Most of the information in this survey was compiled directly from Illinois High School Association publications. Information about state final tournaments was taken from the various IHSA record books. Information about titles won prior to the state final was taken from back issues of the Illinois High School Athlete and the Illinois Interscholastic and from state tournament programs.
Between 1978 and 1982, the IHSA publications did not print for every sport the winners of the titles prior to the state final. To fill these gaps, newspapers from around the state have been searched for additional information. This research is not complete. The gaps that remain in the data are listed below.
The volume of the information obtained from IHSA publications makes it impossible to double-check every item with an independent source. Unfortunately, this means that mistakes in the original IHSA lists and there were certainly a few have been copied into these lists. We solicit your corrections and inquiries so that errors can be fixed.
All or many of the titles are missing from the following sport seasons:
Boys baseball: Old-style district tournaments are not included. There were up to 128 districts held across the state, some with only 2 teams competing, and these district winners were never listed in the IHSA magazines. We have chosen to exclude these titles.
Boys cross country: district and sectional titles from 1980, 1981
Boys gymnastics: district titles from 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981
Boys soccer: regional titles from 1982, 1983, 1991, 1992, 1993
Boys swimming and diving: district titles from 1975, sectional titles from 1986, 1987
Boys tennis: district titles from 1981
Boys track and field: district titles from 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981
Boys wrestling: district titles from 1977, 1978, 1981
Girls archery: district titles from 1980
Girls basketball: district titles from 1979
Girls bowling: district titles from 1973, 1981
Girls cross country: district and sectional titles from 1980
Girls golf: district titles from 1979, 1980
Girls gymnastics: district titles from 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981
Girls swimming and diving: district titles from 1976
Girls track and field: district titles from 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981