Western Indiana Conference Explained

Western Indiana Conference
Map:	WIC 2024-2025.png
Map Size:	250px
League:	IHSAA
Founded:	1999 (second incarnation)
Teams:	11 (9 in 2025-26, 8 in 2026-27)
Website:	https://www.wicathletics.com
Western Indiana Conference
Sports:	22 offered
Mens:	10
Womens:	10, and 1 unified

The Western Indiana Conference is the name of two IHSAA-sanctioned conferences based in West Central Indiana. The first formed as an eight-team league that formed as a basketball league in 1944 as the West Central Conference.^[1] The league started expanding in 1945 and changed its name to the Western Indiana Conference. With consolidation forcing many membership changes in the 1970s (including all the Terre Haute public schools), the conference folded at four members in 1983.

The second incarnation started in 1999, including four previous members (or their current incarnations) from the old conference, and three other schools from South Central Indiana. Its only change in membership in its first 16 years was in football, where South Vermilion played independently for the 2007 and 2008 seasons before rejoining the conference. March 2014 marked a sea change for the conference, as what originally was an invite for Greencastle turned into inviting the remaining five teams of the West Central Conference to join.^[2] All seven WIC schools and all five WCC schools voted to expand the conference into 2015, making a 12 team, two division league.^[3] All 12 schools are within 30 miles of Interstate 70 or Interstate 69.

Prior the invitation to Greencastle and other WCC schools went out, Indian Creek was rumored to be considered as an expansion candidate but their invitation was rescinded by the conference in early 2014 due to expanding to 12 teams.^[4] Eventually, South Vermillion departed to rejoin the Wabash River Conference in 2016 leaving the conference at 11 teams. Indian Creek was extended an invitation as the replacement for SV in 2017 and accepted bringing the conference back to 12 teams retaining the divisions model.^[5]

Since expansion to 12 teams, the conference membership has been less than stable due to long travel times and geographical issues spanning half of the state. After the 2018–2019 school year, Cascade departed from the Western Indiana Conference to join longtime rival and former West Central Conference member Monrovia in the Indiana Crossroads Conference. Cascade filled a vacancy that Park Tudor left. The move leaves the Western Indiana Conference will 11 schools, dissolving the east–west divisions for team sports, except football, going to round robin play.

In 2024-2025, Cascade was set to re-join the Western Indiana Conference when Covenant Christian joins the Indiana Crossroads Conference. Similarly, at this time, the four Putnam County schools were in discussions with Crawfordsville, North Montgomery, and Southmont to form a new athletic conference.^[6] After discussion and five schools voting to leave the Sagamore Conference, North Putnam announced on May 19, 2023 they will leave the Western Indiana Conference and join with five schools that separated from the Sagamore Conference, Crawfordsville, Frankfort, North Montgomery, Southmont, and Western Boone, to form the Monon Athletic Conference (MAC) that will take shape no later than the 2026-2027 academic year (later announced as the 2025-2026 year as the first year).^[7] ^[8] ^[9] ^[10] ^[11] Following the move by North Putnam to the new athletic conference, Cascade elected to withdraw their future membership and join the MAC instead.^[12] Meanwhile, Greencastle followed suit in leaving the WIC for the Monon Athletic Conference.^[13] ^[14] These moves collectively leave the Western Indiana Conference with 9 members.

On May 7, 2024, the IndyStar reported that Indian Creek would leave the WIC to following the 2025-2026 academic year to create a new league with Sagamore castaway Tri-West and the four public schools from the Indiana Crossroads Conference: Beech Grove, Monrovia, Speedway, and Triton Central.^[15] These moves collectively leave the Western Indiana Conference with 9 members.

Members

School	Location	Mascot	Enrollment	IHSAA Class FB	County	Year joined	Previous conference
Brown County	Nashville	Eagles	503	3A 2A	7 Brown	1999	Mid-Hoosier
Cloverdale	Cloverdale	Clovers	313	1A 1A	67 Putnam	2015	West Central
Edgewood	Ellettsville	Mustangs	802	3A 4A	53 Monroe	1999	West Central
Greencastle	Greencastle	Tiger Cubs	475	2A 2A	67 Putnam	2015	West Central
Indian Creek	Trafalgar	Braves	591	3A 3A	41 Johnson	2016	Mid-Hoosier
North Putnam	Roachdale	Cougars	444	2A 2A	67 Putnam	2015	West Central
Northview	Brazil	Knights	955	3A 4A	11 Clay	1999	independent
Owen Valley	Spencer	Patriots	650	3A 3A	60 Owen	1999	West Central
	Greencastle	Eagles	359	2A 1A	67 Putnam	2015	West Central
	Sullivan	Golden Arrows	472	2A 2A	77 Sullivan	1999	Tri-River
West Vigo	West Terre Haute	Vikings	525	2A 2A	84 Vigo	1999	independent

Former members

School	Location	Mascot	Colors	County	Year joined	Previous conference	Year Departed	Conference joined
South Vermillion	Clinton	Wildcats		83 Vermillion	1999	Wabash River	2016	Wabash River
Cascade	Clayton	Cadets		32 Hendricks	2015	West Central	2019	Indiana Crossroads

Team Sports Divisions (2015–2019)

2015-16		2016-19
East	West	East	West
	Greencastle		Greencastle




			West Vigo

With Cascade's departure from the Conference, the current Cross-Over system will be eliminated and all conference schools will play each other in the regular season of boys’ and girls’ basketball, baseball, softball, football, volleyball, boys’ and girls’ soccer, and boys’ and girls’ tennis. Boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving, track and field, cross country, wrestling, and golf will still hold one-day conference tournaments.

Football divisions (2019–2024)

2019-2024

Gold

Green

Brown County

Cloverdale

Greencastle

[North Putnam High School|[[North Putnam Senior High School|North Putnam]]|-|Sullivan || South Putnam|-| || [West Vigo High School (Indiana)|[[West Vigo High School|West Vigo]]|}

Old Conference Membership

School	Location	Mascot	County	Year joined	Previous conference	Year left	Conference joined
Brazil	Brazil	Red Devils	11 Clay	1944	Clay County	1982	Independents (consolidated into Northview 1984)
James A. Garfield	Terre Haute	Purple Eagles	84 Vigo	1944	Vigo County	1971	none (consolidated into Terre Haute North)
Gerstmeyer Tech	Terre Haute	Black Cats	84 Vigo	1944	Vigo County	1971	none (consolidated into Terre Haute North)
Linton-Stockton¹	Linton	Miners	28 Greene	1944	Southern Indiana	1974
State Lab²	Terre Haute	Little Sycamores	84 Vigo	1944	Vigo County	1978	none (school closed)
South Vermillion³	Clinton	Wildcats	83 Vermillion	1944	Vermillion County	1982	Wabash River
Sullivan⁴	Sullivan	Golden Arrows	77 Sullivan	1944	Southern Indiana	1982	Independents (TRC 1986)
William H. Wiley	Terre Haute	Red Streaks	84 Vigo	1944	Vigo County	1971	none (consolidated into Terre Haute South)
Honey Creek	Allendale	Honey Bees	84 Vigo	1945	Vigo County	1971	none (consolidated into Terre Haute South)
Greencastle	Greencastle	Tiger Cubs	67 Putnam	1949	South Central	1977	West Central
Jasonville	Jasonville	Yellow Jackets	28 Greene	1949		1963	none (consolidated into Shakamak)
Dugger	Dugger	Bulldogs	77 Sullivan	1950	Sullivan County	1958	Sullivan County
Lebanon	Lebanon	Tigers	06 Boone	<1951		1967	Sagamore
Bishop Schulte⁵	Terre Haute	Golden Bears	84 Vigo	1953	none (new school)	1977	none (school closed)
West Vigo	West Terre Haute	Vikings	84 Vigo	1960	none (new school)	1982	Independent (WIC 1999)
Shakamak	Jasonville	Lakers	28 Greene	1963	none (new school)	1964	Tri-River
North Knox	Bicknell	Warriors	42 Knox	1977	Blue Chip	1981	Independents (BCC 1986)

Linton-Stockton played concurrently in the WIC and the SIAC from 1944 to 1951.
State played concurrently in the WIC and the Tri-River Conference from 1964 to 1978.
South Vermillion was known as Clinton until 1977. The smaller schools in southern Vermillion County had consolidated into Clinton by 1963, but the school did not change its name right away (and kept Clinton's school colors and nickname), so this is considered a name change rather than an actual consolidation of schools.
Sullivan played concurrently in the WIC and the SIAC from 1944 to 1962.
Schulte played concurrently in the WIC and the Tri-River from 1964 to 1977.

Football Champions

This list includes champions for both the old^[16] and new^[17] versions of the conference. Spit championships are denoted by an asterisk, East and West Division champions are annotated by an E and W, respectively, while the conference championship game winner is denoted by a C. With the green and gold divisions, Gold Division Champion is denoted by GO and the Green Division Champion is denoted by GR.

	Team	Seasons
14	Northview	2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 (W, C), 2018 (W, C), 2020 (GO), 2021 (GO), 2022 (GO)
8	Brazil	1949, 1950, 1969, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1981
8	Wiley	1947, 1948, 1953, 1955, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965
6	Sullivan	1953, 1955, 2003, 2012, 2016 (W, C), 2017 (W, C)
4	Indian Creek	2016 (E), 2017 (E), 2018 (E), 2019 (E, C), 2023 (GO)
4	Bishop Schulte	1964, 1970, 1971, 1976
4	Owen Valley	1999, 2000, 2001, 2015 (E)
4	South Vermillion/Clinton	1952, 1974, 1979, 1980
3	Garfield	1946, 1954, 1957
3	Gerstmeyer Tech	1963, 1967, 1968
3	South Putnam	2020 (GR), 2021 (GR), 2022 (GR)
3	West Vigo	2002, 2003, 2012
2	Greencastle	1966, 1973, 2023 (GR)
1	Edgewood	2008
1	Linton-Stockton	1951
0	Cascade
0	Cloverdale
0	Dugger
0	Honey Creek
0	Jasonville
0	Lebanon
0	North Knox
0	North Putnam
0	Shakamak
0	State Lab

Conference began football competition in 1946, and did not compete from 1982 to 1999. Champions for 1956 and 1958-9 are unknown.

Conference Championship Games

2015 Northview 28, Owen Valley 14
2016 Sullivan 63, Indian Creek 42
2017 Sullivan 48, Indian Creek 38
2018 Northview 32, Indian Creek 22
2019 Indian Creek 32, Northview 28

References

http://www.bannergraphic.com/story/2071979.html

Resources

Notes and References

Web site: 8 Schools Join Wabash League . Hammond Times, Hammond, IN . 1944-11-19 . 2012-06-19.
Web site: Future May Include Expansion Of Western Indiana Conference Field . Hoosier Topics . 2014-03-25 . 2014-04-11.
Web site: Western Indiana Conference to Expand to 12 Schools . Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, IN . 2014-04-22 . 2014-07-01.
Web site: Reschke . Michael . Conference rescinds invitation to Indian Creek . 2023-05-21 . Reporter-Times . en-US.
Web site: Page . Steve . Braves pack up, eye new conference . 2023-05-21 . Reporter-Times . en-US.
Web site: 2023-03-13 . CCSC superintendent discusses proposed state funding changes . 2023-05-21 . Journal Review . en.
News: Scott . Trent . 19 May 2023 . North Putnam votes to join new athletic conference, leave Western Indiana Conference . . Greencastle, Indiana . 20 May 2023.
Web site: Western Boone to leave Sagamore Conference, will form new six-team league . 2023-05-21 . The Indianapolis Star . en-US.
Web site: 2023-05-10 . County schools to separate from Sagamore Conference . 2023-05-21 . Journal Review . en.
Web site: 22 Feb 2024 . Monon Athletic Conference unveils name, logo . 22 Feb 2024 . bannergraphic.com.
Web site: will.willems@reporter.net . Will Willems . 2024-02-22 . Western Boone's new conference gets name, logo . 2024-02-23 . Reporter.net . en.
Web site: Here's why three schools are leaving the Western Indiana Conference . 2024-02-23 . The Herald-Times . en-US.
Web site: Here's why three schools are leaving the Western Indiana Conference . 2024-02-23 . The Herald-Times . en-US.
Web site: Jernagan . Jared . Editor . Scott . Trent . Editor . Sports . 2023-10-02 . UPDATED: GHS set to join new athletic conference . 2024-02-23 . Greencastle Banner Graphic . en.
Web site: Indiana high school conference realignment continues with new conference plans for 2026 . 2024-05-07 . The Indianapolis Star . en-US.
Web site: AlmanacSports.com - Football - Western Indiana (Original) Conference Standings . 2024-01-24 . www.almanacsports.com.
Web site: AlmanacSports.com - Football - Western Indiana Conference Standings . 2024-01-24 . www.almanacsports.com.