Difference between revisions of "Peoria Area League"

Revision as of 23:32, 17 May 2023

The Peoria Area League or PAL is a league of high school quiz bowl programs in Central Illinois. It is made up of two divisions - Varsity & JV, composed by schools from around Peoria, Woodford, & Tazewell counties of both classes and various athletic conferences.

Founded in 1997, the league historically was one of the more competitive circuits in Illinois scholastic bowl. Where a top finish in the league indicated potential playoff success, especially for Class A teams. IHSSBCA Hall of Fame coach & Robert Grierson Friend of Scholastic Bowl Award recipient, John Rathbun was the league director for many years. Dunlap coach, Aaron Barrington, is the current director.

The league competes over 5 weeks across January & February on Tuesday nights in triangular meets. Culminating in a tournament for the top placing teams. The league has usually recognized the top-10 scoring players in each division. In 2024, the PAL will be split into two divisions - a "large school" & "small school" division.

For many years, the Peoria Area League used house-written question sets composed of 20 toss ups & "IHSA"-style distribution. In the modern era this has become a point of contention despite many members also resisting adapting to contemporary styles of quiz bowl gameplay (ie powers, negs, no rebounds, etc.) Compounding attempts to modernize the league, the geographic size & overlap between athletic conferences has rendered moving to NAQT an unrealistic solution to this issue. 2023 saw the first to mirror an outside question set, resulting in stronger scoring across the board.

During the COVID-19 2021 season, the Peoria Area League was held over Discord.

Current Members

School	Location	Mascot	County	Enrollment	IHSA Class	Masonic Class	Athletic Conference
Limestone	Bartonville, IL	Rockets	Peoria	930	2A	3A	Mid-Illini
Brimfield	Brimfield, IL	Indians	Peoria	221	1A	1A	Prairieland
Canton	Canton, IL	Little Giants	Peoria	683	2A	3A	Mid-Illini
Dunlap	Dunlap, IL	Eagles	Peoria	1287	2A	3A	Mid-Illini
East Peoria	East Peoria, IL	Raiders	Tazewell	985	2A	3A	Mid-Illini
Elmwood	Elmwood, IL	Trojans	Peoria	204	1A	1A	Prairieland
Farmington	Farmington, IL	Farmers	Peoria	410	1A	2A	Prairieland
Illinois Valley Central	Chillicothe, IL	Grey Ghosts	Peoria	610	2A	2A	Illini-Prairie
Metamora	Metamora, IL	Redbirds	Woodford	974	2A	3A	Mid-Illini
Morton	Morton, IL	Potters	Tazewell	961	2A	3A	Mid-Illini
Pekin	Pekin, IL	Dragons	Tazewell	1800	2A	3A	Mid-Illini
Peoria Christian	Peoria, IL	Chargers	Peoria	220	1A	2A	Inter-County Athletic
Peoria Heights	Peoria, IL	Patriots	Peoria	207	1A	1A	Inter-County Athletic
Manual Academy	Peoria, IL	Rams	Peoria	618	2A	2A	Big 12
Peoria High School	Peoria, IL	Lions	Peoria	1217	2A	3A	Big 12
Notre Dame	Peoria, IL	Irish	Peoria	729	2A	3A	Big 12
Princeville	Princeville, IL	Princes	Peoria	236	1A	1A	Lincoln Trail
Richwoods	Peoria, IL	Knights	Peoria	1301	2A	2A	Big 12
Washington	Washington, IL	Panthers	Tazewell	1369	2A	3A	Mid-Illini

Former Members

Eureka
Galesburg
Quest Academy
Spoon River Valley (London Mills)
Roanoke-Benson
Woodruff †

Peoria Area League History (Varsity)

Year	Tournament Champions	2nd Place	3rd Place	4th Place	Regular Season Champions
2023	Dunlap	East Peoria	Illinois Valley Central	Limestone	Dunlap
2022	Dunlap	Washington	Notre Dame	Illinois Valley Central	Dunlap & Illinois Valley Central
2021	Illinois Valley Central	Metamora	Dunlap	Notre Dame	Notre Dame
2020	Dunlap				Washington
2019	Dunlap				Dunlap
2018	Dunlap				Dunlap
2016	Metamora	Dunlap	Illinois Valley Central	Richwoods	Illinois Valley Central
2007	Washington	Illinois Valley Central

Competitive Success

IHSA State Tournament

2017: Dunlap - 4th Place (2A)
2015: Peoria Christian - 2nd Place (1A)
2013: Peoria Christian - 1st Place (1A)
2012: Peoria Christian - 1st Place (1A)
2009: Peoria Christian - 4th Place (1A)
2006: Illinois Valley Central - 2nd Place (1A)
2005: Eureka - 2nd Place (1A)
1999: Eureka - 3rd Place (1A)

Masonic State Tournament

2013: Peoria Christian - 2nd Place, Elmwood - 4th Place (A)
2012: Peoria Christian - 1st Place, Peoria Heights - 2nd Place (A)
2011: Peoria Christian - 4th Place (A)
2009: Peoria Christian - 3rd Place
2006: Peoria Heights - 2nd Place, Elmwood - 4th Place
2005: Morton - 3rd Place
2004: Morton - 2nd Place
2002: Limestone - 2nd Place
2000: Eureka - 4th Place
1997: Woodruff - 1st Place

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 Founded in 1997, the league historically was one of the more competitive circuits in Illinois scholastic bowl. Where a top finish in the league indicated potential playoff success, especially for Class A teams. [[IHSSBCA Hall of Fame]] coach & [[Robert Grierson Friend of Scholastic Bowl Award]] recipient, John Rathbun was the league director for many years. Dunlap coach, Aaron Barrington, is the current director.
-The league competes over 5 weeks across January & February on Tuesday nights in meets consisting of four teams. Culminating in a tournament for the top placing teams. The league has usually recognized the top-10 scoring players in each division. In 2024, the PAL will be split into two divisions - a "large school" & "small school" division.
+The league competes over 5 weeks across January & February on Tuesday nights in triangular meets. Culminating in a tournament for the top placing teams. The league has usually recognized the top-10 scoring players in each division. In 2024, the PAL will be split into two divisions - a "large school" & "small school" division.
 For many years, the Peoria Area League used house-written question sets composed of 20 toss ups & "IHSA"-style distribution. In the modern era this has become a point of contention despite many members also resisting adapting to contemporary styles of quiz bowl gameplay (ie powers, negs, no rebounds, etc.) Compounding attempts to modernize the league, the geographic size & overlap between athletic conferences has rendered moving to NAQT an unrealistic solution to this issue. 2023 saw the first to mirror an outside question set, resulting in stronger scoring across the board.