With the 2023-24 IHSA sports calendar ending over the weekend, Mercer County High School is officially the newest member of the Three Rivers Athletic Conference (TRAC).
This marks the first time in 18 years that Aledo/Mercer County has shared a conference with longtime local rivals Rockridge, Sherrard, Monmouth-Roseville, and Orion. Aledo left the now-defunct Olympic Conference to join the Lincoln Trail Conference (LTC) in 2006 and remained in the league through the consolidation with Westmer to become Mercer County. Westmer was an LTC member since 1989.
Mercer County High School Athletic Director Dustin Murray spoke to WRMJ back in August about the move to the TRAC. He says the school district has been looking forward to getting back together with the historical rivals.
The district approved moving from the Lincoln Trail Conference (LTC) to the TRAC in the 2024-25 school year last April.
Morrison and Bureau Valley are departing from the TRAC in the 2024-25 school year, which makes the conference a 12-team league. Morrison is joining the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference and Bureau Valley is swapping places with Mercer County in the LTC.
Following the realignment, the TRAC is now split into divisions for football, basketball, baseball, softball, and volleyball. The football divisions are based on enrollment, while other sports are split into divisions based on geography. Golf, cross country, soccer, wrestling, and track and field are treated as one collective conference.
FOOTBALL DIVISIONS
Small School Division: Erie-Prophetstown, Mercer County, Newman, Orion, Riverdale, Rockridge
Big School Division: Hall, Kewanee, Mendota, Monmouth-Roseville, Princeton, Sherrard
BASKETBALL, BASEBALL, SOFTBALL, & VOLLEYBALL DIVISIONS
West Division: Mercer County, Monmouth-Roseville, Orion, Riverdale, Rockridge, Sherrard
East Division: Erie-Prophetstown, Hall, Kewanee, Mendota, Newman, Princeton