Princeton High School (Illinois) - Athletics & Extra Curricular Activities

Athletics & Extra Curricular Activities

The school colors of Princeton High School are officially blue and gray, though over the last several years various uniforms have generally been blue and white. Some teams tried to introduce black into their uniforms, but the school's booster club threatened to cut funding if the teams did not go back to blue and white.

From 1939-2011, Princeton's athletic teams competed as members of the North Central Illinois Conference. However, with the dissolution of the NCIC after the 2010-2011 school year, the Tigers were left without a conference affiliation, as Princeton was the only school from the NCIC to fail to secure an invitation from another conference.

Princeton's main rival for many years has been former NCIC conference-mate Hall High School from nearby Spring Valley. The rivalry is probably the most intense when the two schools meet in football; it is uncertain as yet what impact the end of the NCIC will have on the relationship between the two schools. A more recent rivalry has developed with nearby Bureau Valley High School, which was just formed in 1995. Many heated battles have taken place between the two teams in basketball. They have met for several intense Regional and Sectional final games, however their rivalry does not extend to football because the two teams are in different conferences and different IHSA classes. Another rivalry is between Princeton and Kewanee High School. Despite the fact that the teams compete annually for a traveling trophy in football, this rivalry is much less intense than those with Hall and Bureau Valley.

One of Princeton's school song, "Princeton Loyalty," was written by Princeton native and renowned organist Virgil Fox. Princeton's fight song, "Let's Win This Game" is also used by Concord University.

Princeton High School offers the following interscholastic sports at the varsity level:

Boys Baseball
Boys and Girls Basketball
Cheerleading
Boys and Girls Cross Country
Boys Football
Boys and Girls Golf
Pom Pons
Boys and Girls Soccer
Girls Softball
Boys and Girls Tennis
Boys and Girls Track and Field
Girls Volleyball
Boys Wrestling

Princeton has enjoyed some success on the state level of athletics competitions. The Girls Volleyball team won the state title in 1990. This is the only state championship Princeton has won. However Princeton has trophied in other sports at the state level as well:

1979 Boys Cross Country 2nd Place
1980 Boys Cross Country 2nd Place
1981 Boys Track and Field 3rd Place
1989 Boys Football 2nd Place
2008 Girls Volleyball 4th Place

Extra Curricular Activities Include:

The Music and Theatre Departments have a full program that involve over 225 students each year on average. Concert Choir and Chamber Choir are offered as regular classes. Concert Band, Beginning Band, and Technical Theater are also offered as regular classes.

The Fine Arts Department puts on the following activities each year: 1) Fall Choir Concert & Art Show 2) Fall Play 3) Madrigal Dinner Performance 4) Holiday Combined concert featuring Chamber Choir, Concert Choir and Band and Art Show 5) Winter Band Concert 6) Spring Choir Concert & Art Show 7) Spring Musical 8) Annual Ice Cream Social featuring multiple vocal and instrumental music group performances.

The Vocal and Instrumental Music Departments also have student participants for the NCIC, IMEA and IHSA solo and ensemble as well as group concert performances each year.

Other group extra curricular clubs and organizations include: 1) Student Council 2) First Class 3) National Honor Society 4) Scholastic Bowl (Varsity and Junior Varsity) 5) Journalism Team 6) Yearbook Club 7) Food Club 8) German Club 9) Lifesavers 10) Big Brother-Big Sister

The Art department, while having no official club, has individual students compete in the NCIC Art competition each year.