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Sioux Valley Conference

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The Sioux Valley Conference was a high school athletic conference in northwest Iowa that existed until 1988-89. The conference dates back to at least the early 1950s and is notable for its stability throughout its history. Until 1988, no school left or joined the league, although a few schools did grow through consolidation over the years. During its existence, it was one of the premier small school conferences in the state for boy's sports, boasting six state champions in basketball, two in football (in the 9 short years it coexisted with the state playoffs), and six in track & field.

Members

The league had eight members for most of its history:

  • Alta Cyclones
  • Aurelia Bulldogs
  • Hartley Hawks
  • Milford Pioneers
  • Paullina Panthers
  • Primghar Bulldogs
  • Sanborn Bulldogs
  • Sutherland Tigers

In the 1980s, a series of consolidations led to Hartley being rebranded as Hartley-Melvin and Milford as Okoboji. In 1988, Paullina, Primghar, and Sutherland entered a three-way sharing agreement and became known as the South O'Brien Wolverines. Hartley-Melvin also merged with Sanborn to become the H-M-S Hawks. Alta and Aurelia opted to share sports under the Alta-Aurelia Warriors moniker. For a short time during the 1970s Harris-Lake Park was also a football-only member of the conference, replacing Sanborn in the loop.

History

The Sioux Valley was composed of 8 schools: Alta, Aurelia, Hartley, Milford, Sanborn, Sutherland, Paullina, and Primghar. The conference survived for several years as a stable league, but in the late 1980s a series of mergers led to the dissolution of the league. Hartley had begun sharing all sports with the much smaller Melvin school district in 1980-81. In 1987-88, Milford merged with Arnolds Park taking on the Okoboji Pioneers moniker. The new school remained a member of the Sioux Valley, but was much larger than some of the other schools in the conference at the time. In 1988-89, league membership was reduced to six due to two separate consolidations. Hartley-Melvin began sharing sports with Sanborn, as the H-M-S Hawks. Meanwhile Paullina and Primghar entered into an all-sports sharing agreement. In football membership dwindled to four that year, as Aurelia began an all-sports sharing agreement with Alta and Sutherland joined Paullina-Primghar under the South O'Brien Wolverines moniker. Following the 1988-89 season, the league officially disbanded with H-M-S joining the Siouxland Conference, South O'Brien competing in the War Eagle Conference, and Alta-Aurelia joining the Twin Lakes. Okoboji competed as an independent for one season before joining H-M-S in the Siouxland.

State Qualifiers

Baseball

  • Paulllina: 1984-2nd

Men's Baskeball

  • Alta: 1931, 1971-2nd, 1972-Class A Champs, 1975-3rd
  • Aurelia: 1974, 1978-3rd
  • Paullina: 1954-4th, 1968-Class A Champs, 1969-Class A Champs, 1970-Class A Champs, 1980, 1981-Class 1A Champs, 1982-Class 1A Champs
  • Sutherland: 1967

Football

  • Aurelia: 1986-2nd
  • Milford: 1980
  • Paullina: 1981-Class A Champs, 1984
  • Paullina-Primghar: 1989
  • Primghar: 1982
  • Sanborn: 1985-2nd, 1987
  • Sutherland: 1982, 1983-Class A Champs

Men's Cross Country

  • Alta: 1964-2nd
  • H-M-S: 1988
  • Milford: 1973-Class C State Champs, 1979
  • Sanborn: 1974-Class D State Champs, 1976; 1975 Class D Individual Champion (Dwayne Camarigg)
  • Sutherland: 1966 Class C Individual Champion (Jerry Lundquist)

Men's Golf

  • Aurelia: 1989-Class 1A State Champs; 1979-Individual 2nd, 1985-Class 1A Individual Champion (Brian Lockin), 1986-Class 1A Individual Champion (Brian Lockin), 1989-Individual 2nd
  • Hartley-Melvin: 1986-Class 1A State Champs; 1983-Individual 2nd
  • Milford: 1985-2nd; 1975-Individual 2nd, 1979-Class A Individual Champion (Steve Schnell)
  • Paullina: 1980-Class A Individual Champion (Todd Binder)
  • Primghar: 1966-Individual 2nd

Men's Track & Field

  • Alta: 1972-Class B State Champs, 1989-2nd
  • Aurelia: 1956-2nd, 1962-2nd, 1966-2nd, 1982-2nd
  • Paullina: 1962-Class B State Champs, 1981-Class C State Champs, 1984-2nd(t), 1985-2nd(t)
  • Primghar: 1956-Class C State Champs
  • Sanborn: 1988-Class 1A State Champs
  • Sutherland: 1972-2nd, 1983-2nd, 1985-2nd(t)

Women's Basketball

  • Aurelia: 1978
  • Hartley: 1944-4th, 1946, 1948-4th, 1949-4th, 1953, 1974, 1981
  • Hartley-Melvin: 1983-4th, 1984, 1987, 1988
  • H-M-S: 1989
  • Sanborn: 1970

Women's Golf

  • Sanborn: 1987-Class 1A State Champs

Women's Track & Field

  • Milford: 1979-2nd, 1987-2nd(t)
  • Sanborn: 1987-2nd(t)

Legacy

The eight schools that made up the Sioux Valley are now the primary makeup for four separate IHSAA schools: Okoboji of Milford, H-M-S of Hartley, South O'Brien of Paullina, and Alta-Aurelia. Following the breakup of the league, H-M-S and South O'Brien became officially consolidate school districts, joining the new Okoboji school district. Alta and Aurelia continued to compete as a one team until 1996, when the schools resumed individual athletic programs. In 2010-11, the schools rejoined and once again took the Warriors name. Today, they continued to compete together and share high schools and middle schools, but the two districts remain legally separate entities.

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