Hoosier North Athletic Conference

The Hoosier North Athletic Conference is an IHSAA-sanctioned conference in northwestern Indiana, that began in 2015. The conference contains eight schools in six counties (Cass, Fulton, Marshall, Pulaski, St. Joseph, and Starke), but may expand to include more schools in the future.[1]

Location of Hoosier North members in Indiana

History

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  • 2015: The Hoosier North Athletic Conference (HNAC) was formed by schools from the Northern State Conference (Culver, Knox, LaVille, and Triton), Midwest Conference (Caston, Pioneer, West Central, and Winamac), and then independent North Judson-San Pierre. The HNAC was formed in an effort to shorten travel distances and increase competition among member schools. The exodus of the 4 Northern State Conference teams caused that conference to fold, and forced other teams from Bremen, Jimtown, John Glenn, and New Prairie to join the Northern Indiana Conference.
  • 2017: The West Central school board approved a measure to leave the Hoosier North Athletic Conference and re-join the Midwest conference, a move that, in accordance with HNAC bylaws, will be completed by the end of the 2018–19 school year.[2]
  • 2023: Knox and LaVille both announced their intentions to leave the Hoosier North Athletic Conference and join 3 teams from the Northern Indiana Conference (Bremen, Jimtown, and John Glenn) and a team from the Three Rivers Conference (Tippecanoe Valley) to form a currently unnamed conference that will begin play in the 2024–2025 season.[3]
  • 2023: South Central (Union Mills) announced their intention to join the Hoosier North Athletic Conference as an affiliate member for football only starting in 2024 or 2025, leaving the Greater South Shore Conference and remaining in the Porter County Conference for all other sports.[4]
  • 2023: The Hoosier North Athletic Conference announced on May 18 that Argos and Oregon-Davis would be joining the conference. It is important to note that neither of these schools has a football program and would participate in all other sports aside from football.[5]
  • 2023: It was announced that North Miami will join the Hoosier North Athletic Conference in 2024, bringing the conference to 8 schools for football and 9 schools for all other sports.[6]

Members

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School Location Mascot Colors # / County Enrollment [1] 24-25 IHSAA Class Basketball/Football Year joined Previous conference
Argos Argos Dragons       50
Marshall
203 1A / N/A 2024 Hoosier Plains Conference
Caston Fulton Comets       25
Fulton
241 1A / 1A 2015 Midwest
Culver Culver Cavaliers       50
Marshall
246 1A / 1A 2015 Northern State
North Judson-San Pierre North Judson Blue Jays       75
Starke
308 1A / 1A 2015 Independents (NW Hoosier 1997)
North Miami Denver Warriors     52
Miami
263 1A / 1A 2024 Three Rivers
Oregon-Davis Hamlet Bobcats       75
Starke
137 1A / N/A 2024 Independents
Pioneer Royal Center Panthers       09
Cass
286 1A / 1A 2015 Midwest
South Central
(Union Mills)
^
Union Mills Satellites     46
La Porte
318 N/A / 1A 2024 Greater South Shore
Triton Bourbon Trojans     50
Marshall
274 1A / 1A 2015 Northern State
Winamac Winamac Warriors     66
Pulaski
360 2A / 1A 2015 Midwest

^-Football only member

Former members

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School Location Mascot Colors # / County Year joined Previous conference Year left Conference joined
West Central 1 Francesville Trojans       66
Pulaski
2015 Midwest 2019 Midwest
Knox Knox Redskins       75
Starke
2015 Northern State 2024 Northern State
LaVille Lakeville Lancers       71
St. Joseph
2015 Northern State 2024 Northern State
  1. Played concurrently in HNAC and MWC 2018–19.

Membership timeline

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North Miami Middle/High SchoolOregon-Davis High SchoolArgos High SchoolSouth Central High SchoolWest Central Senior High SchoolWinamac High SchoolTriton High SchoolPioneer High SchoolNorth Judson-San Pierre High SchoolLaville High SchoolKnox High SchoolCulver High SchoolCaston High School

Conference champions

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Football

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Titles School Years
6 Pioneer 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021*
1 LaVille 2022
1 Knox 2023
1 North Judson-San Pierre 2021*
1 Winamac 2021*
0 Caston
0 Culver
0 Triton
0 West Central
  • 2020: No champion because of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Several games were not played. Pioneer finished in the standings at first with a (5-0) record without playing LaVille or Winamac.
  • 2021: There was no formally declared conference champion in 2021 anywhere on the official HNAC website.[7] This was because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. AlmanacSports.com does cite that there was a three-way conference champion between Winamac, Pioneer, and North Judson-San Pierre.[8] The top four schools in the conference standings at the end of the regular season were as follows:

1. Winamac (5-0): Did not play LaVille or North-Judson San Pierre.
2. Pioneer (6-1): Loss to Winamac.
3. North-Judson-San Pierre (5-1): Loss to Pioneer and did not play Winamac.
4. LaVille (4-2): Losses to Pioneer and North Judson-San Pierre; did not play Winamac.[8]

  • Interestingly, LaVille avenged a loss to conference foe Pioneer in their respective sectional. LaVille beat Pioneer 41-0 in the Class 2A Sectional 34 Championship, avenging their 12-7 loss in the regular season.[9] Additionally, North Judson-San Pierre triumphed over Winamac 40-13 in the Class 1A Sectional 41 Semifinal.[10] This was their only meeting in 2021 because their regular season matchup was cancelled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Boys Basketball

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Titles[11] School Years
3 LaVille 2018, 2019, 2021
2 North Judson- San Pierre 2020, 2023
1 Triton 2017
1 Pioneer 2016^
1 Winamac 2016^
1 Caston 2022
0 Culver
0 Knox
0 West Central

^ Pioneer and Winamac were co-champions in 2016.

Girls Basketball

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Titles[12] School Years
3 North Judson-San Pierre 2017, 2018, 2021
2 Knox 2019, 2020
1 Triton 2016
1 Pioneer 2022
1 Caston 2023
0 Culver
0 LaVille
0 West Central
0 Winamac

State championships

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Pioneer (6)

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  • 2017 Football (1A)[13]
  • 2018 Softball (1A)
  • 2018 Football (1A)
  • 2020 Volleyball (1A)
  • 2021 Girls' Basketball (1A)
  • 2021 Softball (2A)

North Judson (1)

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2018 Volleyball (2A)

Math Contest

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The Conference hosts a math tournament every school year at different schools within the conference. The 2018 tournament will be held at Knox.

References

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  1. ^ "Midwest Conference Down to 4 as West Central Officially Exits". Journal-Courier, Lafayette, IN. 2013-09-19. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
  2. ^ Hettinger, Paul. "West Central leaving HNAC". Pulaski Journal. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  3. ^ "PREP SPORTS: Six schools forming new conference starting in 2024-25". 5 April 2023.
  4. ^ https://twitter.com/jp8185/status/1653939349061263363?s=61&t=bRs21s3UEPJJArjkLqt8yQ [bare URL]
  5. ^ "Argos and Oregon-Davis to join the Hoosier North Athletic Conference". WROI 92.1 GIANT fm. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  6. ^ T, Val (2023-06-02). "North Miami to leave TRC, move to Hoosier North in 2024-25". RTCTV4. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
  7. ^ https://hnacathletics.com/ [bare URL]
  8. ^ a b "Hoosier North Football (2021) Standings". www.maxpreps.com. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  9. ^ "LaVille stuns Pioneer in 41-0 blowout victory". 6 November 2021.
  10. ^ "North Judson-San Pierre vs Winamac | Football | 10/29/2021".
  11. ^ "Boys Basketball Conference Champions". John Harrell's Indiana Boys Basketball. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Girls Basketball Conference Champions". John Harrell's Indiana Girls Basketball. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  13. ^ "2017 IHSAA 1A Football Tournament Bracket". MaxPreps. Retrieved 22 January 2018.