Duneland Athletic Conference

The Duneland Athletic Conference in Indiana

The Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) is a high school athletic conference in Indiana serving eight members of the Indiana High School Athletic Association. Member schools are located in the counties of Lake, LaPorte, and Porter along Indiana's Lake Michigan shore. Each school is classified based on enrollment as 6A or 5A for football and 4A for basketball, the classes for the largest schools in Indiana. The Duneland Conference is also quite known for its gymnastics programs which have won a combined total of 27 state championship and state runner-up titles.

Members

Current members

School Location Mascot Colors County Enrollment
08-09		 IHSAA Class IHSAA Class
Football		 Year Joined Previous Conference
Chesterton Chesterton Trojans           64
Porter		 1921 4A 6A 1970 Calumet
Crown Point Crown Point Bulldogs           45
Lake		 2426 4A 6A 1993 Lake Suburban
Lake Central Saint John Indians           45
Lake		 3141 4A 6A 2003 Independents
LaPorte LaPorte Slicers           46
LaPorte		 1956 4A 5A 1976 Northern Indiana
Merrillville Merrillville Pirates           45
Lake		 2241 4A 6A 1975 Lake Suburban
Michigan City Michigan City Wolves                46
LaPorte		 1919 4A 5A 1995 none (new school)
Portage Portage Indians           64
Porter		 2618 4A 6A 1970 Calumet
Valparaiso Valparaiso Vikings           64
Porter		 2072 4A 6A 1970 Independents

Former Members

School Location Mascot Colors County Year Joined Previous Conference Year Left Conference Joined
Hobart Hobart Brickies           45
Lake		 1970 Independents 2003 Lake
Michigan City Rogers Michigan City Raiders           46
LaPorte		 1972 none (new school) 1995 none (consolidated
into Michigan City)

Membership Timeline

Lake Central High School Crown Point High School Merrillville High School Michigan City High School Valparaiso High School Portage High School Chesterton High School

Sponsored Sports & Current Standings

Boys State Titles Runner-Up Girls State Titles Runner-Up
Baseball 5 1 Basketball 2 7
Basketball 0 3 Cross Country 6 7
Cross Country 10 10 Golf 2 1
Football 7 6 Gymnastics 12 9
Golf 0 0 Soccer 0 1
Soccer 3 1 Softball 5 2
Swimming & Diving 3 3 Swimming & Diving 0 4
Tennis 1 1 Tennis 0 0
Track & Field 0 0 Track & Field 0 1
Wrestling 1 1 Volleyball 0 0
Total 30 26 Total 27 32
Conference
Total		 57 58 115

History

2003 Expansion

In 2002, five schools - East Chicago Central High School, Elkhart Central High School, Lake Central High School, Mishawaka High School, & Penn High School - submitted proposals to join the DAC when expansion talks began following Hobart's announcement it would leave to join the Lake Athletic Conference.[1] Lake Central, Mishawaka and Penn were invited to join the DAC.[2] Mishawaka, shortly followed by Penn, opted to not join the conference.[3][4] These two schools cited wanting Elkhart Central and East Chicago Central to have been invited to join as well.[4] This coupled with the extensive travel times to Lake County schools and the time zone difference led to their decision to remain in the Northern Indiana Conference.[4]

Conference Champions

Football

Titles School Years
17 Hobart 1972, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986*, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1993*, 1996*, 1997
9 Valparaiso 1970, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1993*, 1995*, 2001, 2002, 2010
8 Merrillville 1977, 1986*, 1991, 1992, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2013
7 Portage 1971*, 1988, 1994, 1995, 1996*, 1998*, 1999
4 Chesterton 1971*, 2000, 2008, 2012
3 Crown Point 2005, 2006, 2007
2 LaPorte 1986*, 2003
1 Lake Central 2014
0 Michigan City
0 Rogers

Boys Basketball

Titles School Years
18 Merrillville 1975*, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1983*, 1987*, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999*, 2000, 2001, 2005*, 2006*, 2010*, 2011, 2013
17 Valparaiso 1971, 1975*, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1989, 1990*, 1993*, 1994, 2002, 2004, 2005*, 2006*, 2007, 2009, 2010*
5 LaPorte 1988*, 1990*, 1991, 1993*, 2003
4 Rogers 1974, 1979, 1984, 1987*
2 Chesterton 1983*, 2008
2 Lake Central 2012, 2014
2 Portage 1973, 1988*
1 Crown Point 1999*
1 Hobart 1972
1 Michigan City 1998

Girls Basketball

Titles School Years
5 Merrillville 2004, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2013
4 Michigan City 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
3 Valparaiso 2002, 2003*, 2005
2 Crown Point 2001, 2003*
1 LaPorte 2014
0 Chesterton
0 Hobart
0 Lake Central
0 Portage
0 Rogers

State Champions

Chesterton Trojans (7)

Crown Point Bulldogs (6)

LaPorte Slicers (12)

Lake Central Indians (7)

Merrillville Pirates (5)

Michigan City Wolves (2)

Portage Indians (9)

Valparaiso Vikings (22)

Former Member State Champions

Hobart Brickies (7)

Michigan City Rogers Raiders (2)

State Runner-Up Titles

Current members

Chesterton Trojans (10)


Crown Point Bulldogs (7)


LaPorte Slicers (10)


Lake Central Indians (8)


Merrillville Pirates (7)


Michigan City Wolves (0)


Portage Indians (12)


Valparaiso Vikings (20)

Former members

Hobart Brickies (8)


Michigan City Rogers Raiders (1)

See also

Related links

References

  1. ↑ DAC hears from prospective members
    Five schools make case to join conference / nwi.com
  2. ↑ LC, Penn, Mishawaka draw DAC invite / nwi.com
  3. ↑ Mishawaka says no to DAC; Penn next? / nwi.com
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Eight is enough
    Penn votes to decline invitation to DAC / nwi.com