Lake Michigan Conference (LMC) |
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Established | 1997 |
Division | MHSAA |
Members | 8 |
Sports fielded | 20 (men's: 10; women's: 10) |
Region | Northern Michigan |
Headquarters | East Jordan, Michigan |
Commissioner | Phyllis Olszewski |
The Lake Michigan Conference is an interscholastic athletic conference affiliated with the Michigan High School Athletic Association. It is located in Northern Michigan and contains eight teams that encompasses six counties: Antrim County, Charlevoix County, Crawford County, Emmet County, Grand Traverse County, and Kalkaska County.
The Lake Michigan Conference was started in 1997, when 6 members of the old Great Northern Lower Peninsula Conference- Lake Michigan Division (Boyne City, Charlevoix, East Jordan, Elk Rapids, Harbor Springs, and Traverse City St. Francis) along with GNLP-Lake Huron Division Kalkaska left after the deformation of the GNLP. The membership stayed the same until 2003, when Grayling, a former Lake Huron Division Rival of Kalkaska, left the Northeast Michigan Conference. This gave the conference the 8 teams that it has today. In 2010, conference athletic directors voted to eliminate St. Francis from participating in football effective in 2012. Elk Rapids and Grayling agreed to continue their series, while St. Francis will play two other LMC teams on a three-year rotation. The LMC has also extended an invitation to St. Ignace to join. On January 14, 2011, it was announced that St. Ignace will join the Ski-Valley Conference. Following the 2013 season the LMC and the neighboring Northwest Conference merged for football only, creating the Northern Michigan Football League. The league was split into two divisions based on enrollment and competitiveness. The Leader division consisted of the larger and more accomplished programs including, St. Francis, Maple City-Glen Lake, Elk Rapids, Boyne City, Kingsley, Benzie Central and Grayling. The Legacy Division consisted of Frankfort, Charlevoix, Kalkaska, East Jordan, Suttons Bay and Harbor Springs. Mesick, an original member of the Northwest Conference, opted against joining the NMFL and instead joined the five schools of the Mid-State North Conference, creating the Northwestern Six Football League.