North Central Conference (IHSAA)

The North Central Athletic Conference in Indiana

The North Central Conference is an IHSAA-sanctioned athletic conference consisting of ten large high schools in Cass, Delaware, Grant, Howard, Huntington, Madison, and Wayne Counties across Central and North Central Indiana. Most of these schools are in 35,000+ population towns like Anderson, Marion, Kokomo, Lafayette, Muncie, and Richmond. Several of the nation's largest gymnasiums belong to members of this conference.[1][2]

History

The Conference was formed on March 23, 1926 by 10 schools in the Central third of Indiana. The original teams were Anderson, Arsenal Tech of Indianapolis, Frankfort, Kokomo, Lebanon, Logansport, Muncie Central, New Castle, Richmond, and Rochester. With a couple of minor changes in the first decade (Lafayette Jeff replacing Rochester in 1930, and Marion replacing Lebanon in 1933), the conference membership remained unchanged, while the conference added more sports to its umbrella.

This changed in 1960, as Arsenal Tech was forced to join the IPS Conference, and Frankfort left to co-found the Sagamore Conference in 1967. The conference would continue on with the same eight members for the next 36 years while changes were happening in the communities outside the schools. Anderson, Kokomo, and Muncie would open up second and third city high schools, while consolidations in the rural areas outside of Lafayette would give Jeff two similar-sized local rivals. However, the economic crisis and industrial decline in the late 1970s and early 1980s hit many of these cities hard, as populations dwindled without anything replacing the lost manufacturing jobs. Anderson, Kokomo, and Muncie are now down to one high school each.

In the face of these population shifts, Lafayette Jeff joined the Hoosier Crossroads Conference in 2003, joining local rivals Harrison and McCutcheon, as well as the growing suburban schools outside of Indianapolis. Huntington North was brought in from the Olympic Conference as a replacement, where it had previously had conference rivals located in Muncie and Anderson.

[3] Huntington North will leave the NCC at the conclusion of the 2014-15 season to become a member of the Northeast Hoosier Conference. New Castle was voted out of the NCC at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year. They will join the Hoosier Heritage Conference in 2014. Lafayette Jeff rejoined the conference in 2014, bringing along fellow county schools Harrison and McCutcheon. Indianapolis Arsenal Tech will rejoin the NCC as of April 1, 2015.

Membership

School Location Mascot Colors # / County Enrollment IHSAA Class / Football/Soccer Year Joined Previous Conference
Anderson Anderson Indians           48
Madison		 1,884 4A/5A/2A 1926 Independents
Harrison
(West Lafayette)		 West Lafayette Raiders           79
Tippecanoe		 1,740 4A/5A/2A 2014 Hoosier Crossroads
Huntington
North1		 Huntington Vikings           35
Huntington		 1,750 4A/5A/2A 2003 Olympic
Kokomo Kokomo Wildkats           34
Howard		 1,879 4A/5A/2A 1926 Independents
Lafayette Jeff2 Lafayette Bronchos           79
Tippecanoe		 1,935 4A/6A/2A 1931
2014		 Independents
Hoosier Crossroads
Logansport
Community		 Logansport Berries           09
Cass		 1,245 4A/4A/2A 1926 Independents
Marion Marion Giants           27
Grant		 1,159 4A/4A/2A 1933 Independents
McCutcheon Lafayette Mavericks           79
Tippecanoe		 1,809 4A/5A/2A 2014 Hoosier Crossroads
Muncie
Central		 Muncie Bearcats           18
Delaware		 1,669 3A/4A/2A 1926 Independents
Richmond3 Richmond Red Devils           89
Wayne		 1,516 4A/5A/2A 1926 Independents
  1. Huntington North will join the Northeast Hoosier Conference in 2015.
  2. Lafayette Jeff was a member of the Hoosier Crossroads Conference from 2004 to 2014.
  3. Richmond HS was known as Morton High School between 1929 and 1942.

Future Members

School Location Mascot Colors # / County Enrollment IHSAA Class / Football/Soccer Year Joined Previous Conference
Arsenal Tech1 Indianapolis Titans                49
Marion		 2,398 4A/6A/2A 1926
2015		 Independents
Independents
(IPSC 2013)
  1. Arsenal Tech was a member of the IPS Conference 1960-2013, and participated as an independent before rejoining the NCC.

Former Members

School Location Mascot Colors # / County Enrollment IHSAA Class /Football/Soccer Year joined Previous Conference Year Left Conference Joined
Frankfort Frankfort Hot Dogs                12
Clinton		 837 3A/3A/2A 1926 Independents 1967 Sagamore
Lebanon Lebanon Tigers           06
Boone		 1,049 3A/4A/2A 1926 Independents 1933 Independents
New Castle
New Castle Trojans           33
Henry		 1,108 4A/4A/2A 1926 Independents 2013 Hoosier Heritage (2014-15)
Rochester
Community 		Rochester Zebras                25
Fulton		 564 3A/3A/A 1926 Independents 1931 Central Indiana

Divisions

Starting with the 2014 season, the NCC will begin divisional competition.

East West
Anderson Harrison
Arsenal Tech Kokomo
Marion Lafayette Jeff
Muncie Central Logansport
Richmond McCutcheon

Conference Championships

Football

# Team Seasons
25 Richmond 1951, 1952, 1956, 1958*, 1962, 1963, 1967, 1970*, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977*, 1978,
1985, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994*, 1999, 2000*, 2001, 2012, 2013
17 Kokomo 1932*, 1939*, 1955, 1957*, 1960*, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1987*, 1993, 1994*, 1996, 2007, 2008, 2009,
2010, 2011
16 Lafayette Jeff 1934*, 1936, 1937, 1943*, 1946, 1947, 1948*, 1950, 1966, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1994*, 1998,
2000*
14 Muncie Central 1932*, 1933, 1934*, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943*, 1944, 1945, 1953, 1954*, 2002, 2003, 2004
10 Marion 1960*, 1968, 1969, 1970*, 1986, 1987*, 1988, 1990, 1997, 2006*
7 Logansport 1958*, 1959, 1960*, 1977*, 1995, 2005, 2006*
5 Arsenal Tech 1939*, 1949, 1954*, 1957*, 1960*
5 New Castle 1935, 1938, 1948*, 1976, 1984
1 Anderson 1983
1 Huntington North 2006*
0 Frankfort
0 Harrison (WL)
0 Lebanon
0 McCutcheon
0 Rochester

Boys Basketball

# Team Seasons
20 Marion 1940, 1966, 1969, 1975, 1977*, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990*, 1991, 1998*,
1999, 2000*, 2007*, 2008*, 2009
20 Muncie Central 1927, 1928, 1929, 1938*, 1950, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1970*, 1978, 1994*, 2000*,
2004, 2005, 2007*, 2008*, 2012
17 Kokomo 1939, 1944, 1945, 1951, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1971*, 1976*, 1990*, 1994*, 1996, 2003*, 2010*,
2011, 2013
16 Anderson 1941, 1943*, 1949, 1965, 1973, 1974, 1976*, 1982, 1984, 1992, 1993, 1997*, 1998*, 2001*, 2002*,
2006
10 New Castle 1943*, 1972, 1979, 1990*, 1995, 1997*, 2001*, 2003*, 2007*, 2010*
10 Lafayette Jeff 1935, 1942, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1964, 1967, 1968, 2001*, 2003*
8 Richmond 1943, 1970*, 1971*, 1976*, 1977*, 1988, 2002*, 2014
5 Frankfort 1930, 1931, 1936, 1937, 1938*
3 Logansport 1933, 1934, 1977*
2 Arsenal Tech 1932, 1957
0 Harrison (WL)
0 Huntington North
0 Lebanon
0 McCutcheon
0 Rochester

Girls Basketball

# Team Seasons
14 Kokomo 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994*, 1998, 1999, 2000*, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008*, 2010
8 Anderson 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1994*, 2005, 2008*
5 New Castle 1979, 1995*, 2007, 2009, 2011
5 Logansport 1997, 2008*, 2012, 2013, 2014
4 Lafayette Jeff 1988, 1989, 1995*, 1996
3 Richmond 1985, 1990, 2000*
2 Marion 1980, 1981
0 Arsenal Tech
0 Harrison (WL)
0 Huntington North
0 McCutcheon
0 Muncie Central

State Championships

Anderson (26)

Arsenal Tech (10)

Harrison (3)

Huntington North (2)

Kokomo (19)

Lafayette Jefferson Bronchos (14)

Logansport (5)

Marion (10)

McCutcheon Mavericks (3)

Muncie Central (17)

Richmond (8)

Largest gymnasiums in nation in NCC

Neighboring conferences

See also

External links

Resources

  1. ↑ USA Today Article on High School Gyms
  2. ↑ Johnson, Kirk (March 19, 1998). "HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL; 'Hoosiers' No More, but Heroes All the Same". The New York Times.
  3. ↑