Hoosier North Athletic Conference

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Location of Hoosier North members in Indiana

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]

  • 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 the Indiana Northern State 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. 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

School Location Mascot Colors # / County Enrollment 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

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 Indiana Northern State
LaVille Lakeville Lancers     71
St. Joseph
2015 Northern State 2024 Indiana Northern State
  1. Played concurrently in HNAC and MWC 2018–19.

Membership timeline

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

Full Member Full Member (Non-Football) Football Associate Member

Conference champions

Football

TitlesSchoolYears
6Pioneer2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021*
2North Judson-San Pierre2021*, 2025
1LaVille2022
1Knox2023
1Winamac2021*
0Caston
0Culver
0North Miami
0Triton
0South Central
0West 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.

According to John Harrell, Pioneer was given credit for the 2020 conference championship with a (5–0) record, and Winamac was given credit for the 2021 conference championship with a (5–0) record, without it being shared with Pioneer and North Judson.[11]

Boys basketball

Titles[12]SchoolYears
3LaVille2018, 2019, 2021
3Triton2017, 2024, 2025
2North Judson- San Pierre2020, 2023
1Pioneer2016^
1Winamac2016^
1Caston2022
0Culver
0Knox
0West Central

^ Pioneer and Winamac were co-champions in 2016.

Girls basketball

Titles[13]SchoolYears
5North Judson-San Pierre2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2025
2Caston2023, 2024
1Knox2020
1Triton2016
1Pioneer2022
0Culver
0LaVille
0West Central
0Winamac

State championships

Math contest

References

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