-1966)

11-player (1964-present)

8-player (2012-2023)

References

External links

Lakeland Conference (official website)
{{Wisconsin high school athletic conferences Sports organizations established in 1934 Wisconsin high school sports conferences 1934 establishments in Wisconsin