| 1889 | First track and field meet involving Illinois high schools held at Chicago for Cook County schools. |
| 1893 | University of Illinois sponsors first statewide track meet, held at Illinois Field on the north side of the Urbana campus. Athletes from 19 schools participate, and Peoria (H.S.) wins the championship pennant. |
| 1896 | Triple jump contested for last time until 1974. |
| 1900 | Because of wet conditions, many running events held indoors at shorter lengths. |
| 1901 | Discus throw contested for first time; bicycle races contested for last time. |
| 1914 | State track meet split into two classes, A and B, for large and small schools. |
| 1916 | This year only, Class C meet is conducted for academies and out-of-state schools. |
| 1917-18 | State track meet not held during World War I. |
| 1919 | State track meet resumes with two classes. 1920 — Hammer throw contested for last time. |
| 1926 | Meet moved to Memorial Stadium in Champaign, IHSAA introduces district qualifying meets and restores the state final meet to a single class. |
| 1929 | 50-yard dash contested for last time. |
| 1934 | Segregated high schools of southern Illinois allowed to particpate in special district meet, with winners advancing to state final meet. |
| 1940 | Javelin throw contested for last time. |
| 1946 | Special segregated district meet discontinued. |
| 1972 | On account of a scheduling conflict, state final meet held at O'Brien Stadium in Charleston, on the campus of Eastern Illinois University. |
| 1973 | State final meet returns to Memorial Stadium. |
| 1974 | State final meet returns to O'Brien Stadium; triple jump restored to state meet. |
| 1975 | State final meet split into two classes. Class A (small schools) is won by Maple Park (Kaneland), while Class AA (large schools) is won by East St. Louis (Sr.). |
| 1975 | Started using Accutrak (FAT) |
| 1994 | 100th annual boys state final track and field meet held at O'Brien Stadium. |
| 1997 | Started using Finish Lynx (FAT) |
| 2009 | State final meet split into three classes |
| 2010 | Discontinued using back-up Finish Line Timers |