Lenawee Christian close to joining Tri-County Conference

ADRIAN — The Tri-County Conference is preparing to add Lenawee Christian to its conference if the school boards of the six remaining league schools OK the move over the next five or six weeks.

The TCC athletic directors voted unanimously Thursday to move forward with Lenawee Christian’s application. Madison abstained from voting since it will no longer be in the TCC going forward. Madison will depart the TCC after this school year to join the Lenawee County Athletic Association.

Craig Anderson, Lenawee Christian athletic director, said he is hopeful the TCC accepts them into the conference.

“Time will tell,” Anderson said. “We’ll go about doing what we do for now and see what the boards decide. Hopefully we can create some new rivalries.”

With Madison leaving the league and only six teams remaining, TCC athletic directors have been exploring options to keep the league together. Those options have included discussions of a possible merger with the Toledo Area Athletic Conference and a meeting with Big 8 officials on some sort of partnership. No other decisions have moved forward to date.

Robert Wright, former Sand Creek athletic director and now a TCC advisor, confirmed the league’s vote took place at its monthly meeting Thursday.

LCS, which has a current enrollment of 174, has applied to the TCC before, but this is the first time the application has gone this far.

“Time’s change and things are different now,” Anderson said.

He said LCS will be better served for things like transportation costs by joining the TCC for sports such as basketball, volleyball, track and field, baseball and softball. If the move is approved, LCS will remain a member of the Southern Michigan 8-man Football League, which consists mainly of teams from the South Central Athletic Association, which LCS competes in for track and field and cross country.

“The SCAA has been a good fit for us in football,” Anderson said.

For LCS to be added to the TCC for the 2023-24 school year, five of the six board of education’s will have to approve the addition.

“I think many conferences, like the TCC, are looking for stability in the upcoming years and expanding is at the forefront of every conversation,” said Britton Deerfield athletic director Erik Johnson. “Many of the TCC schools have a good relationship with LCS and already compete in all or some of the varsity sports offered with them.”

Summerfield athletic director Kelly Kalb said league officials have pulled together to try and continue the rich history of the league. That included finding and identifying new members.

“Quickly it became very clear that the TCC has so much to offer,” Kalb said. “The member schools know that the TCC is unique. The schools of the Tri-County Conference remain firmly committed to recruiting those schools in the region that have the ‘right stuff’ to strengthen the TCC footprint.”

Some league officials indicated the TCC may not be done looking for new members.

“We understand that timing is everything and the decision to change conference allegiance and membership can be a difficult one,” Kalb said. “(But) we believe membership in the Tri-County Conference will remain a strong and viable solution not only for LCS, but for other districts in the near future.”

Lenawee Christian has been a state powerhouse in several sports in recent years, winning a two girls’ state basketball championships, a state soccer title and making deep tournament runs in multiple sports. The Cougar football team has won back-to-back state titles in 8-player football. LCS had been scheduling up to 20 different opponents each in basketball, a grueling task, but rewarding, Anderson said.

“We looked at that as an opportunity for our kids,” he said. “They really got to play in some unique settings and situations. We’ve always embraced that.”

Starting this year, basketball schedules have expanded to 22 varsity games. If LCS joins the league next year, the league will have a 12-game schedule, still leaving room for 10 non-league games.

LCS’s enrollment is slightly below Morenci’s 186, but above Summerfield (174) and Britton Deerfield (165). Erie Mason (353), Whiteford (262) and Sand Creek (251) are the largest three schools in the league.

School boards around the TCC are expected to begin voting on the move this month, but some may not be able to have it on the agenda until November.

Wright said the TCC will remain in conversations with other schools and leagues, especially about football. After this season, the league will be down to four 11-player football teams – Erie Mason, Whiteford, Summerfield and Sand Creek.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Lenawee Christian close to joining Tri-County Conference