North Shore High Schools Top Sports Rankings

LINCOLNSHIRE, IL — North Shore schools dominated a new nationwide ranking of the best public high schools for athletes, as Stevenson, Glenbrook South and Glenbrook North took the top three spots on the list. In fact, four of the top six schools were in Illinois, as were six of the top 12 and 10 of the top 50 schools on this year's list.

It's the third year the school and neighborhood rankings and review site, Niche has produced the list, combining statistics about student participation in sports and funding for athletic programs with written reviews to generate the rankings.

Illinois (along with New York and New Jersey) performed especially well in the rankings due to a combination of good surveys and high per student expenses on a school district level, according to a spokesperson for Niche.

Stevenson, GBS and GBN have been improved significantly on their rankings from previous years. GBN rose from 30th in 2016 to be ranked third this year, while GBS was up from 10th, and Stevenson topped the list after being ranked 13th last year, the spokesperson said.

The Pittsburgh-based company said it compiled the 2017 Best High School for Athletes in America rankings using data from 12,814 schools in the country.

Find all of the top 50 schools and the list's methodology below:

1. Adlai Stevenson (Lincolnshire, Illinois)
2. Glenbrook South (Glenview, Illinois)
3. Glenbrook North (Northbrook, Illinois)
4. Pascack Valley (Hillsdale, New Jersey)
5. Garden City (New York)
6. Homewood-Flossmoor (Flossmoor, Illinois)
7. Saline (Michigan)
8. Fairfield Warde (Connecticut)
9. Minnetonka (Minnesota)
10. Glastonbury (Connecticut)
11. Libertyville (Illinois)
12. Hinsdale Central (Illinois)
13. George W. Hewlett (New York)
14. Cambridge Rindge and Latin (Massachusetts)
15. North Rockland (Thiells, New York)
16. Grosse Pointe South (Michigan)
17. Arrowhead (Heartland, Wisconsin)
18. Lincoln Way West (New Lenox, Illinois)
19. Southern Regional (Manahawkin, New Jersey)
20. Lower Merion (Ardmore, Pennsylvania)
21. Lake Forest (Illinois)
22. North Allegheny (Wexford, Pennsylvania)
23. Edina (Minnesota)
24. Hartland (Michigan)
25. River Hill (Clarksville, Maryland)
26. Glenbard West (Glen Ellyn, Illinois)
27. Massapequa (New York)
28. Penfield (New York)
29. Essex (Essex Junction, Vermont)
30. Bay Shore (New York)
31. Souhegan (Amherst, New Hampshire)
32. Manhasset (New York)
33. Commack (New York)
34. Mount Hebron (Ellicott City, Maryland)
35. Simsbury (Connecticut)
36. Cary-Grove (Illinois)
37. Staples (Westport, Connecticut)
38. Wilton (Connecticut)
39. Suffern (New York)
40. East Grand Rapids (Michigan)
41. River Dell (Oradell, New Jersey)
42. Wayzata (Plymouth, Minnesota)
43. New Hartford (New York)
44. Pelham (New York)
45. Wayne Hills (New Jersey)
46. Wyomissing (Pennsylvania)
47. Eastridge (Rochester, New York)
48. Montclair (New Jersey)
49. Hanover (New Hampshire)
50. Oyster Bay (New York)

Half of the results are weighted by reviews of athletics from students and teachers. Twenty percent of the score is calculated by the number of sports available at the school, while ten percent weight is given to the amount of money spent on sports per student, the number of girls participating in sports and the number of boys participating in sports, according to Niche.

Photo | Stevenson High School | Patch file