The 2019-2020 sports year starts on Monday with the first official day of practice for football, volleyball, and cross-country. That first day means the start of a new era for Washington and the Southeast Conference with the addition of Burlington into the league.
In the spring of 2018 it was decided that Burlington would leave the mostly Quad City-based Mississippi Athletic Conference and join the SEC for geographic and enrollment reasons. It is just a new transition for the high school however, as Burlington Middle School was already competing in the Southeast Conference. The addition will be a boost in competition for the league, as the Grayhounds compete in class 4A for most sports and current schools of the SEC are mostly 3A. While the Demon football team will not face off with Burlington this year, cross-country will see them a few times and volleyball will get their first crack on September 24th.
The Grayhounds join the Demons, Fairfield, Fort Madison, Mount Pleasant, and Keokuk in the now six-team league.