High schools: Class 1A boys soccer finals relocate to East Peoria

The Class 1A boys soccer state finals will move to East Peoria's Eastside Centre and the soccer home for East Peoria High School, Cornie Clatt Field, starting with the next spring and continuing through the 2021 season.

For the past five seasons, the 1A semifinals and championship were played at the Corn Crib, the home facility for the Normal Cornbelters, a professional baseball team.

The IHSA announced the news after its Board of Directors met for a regularly scheduled meeting in Bloomington on Monday.

"We are excited to begin a new chapter of state soccer at a venue and in a host community that the IHSA has enjoyed a storied partnership with," said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson in a news release. "East Peoria High School's stadium and Cornie Clatt Field have undergone extensive renovations recently that will make for a top-notch state final venue and experience. Working with veteran hosts like EPHS and the Eastside Centre only makes us more confident in this decision."

The Eastside Centre has hosted the softball state championships on adjacent fields since the 2001 season.

• The Class 3A and 4A baseball finals will remain at Silver Cross Field in Joliet, and the dual team wrestling finals will stay at U.S. Cellular Coliseum as both sites were awarded extensions through the 2021 season.

• The Board also appoved a recommendation from the IHSA's Sports Medicine Advisory Committee to implement Specific Guidelines for Managing Heat and Heat Illness. The guidelines will be in place for all state series contests and all member schools are encouraged to adopt the guidelines for regular-season contests. The IHSA is preparing additional information that will be released on its website and sent to member schools by early next week.

"This is a policy that our Sports Medicine Advisory Committee has been working on for several years," Anderson said. "It will take some time and resources to get our schools up to speed on these new heat guidelines, but it is for the safety of our student-athletes, so we know that they will embrace the concept."