North Central Conference (Indiana)

The North Central Conference is an Indiana High School Athletic Association -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.

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, 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. Huntington North left the NCC at the conclusion of the 2014–15 season to become a member of the 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. 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.

Membership

Lafayette Jeff played in the HCC 2003–14.
Known as Muncie until 1963.
Known as Morton until 1948.

Membership timeline

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bar:1 color:Full from:1926 till:1931 text:Rochester
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1931 till:1963 text:Central Indiana Athletic Conference
bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:1963 till:1987 text: Northern Lakes
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1987 till:end text: Three Rivers
bar:2 color:Full from:1926 till:1933 text:Lebanon
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1933 till:1951 text: Independent
bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:1951 till:1967 text:Western Indiana Conference
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1967 till:end text: Sagamore
bar:3 color:Full from:1926 till:end text:Arsenal Technical
bar:3 color:Full from:1926 till:1960
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1960 till:2013 text:Indianapolis Public School Conference
bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2015 text:Ind.
bar:3 color:Full from:2015 till:2023 text:
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text:Ind.
bar:4 color:full from:1926 till:1967 text:Frankfort
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1967 till:2024 text: Sagamore
bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:2024 till:end text:TBA
bar:5 color:Full from:1926 till:2013 text:New Castle
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text: HHC
bar:6 color:Full from:1926 till:end text:Anderson
bar:7 color:Full from:1926 till:end text:Kokomo
bar:8 color:Full from:1926 till:end text:Logansport
bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text:Hoosier
bar:9 color:Full from:1926 till:end text:Muncie Central
bar:10 color:Full from:1926 till:end text:Richmond
bar:11 color:Full from:1931 till:2003 text:Lafayette Jeff
bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2003 till:2014 text:HCC
bar:11 color:Full from:2014 till:end text:
bar:12 color:Full from:1933 till:end text:Marion
bar:13 color:Full from:2003 till:2015 text:Huntington N.
bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2015 till:end text: NEC
bar:14 color:Full from:2014 till:2024 text:Harrison
bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:2024 till:end text: Sagamore
bar:15 color:Full from:2014 till:2024 text:McCutcheon
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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

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

Harrison (4)

1974 Girls Track
1992 Football
1995 Baseball
2017 Boys Soccer
2024 Boys Soccer

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

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
2016 Boys Basketball

McCutcheon (4)

1999 Baseball
2003 Baseball
2008 Softball
2021 Girls' Volleyball

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
1998 Volleyball
1999 Volleyball
2002 Volleyball
2004 Volleyball
2009 Volleyball

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