Conference realignment changed SW Indiana sports five years ago. Was everyone a winner?

EVANSVILLE — Has it been five years already?

The world of high school athletics can operate on a micro-level. You focus on one day at a time, maybe a week when the postseason arrives. This mindset is necessary in the spring when games are dependent on weather. The next two weeks might be the busiest on the calendar.

But five years ago, high school athletics in Southwestern Indiana underwent a major shift on a large scale.

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The Southern Indiana Athletic Conference officially admitted Jasper and Vincennes Lincoln as members on May 21, 2019. It wasn’t the catalyst for change but the biggest domino to fall. An entire graduation class from both schools now has known nothing different than competing in the SIAC.

Five years later, the time feels relevant to look back. How did every major party come out of the process? Was everybody a winner? For the most part, yes.

Southern Indiana Athletic Conference

The conference got everything it wanted five years ago.

The SIAC was previously confined to a bubble – in some ways, it still is – never leaving the Evansville area to play a conference game. Adding Jasper and Vincennes Lincoln expanded their geographic footprint with two high-profile schools. It completed the football schedule. It strengthened the depth of the conference across every sport.

“Our brand of sports has gotten better,” said North principal and SIAC president John Skinner. “It has improved our conference. It broadened the horizon of the SIAC. They brought other quality athletes and gives our schools a chance to travel.”

It would be interesting to see the other reality that nearly happened. Gibson Southern applied for membership – its coaches voted 19-0 in favor – but it needed to partner with another school to make the jump. Boonville mulled it over but said no. Any others were pure rumors. Those schools still ultimately came out favorably, too.

Jasper

No better pairing. Jasper had options five years ago and played its cards right.

The Wildcats were the top athletic program in the Big Eight and possibly could have continued in the Pocket Athletic Conference full-time or with a football-only merger. But as a borderline 4A school, it was a better fit across the board in the SIAC. Jasper has proven it in the years since with conference championships in football, cross country, tennis, swimming, track, softball and baseball.

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The move was also beneficial at the statewide level with the 4A baseball title in 2021. The program is the first to tell you playing SIAC schools in the regular season mattered for the run to Victory Field. The only gripe five years in is time zone differences causing later starts or trips home. (The entire state should be on Central Time, anyway.)

"We were better suited to be in a conference with schools our size that we would be facing in the postseason," said Jasper athletics director Phil Kendall. "Jasper has always been a school that has relished in taking on the challenge of competition. I know for a fact that it means something to our athletes now to win a conference championship or be named to one of the All-Conference teams. From a competition standpoint, I think that this has been a very positive move for us for the most part."

Vincennes Lincoln

Opinions could differ. I contend it remains a positive and will be better with more time.

Vincennes Lincoln struggled immediately after joining the SIAC. The conference standings reflected that in the first two years. It was telling when the Alices explored other conferences or even independence in 2022. The decision-makers have changed over the years – principal Steve Combs left in December '21 and athletics director Mike Quinn retired the following summer – but ultimately Vincennes remains in the SIAC.

The last two years — particularly the most recent — show the Alices have adjusted positively. Football finished in a tie for second. The basketball teams and others were competitive. Baseball might have finished eighth but was only two games back in a wild spring. The school noted an upgraded strength program. Its rich history of success also pairs well with the rest of the conference.

"I believe we're consistently advancing each year," said Vincennes Lincoln athletics director Chris Lancaster. "Our students are showing ongoing growth in adopting the competitive mindset required for the extremely challenging SIAC. (It's) one of the top conferences in the southern part of the state, with great depth, talent, and elite coaches. I enjoy working with a group that is knowledgeable in various sports, event management, and open to collaboration and sharing ideas."

Pocket Athletic Conference

The reasons why the SIAC came out positively should apply to what became of the PAC.

The conference is now 13-deep in every sport once Tecumseh rejoined in football last season. But the major additions were Boonville, Mount Vernon, Princeton and Washington four years ago — all schools with a history of success in various sports. It also led to a football arrangement many found better with two divisions and the ability to schedule non-conference opponents as best they see fit.

Boonville, Forest Park, Gibson Southern, Heritage Hills, North Posey, Southridge and Tecumseh have won or reached a state championship in the intervening years. The 2021-22 school year was impressive to document in particular. Some sport-specific rivalries were lost – looking at Jasper-Heritage Hills and Jasper-Southridge in football – but the PAC emerged better than it was five years ago.

Big Eight Conference

There was one losing entity five years ago. It remains true today. The Big Eight lost through no fault of its own.

The writing was on the wall when Mount Carmel left because of a change from the Illinois High School Athletic Association requiring district scheduling in football to qualify for the state tournament. Ironically, this rule was appealed a year later. The Big Eight couldn't have foreseen that. The remaining six schools needed to make a decision quickly.

Some of the best athletes ever from SW Indiana competed in this conference, among them Scott Rolen, Jackie Young and the Zeller brothers. The Big Eight won 18 state championships between 1980-2019, creating important athletic history for this area. Fans of high school sports did lose a bit when the conference was forced to shutter.

"I liked the relationships in the Big Eight," said Jasper baseball coach Terry Gobert. "I miss more of the rivalries. We're having to develop more of those. (The SIAC) makes us better in every sport. You have to bring it every night. Not every conference is like that. I love it as far as having to compete every night."

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: A look at SW Indiana athletics five years after conference realignment