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Port Byron Riverdale High School was Ram tough in the Three Rivers Conference this past school year.
The Rams claimed conference championships in boys cross country and boys golf and a TRAC West division title in girls basketball. Riverdale also tied for second for TRAC West boys basketball, placed second in softball, third in wrestling and claimed upper division finishes for both boys and girls track.
That all adds up for Riverdale’s first BCR Three Rivers Conference All-Sports Championship, edging two-time defending champion Sherrard, 86-80.5.
“We are thrilled to have won this award this year,” Riverdale athletic director/football coach Guy Diericx said. “As one of the smallest schools in the conference, we are proud of the competitive level we are able to achieve in our large conference. As a district and as a collective activity/athletic coaching staff, we strive to teach our student athletes about life through our different endeavors we encounter during competition.
“We have a great group of coaches and mentors who lead competitive teams, but also teach life lessons to help them become productive members of society later on in life.”
Princeton, which won Three Rivers East division championships in girls basketball and football with a three-way tie for second in volleyball and a two-way tie for second in girls track, finished third with 76.5 points.
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In its last year as a member of the Three Rivers, Bureau Valley finished seventh with 62 points, following Newman (67.5), Kewanee (65) and Monmouth-Roseville (63).
The Storm came on strong this spring with a first-place finish in boys track and tie for second in girls track.
Each school is awarded points for its sports finishes based on the number of teams in that sport, with the exception of the two division. With the Three Rivers East division short one team this school year with the departure of St. Bede, those schools have been given an extra point for their division finishes to even out with their West counterparts.
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Schools in the Three Rivers East this past school year were Bureau Valley, Hall, Kewanee, Mendota, Newman and Princeton.
Members on the Three Rivers West side were Riverdale along with Erie-Prophetstown, Monmouth-Roseville, Morrison, Orion, Rockridge and Sherrard.
This is the seventh year the BCR Three Rivers Conference All-Sports championship has been rewarded, with two years (2019-20/2020-21) lost to COVID-19.
Rockridge won the first championship in 2015-16 followed by a two-year run by Newman (2016-17, 2017-18), Orion in 2018-19 and Sherrard in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Changes ahead
The Three Rivers will have a new look this fall with the addition of a new member, and the loss of two.
Bureau Valley and Morrison will be leaving the Three Rivers with Aledo Mercer County coming in from the Lincoln Trail Conference, swapping places with the Storm. Morrison will join the NUIC.
Basketball, volleyball, baseball, and softball divisions will be based on geography.
Erie-Prophetstown will shift to the Three Rivers East along side holdovers Hall, Kewanee, Mendota, Newman and Princeton.
Mercer County comes aboard in the Three Rivers West with Monmouth-Roseville, Orion, Riverdale, Rockridge, and Sherrard.
The divisions for football will be based on enrollment rather than geography.
The Big School Division will be made up of Kewanee (567 enrollment), Princeton (515), Monmouth-Roseville (515), Mendota (507), Sherrard (423) and Hall (396), based on 2023-24 enrollment figures.
The Small School Division will consist of E-P (394), Mercer County (376), Rockridge (361), Newman (346.5 multiplied), Riverdale (321) and Orion (307).
The remaining sports - wrestling, golf, cross county, track and soccer - will continue as one combined conference.
The Three Rivers’ expansion over a decade ago pushed the conference from 10 members to 14. Kewanee joined the Big Rivers/Three Rivers in 2010 and Hall followed in 2012. The Three Rivers went into full force with Princeton, Orion, Rockridge and Sherrard all joining in 2013. Monmouth-Roseville came on in 2017 from the West Central and Mendota followed in 2021 from the Big Northern.
The conference will have lost five members in eight years by the time the next school year rolls around this fall, including charter members Amboy (2016), Fulton (2021) and Morrison (2024) along with St. Bede (2023) and Bureau Valley (2024).
Here’s the chart for the 2024 BCR All-Sports Standings
| School | VB | FB | BG | GG | BXC | GXC | BS | BBB | GBB | WR | BT | GT | SB | BA | Totals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverdale | 2.5 | 5 | 12 | X | 8 | 4 | 4 | 5.5 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 86 |
| Sherrard | 4.5 | 3 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 5.5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 5.5 | 7 | 80.5 |
| Princeton | 5.5 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 11.5 | 5.5 | 3 | 76.5 |
| Newman | 7 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 6 | X | X | 4 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 5.5 | 7 | 67.5 |
| Kewanee | 3.5 | 5 | 1 | X | X | X | 5 | 7 | 3.5 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 65 |
| Mon-Rose | 4.5 | 5 | 5 | X | X | X | 6 | 2 | 6 | 2.5 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 63 |
| Bureau Valley | 5.5 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 3 | X | X | 3 | 4.5 | X | 13 | 11.5 | 4 | 4.5 | 62 |
| Rockridge | 2.5 | 7 | 4 | 7 | X | 3 | X | 7 | 3 | 7.5 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 60 |
| E-P | 6 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 5 | X | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 2.5 | 58.5 |
| Mendota | 3.5 | 2 | 10 | X | 4 | X | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2.5 | 1 | 5 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 47 |
| Orion | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | X | 1 | 1 | 3.5 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2.5 | 44 |
| Morrison | 1 | 6 | X | X | X | X | X | 3.5 | 4 | 7.5 | 11 | 2 | 5.5 | 1 | 41.5 |
| Hall | 2 | 3 | 9 | X | 1 | X | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2.5 | 6 | 39.5 |
* Notes: Three Rivers East schools were awarded an extra point in the four sports divided into divisional play to be equal to the Three Rivers West which has one more school. The conference/division champions in each sports are in bold.
All-Sports Honor Roll
This is the seventh year for the BCR’s Three Rivers All-Sports Race, with two years (2019-20/2020-21) lost to COVID-19.
2023-24 - Riverdale
2022-23 - Sherrard
2021-22 - Sherrard
2020-21 - None (COVID)
2019-20 - None (COVID)
2018-19 - Orion
2017-18 - Newman
2016-17 - Newman
2015-16 - Rockridge