Centreville approves adding Lawrence to conference

Centreville Board of Education members last week OK’d a request from Lawrence Public Schools to join the Southwest 10 athletic conference.

The formality was approved and still needs support from a majority of the league’s other nine current members.

With consideration to the one-hour distance between Centreville and Lawrence, interim superintendent Chad Brady hinted how Centreville might want to consider taking a hard look at its conference affiliation long-term.

Board member Larry Walton noted the addition of Lawrence would add a fourth league member whose distance is already an hour or more from Centreville.

In addition to Centreville, the league’s current membership is comprised of White Pigeon and Mendon in St. Joseph County, Comstock in Kalamazoo County, Marcellus and Cassopolis in Cass County, and Bloomingdale, Decatur, Hartford and Bangor in Van Buren County.

Lawrence is in Van Buren County, where road trips to Bangor, Bloomingdale and Hartford are about 70 minutes from Centreville.

If Lawrence is granted membership, it would begin play in the 2022-23 academic year.