North Central Conference (Indiana)

The North Central Conference is an IHSAA-sanctioned athletic conference consisting of ten large high schools in Cass, Delaware, Grant, Howard, Madison, Marion, Tippecanoe, 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. Charter members 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.

New Castle elected to leave the NCC at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year. They joined the Hoosier Heritage Conference in 2014.^[3] Huntington North left the NCC at the conclusion of the 2014-15 season to become a member of the Northeast Hoosier Conference. Lafayette Jeff rejoined the conference in 2014, bringing along fellow county schools Harrison and McCutcheon. Indianapolis Arsenal Tech rejoined the NCC as of April 1, 2015, but due to travel concerns, it will exit the conference at the end of the 2022-23 school year.

Marking another round of realignment, in early 2023 the conference announced restructuring and voted out West Lafayette Harrison and Lafayette McCutcheon following the 2023-24 school year.^[4] In addition, Logansport announced in May 2023 the Berries would leave the North Central Conference and join the Hoosier Athletic Conference and replace Lewis Cass following the 2023-2024 school year.^[5]

Membership

School	Location	Mascot	County	Enrollment [1] 24-25	IHSAA Class / Football	Year joined	Previous conference
Anderson	Anderson	Indians	48 Madison	1,722	4A/5A	1926	Independent
Kokomo	Kokomo	Wildkats	34 Howard	1,546	4A/5A	1926	Howard County
Lafayette Jefferson²	Lafayette	Bronchos	79 Tippecanoe	2,034	4A/5A	1931 2014	Independent Hoosier Crossroads
Marion	Marion	Giants	27 Grant	1,045	3A/4A	1933	Grant County
Muncie Central³	Muncie	Bearcats	18 Delaware	1,332	4A/4A	1926	Independent
Richmond⁴	Richmond	Red Devils	89 Wayne	1,320	4A/4A	1926	Independent

Arsenal played in the IPS Conference 1960-2015.
Lafayette Jeff played in the HCC 2003-14.
Known as Muncie until 1963.
Known as Morton until 1948.

Former members

School	Location	Mascot	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	Independent	1967	Sagamore
Huntington North	Huntington	Vikings	35 Huntington	1,750	4A/5A/2A	2003	Olympic	2015	Northeast Eight
Lebanon	Lebanon	Tigers	06 Boone	1,049	3A/4A/2A	1926	Independent	1933	Independent
New Castle Chrysler	New Castle	Trojans	33 Henry	1,108	4A/4A/2A	1926	Independent	2013	Hoosier Heritage
Rochester	Rochester	Zebras	25 Fulton	564	3A/3A/A	1926	Independent	1931	Central Indiana
Arsenal Tech	Indianapolis	Titans	49 Marion	2,122	4A/6A/3A	1926 2015	Independent IPS	2023	Independent
Harrison (West Lafayette)	West Lafayette	Raiders	79 Tippecanoe	2,079	4A/5A	2014	Hoosier Crossroads	2024	Sagamore
McCutcheon	Lafayette	Mavericks	79 Tippecanoe	1,807	4A/5A	2014	Hoosier Crossroads	2024	Sagamore
Logansport	Logansport	Berries	09 Cass	1,252	4A/4A	1926	Cass County	2024	Hoosier

Membership timeline

Full members Other conference

Divisions

Starting with the 2014 season, the NCC began divisional competition. This only applies in boys and girls soccer, boys and girls tennis, boys baseball, and girls softball.

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
20	Kokomo	1932, 1939, 1955, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011,2015, 2016, state runner up 2017
17	Lafayette Jeff	1934, 1936, 1937, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1966, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1994, 1998, 2000*, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
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
2	McCutcheon	2014, 2016
1	Anderson	1983
3	Harrison (WL)	2016, 2021, 2022
1	Huntington North	2006*
0	Frankfort
0	Lebanon
0	Rochester

Boys basketball

#	Team	Seasons
21	Marion	1940, 1966, 1968,1969, 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
19	Kokomo	1939, 1944, 1945, 1951, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1971, 1976, 1990, 1994, 1996, 2003, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2018, 2023
17	Anderson	1941, 1943, 1949, 1965, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1982, 1984, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2022
12	Lafayette Jeff	1935, 1942, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1964, 1967, 1968, 2001, 2003, 2019, 2020
10	New Castle	1943, 1972, 1979, 1990, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2010*
9	Richmond	1943, 1970, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1988, 2002*, 2014, 2015
5	Frankfort	1930, 1931, 1936, 1937, 1938*
4	Logansport	1933, 1934, 1977*, 2017
2	Arsenal Tech	1932, 1957
2	McCutcheon	2016, 2018
0	Harrison (WL)
0	Huntington North
0	Lebanon
0	Rochester

Girls basketball

#	Team	Seasons
14	Kokomo	1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008*, 2010
9	Anderson	1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1994, 2005, 2008, 2021
7	Lafayette Jeff	1988, 1989, 1995*, 1996, 2017, 2018, 2019
5	Logansport	1997, 2008*, 2012, 2013, 2014
5	New Castle	1979, 1995*, 2007, 2009, 2011
4	Harrison (WL)	2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
4	Marion	1980, 1981, 2016, 2019
4	Richmond	1985, 1990, 2000*, 2015
0	Arsenal Tech
0	Huntington North
0	McCutcheon
0	Muncie Central

Boys cross country


#	Team	Seasons
19	Anderson	1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988
16	Richmond	1960, 1961, 1970, 1971, 2973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999
7	Huntington North	2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013
7	Muncie Central	1956, 1957, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1989, 2011
6	Marion	1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2004
6	Lafayette Jeff	1964, 1984, 1990, 2001, 2014, 2015, 2020
5	Kokomo	1952, 1955, 1985, 2000, 2005
3	Harrison (WL)	2018, 2019, 2022
3	Logansport	1967, 1969, 1972
2	McCutcheon	2016, 2017
0	Arsenal Tech
0	Franfort
0	Huntington North
0	Lebanon
0	New Castle
0	Rochester

State championships

Anderson (26)

1935 Boys Basketball
1937 Boys Basketball
1945 Boys Track & Field
1946 Boys Basketball
1946 Boys Track & Field
1946 Boys Cross Country
1947 Boys Track & Field
1947 Boys Cross Country
1948 Boys Track & Field
1948 Boys Cross Country
1949 Boys Cross Country
1950 Boys Cross Country
1951 Boys Cross Country
1952 Boys Golf
1952 Boys Cross Country
1953 Boys Golf
1955 Boys Golf
1955 Boys Cross Country
1959 Boys Cross Country
1972 Boys Golf
1974 Boys Golf
1984 Girls Swimming & Diving
1985 Girls Swimming & Diving
1988 Boys Swimming & Diving
1989 Boys Swimming & Diving
1995 Boys Golf

Arsenal Tech (10)

1918 Baseball
1922 Boys Track
1933 Boys Golf
1936 Boys Golf
1947 Boys Golf
1948 Boys Golf
1952 Wrestling
1976 Wrestling
1979 Wrestling
2014 Boys Basketball (4A)

Harrison (4)

1974 Girls Track
1992 Football (4A)
1995 Baseball
2017 Boys Soccer (3A)

Huntington North (2)

1990 Girls Basketball
1995 Girls Basketball

Kokomo (19)

1911 Boys Track
1924 Boys Track
1925 Boys Track
1926 Boys Track
1927 Boys Track
1934 Boys Track
1935 Boys Track
1937 Boys Track
1958 Boys Golf
1961 Boys Basketball
1969 Boys Swimming
1985 Baseball
1985 Boys Golf
1986 Boys Golf
1988 Boys Golf
1992 Girls Basketball
1993 Girls Basketball
1994 Boys Track
2003 Girls Basketball (4A)

Lafayette Jefferson Bronchos (14)

1916 boys' Basketball
1932 boys' Golf
1948 boys' Basketball
1964 boys' Basketball
1969 Baseball
1973 Baseball
1974 girls' Swimming
1975 boys' Tennis
1977 boys' Golf
1978 boys' Golf
1979 girls' Golf
1983 girls' Golf
1984 girls' Golf
1987 boys' Golf

Logansport (5)

1934 Boys Basketball
1975 Baseball
1977 Baseball
1979 Baseball
1991 Baseball

Marion (11)

1926 Boys Basketball
1966 Boys Golf
1975 Boys Basketball
1976 Boys Basketball
1984 Baseball
1985 Boys Basketball
1986 Boys Basketball
1987 Boys Basketball
1991 Boys Tennis
2000 Boys Basketball (4A)
2016 Boys Basketball (3A)

McCutcheon (4)

1999 Baseball (4A)
2003 Baseball (4A)
2008 Softball (4A)
2021 Girls' Volleyball (4A)

Muncie Central (17)

1928 Boys Basketball
1931 Boys Basketball
1951 Boys Basketball
1952 Boys Basketball
1963 Boys Basketball
1978 Boys Basketball
1979 Boys Basketball
1988 Boys Basketball
1956 Boys Cross Country
1958 Boys Cross Country
1967 Boys Cross Country
1997 Volleyball (4A)
1998 Volleyball (4A)
1999 Volleyball (4A)
2002 Volleyball (4A)
2004 Volleyball (4A)
2009 Volleyball (4A)

Richmond (8)

1941 Boys Golf
1958 Wrestling
1992 Boys Basketball
1993 Boys Golf
1994 Boys Cross Country
1996 Boys Golf
1997 Boys Golf
2003 Boys Golf

Largest gymnasiums in nation in NCC

1. Anderson High School Wigwam (8,996) NOT IN USE.
4. Richmond Tiernan Center (8,100)
6. Marion High School (7,560)

Neighboring conferences

External links

[2]

Resources

^ USA Today Article on High School Gyms
^ Johnson, Kirk (March 19, 1998). "HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL; 'Hoosiers' No More, but Heroes All the Same". The New York Times.
^ "Leo, Huntington North join NHC schools for new conference - News-Sentinel.com". www.news-sentinel.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-02.
^ "North Central Conference Announces Restructuring, Harrison And McCutcheon Voted Out". Stateline Sports Network. April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
^ "Conference shakeup continues with Logansport added to Hoosier Conference". Journal and Courier. Retrieved 2023-05-21.

[USA_Today-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] "Leo, Huntington North join NHC schools for new conference - News-Sentinel.com". www.news-sentinel.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-02.

[4] "North Central Conference Announces Restructuring, Harrison And McCutcheon Voted Out". Stateline Sports Network. April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2023.

[5] "Conference shakeup continues with Logansport added to Hoosier Conference". Journal and Courier. Retrieved 2023-05-21.

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v t e Indiana's North Central Conference (NCC)
Membership	Anderson Harrison (West Lafayette) Huntington North Kokomo Lafayette Jefferson Logansport Community Marion McCutcheon Muncie Central Richmond
Largest Gymnasiums	Anderson High School Wigwam (8,996) Richmond Tiernan Center (8,100) Marion High School (7,560)

v t e Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA)
Boys' sports	Baseball Basketball (Championship) Cross country Football (large school, small school) Golf Soccer Swimming & diving Tennis Track and field Wrestling
Girls' sports	Basketball Cross country Golf Gymnastics Soccer Softball Swimming & diving Tennis Track and field Volleyball
Athletic conferences	Allen County Blue Chip Central Indiana Circle City Conference Indiana Duneland Eastern Indiana (Southern) Great Lakes Greater Indianapolis Greater South Shore Hoosier Hoosier Crossroads Hoosier Heartland Hoosier Heritage Hoosier Hills Hoosier North Hoosier Plains Indiana Crossroads Metropolitan Mid-Eastern Mid-Hoosier Mid-Indiana Football Mid-Southern Mid-State Midwest North Central Northeast Corner Northeast Eight Northern Indiana Northern Lakes Northwest Crossroads Ohio River Valley Patoka Lake Pioneer Pocket Porter County Sagamore Southern Southern Indiana Southern Roads Southwest Football Southwest Indiana Summit Three Rivers (Northern) Tri-Eastern Wabash River Western Indiana IHSAA Independents
Disbanded conferences	Adams Bartholomew-Shelby County Benton Big Blue River Big 4 Big Eight Blackford Blue River Boone Brown Calumet Athletic Capital District Carroll Cass Central Suburban Clark Classic Clay Clinton Daviess Dearborn Decatur DeKalb Delaware Dixie Dixie-Monon East Central Eastern Indiana (Northern) Eastern Wabash Valley Elkhart Fayette Fort Wayne City Fountain Franklin Fulton Gibson Grant Greene Hamilton Hancock Harrison Henry Howard Huntington Indiana H.S. Football Indiana Lake Shore Indianapolis Public Jackson Jasper Jay Jefferson Johnson Kankakee Valley Knox Kosciusko LaGrange Lake Athletic Lake-Porter Lake Suburban Laughery Valley Lawrence Little 4 Little 7 Little 8 Lost River Marion Marshall Martin Miami Mid-Central Mid-Indiana Midland Mississinewa Valley Monroe Montgomery Morgan Newton Noble Northeastern Indiana Northern Indiana Valley Northern State Northland Northwest Hoosier Northwestern Olympic Orange Owen Parke Patoka Valley Perry Posey Prairie Putnam Randolph Rangeline Ripley Rush South Central South Lake Michigan Southeastern Indiana Southern Monon Spencer Starke State Corner Steuben Sullivan Three Rivers (Southern) Tiny Ten Tippecanoe Tippecanoe Valley Tipton Tri-City League Tri-County (Central) Tri-County (Northern) Tri-County (Southern) Tri-County (Western) Tri-River Union Vermillion Vigo Wabash Warren Warrick Washington Wayne Wells West Central Western Indiana Small High School White White River White River Valley Whitewater Valley Whitley
Conference rosters	List of high school athletic conferences in Indiana Detailed lists Allen County – Metropolitan Mid-Eastern – Northwestern Ohio River Valley – Western Indiana Independent
City championships	Evansville (SIAC) Fort Wayne (SAC) Gary Indianapolis South Bend (NIAC)
Cross-conference tournaments	Christian Academy Tournament Columbus Christian Tournament Gibson County Toyota Teamwork Classic Indianapolis City Tournament Madison County Tournament Perry-Spencer County Classic Shawe Memorial Tournament Wabash Valley Classic