Ohio River Valley Conference

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The Ohio Valley Conference in Indiana Indiana (ORVC).png
The Ohio Valley Conference in Indiana

The Ohio River Valley Conference is an Indiana High School Athletic Association-sanctioned conference located in Jefferson, Ohio, Ripley, and Switzerland counties. Formed in 1952, the conference has been fairly stable throughout its history, as five of the current seven members (or their precursors) are original members. [1]

Contents

History

The ORVC traces its history to two conferences, the Southeastern Indiana and Laughery Valley. When the league began, two of its members came from the SEIC (Osgood, Versailles), a third (Rising Sun) had been in the SEIC before helping found the LVC, and a fourth (Milan) was a SEIC member until being removed from the conference in 1942, remaining independent since that point. The first shakeup in conference membership came in the conference's second year, as North closed, and two more LVC schools (Dillsboro, Moores Hill) joined with one SEIC school (Vevay). Hanover and Osgood consolidated with other local schools to become Southwestern and Jac-Cen-Del in 1960, with both staying in the league. Milan, a school that had dominated 1950s basketball and had football, moved to the Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference in 1962. They were replaced by two schools: Shawe Memorial in 1962, and Sunman in 1964. Versailles became South Ripley in 1966, with Vevay changing to Switzerland County in 1969.

The 1970s were a different story, as the three member schools would not survive to the end of the decade. Sunman was consolidated with North Dearborn in 1973, forming East Central. Dillsboro and Moores Hill would follow suit in 1978, combining with Aurora to form South Dearborn. Both of those schools had pre-consolidation ties to the Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference, and would retain their places in that conference. Left as a six-school conference, the ORVC welcomed founding member Milan back in 1985, as the former basketball power was struggling to keep up with larger rivals in the post-consolidation era. The conference has been stable since, a two-year hiatus by Southwestern in the mid-1990s notwithstanding. That stability looks to continue into the future. Lawrenceburg was denied entry in the 1990s, and there is only one other school in the area (Oldenburg Academy) who is of a similar size.

Membership

SchoolLocationMascotColorsSize IHSAA
Class
CountyYear joinedPrevious conference
Jac-Cen-Del Osgood Eagles  
 
296A 69
Ripley
1960none (new school)
Milan 1 Milan Indians  
 
417AA 69
Ripley
1952
1985
Independents
Eastern Indiana
Rising Sun Rising Sun Shiners  
 
312A 58
Ohio
1952 Laughery Valley
Shawe
Memorial
Madison Hilltoppers  
 
93A 39
Jefferson
1962Independents
South
Ripley
Versailles Raiders  414AA 69
Ripley
1966none (new school)
Southwestern
(Hanover)
2
Hanover Rebels  
 
462AA 39
Jefferson
1960none (new school)
Switzerland
County
Vevay Pacers  
  
410AA 78
Switzerland
1968none (new school)
  1. Milan played in the Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference from 1962 to 1985.
  2. Southwestern played as an Independent from 1994 to 1996 after being removed from the conference for rules violations.

Former members

SchoolLocationMascotColorsCountyYear joinedPrevious conferenceYear leftConference joined
Hanover Hanover Bulldogs   39
Jefferson
1952 Jefferson County 1960none (consolidated
into Southwestern)
North
(Madison)
Madison Tigers   39
Jefferson
1952 Jefferson County 1953none (colsolidated into
Madison)
Osgood Osgood Cowboys   69
Ripley
1952 Southeastern Indiana 1960none (consolidated
into Jac-Cen-Del)
Versailles Versailles Lions   69
Ripley
1952 Southeastern Indiana 1966none (consolidated into
South Ripley)
Dillsboro Dillsboro Bulldogs    15
Dearborn
1953 Laughery Valley 1978none (consolidated
into South Dearborn)
Moores Hill Moores Hill Bobcats [2]    15
Dearborn
1953 Laughery Valley 1978none (consolidated
into South Dearborn)
Vevay Vevay Warriors    78
Switzerland
1953 Southeastern Indiana 1968none (consolidated into
Switzerland County)
Sunman Sunman Tigers [2]     69
Ripley
1964 Tri-County 1973none (consolidated
into East Central)

Membership timeline

Switzerland County Senior High SchoolSouth Ripley High SchoolEast Central High School (Indiana)Shawe Memorial High SchoolSouthwestern High School (Hanover, Indiana)Jac-Cen-Del Junior-Senior High SchoolSwitzerland County Senior High SchoolSouth Dearborn High SchoolSouth Dearborn High SchoolSouth Ripley Junior/Senior High SchoolRising Sun High School (Indiana)Jac-Cen-Del Junior-Senior High SchoolMadison Consolidated High SchoolMilan High School (Indiana)Southwestern High School (Hanover, Indiana)Ohio River Valley Conference

Conference championships

Boys basketball

#TeamSeasons
20South Ripley1970, 1977, 1978*, 1981, 1982*, 1984*, 1986, 1987*, 1995*, 1996, 2002, 2004*, 2005, 2010, 2012*,
2013, 2015, 2016, 2017*,2021
15Jac-Cen-Del1971, 1984*, 1985, 1992, 1993, 1994*, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2007, 2008*, 2009, 2011*,2022,2023
13Southwestern1968, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1987*, 1994*, 2000*, 2018, 2019,2020
8Milan1954, 1955, 1956, 2000*, 2001, 2003, 2004*, 2012*
5Switzerland County1982*, 1995*, 2008*, 2014, 2017*
4Rising Sun1957, 1988, 1989, 1991
4Shawe Memorial1962*, 1987*, 2006, 2011*
3Sunman1965, 1966*, 1967
3Versailles1959, 1960, 1963
1Vevay1966*
0Dillsboro
0Hanover
0Madison North
0Moores Hill
0Osgood

Girls basketball

#TeamSeasons
11South Ripley1981, 1985, 1991, 1993, 2000, 2004, 2005*, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017
8Jac-Cen-Del1976, 2006*, 2007, 2010, 2014*, 2015, 2016, 2018
7Southwestern1984, 2001, 2002, 2005*, 2006*, 2008, 2009
6Switzerland County1983, 1988, 1997, 2003, 2006*, 2014*
0Dillsboro
0Milan
0Moores Hill
0Rising Sun
0Shawe Memorial1994

Boys Soccer

#TeamSeasons
5Jac-Cen-Del2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020
5Rising Sun2004, 2014, 2016, 2018,
2South Ripley2009, 2010
1Southwestern2011
1Switzerland County2022

Girls Soccer

#TeamSeasons
4Switzerland County2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
3Milan2017*, 2018, 2020*
2Rising Sun2016, 2017*
1South Ripley2015
1Southwestern2017*

State championships

Jac-Cen-Del (2)

Milan (1)

Southwestern (Hanover) (1)

Rising Sun (0)

Shawe Memorial (0)

South Ripley (0)

Switzerland County (0)

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References

  1. "New Ohio River Loop Ready to Roll". Anderson Daily Bulletin. 1952-05-09. Retrieved 2012-02-22.
  2. 1 2 "IHSAA participants: Dearborn County". Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2014.

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