The White River Conference was an IHSAA-sanctioned conference located within rural areas of East Central Indiana, that existed twice, once from 1954 to 1977, and from 1989 to 2010. The first version of the conference was founded as a home for high schools in Madison County who weren't in the

Central Indiana Athletic Conference Central Indiana Conference is an eight-member IHSAA Conference spanning Blackford, Grant, and Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United State ...

. The conference would expand quickly from six to nine schools, as two new high schools in

Anderson Anderson or Andersson may refer to: Companies * Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910 * Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car * Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer * Anderson Ra ...

and Middletown, a school in Henry County, were added within two years. Membership was generally not stable until 1969, as Madison Heights left, Highland was forced out and eventually added back into the conference, St. Mary's closed, member schools consolidated, and schools from neighboring

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

and

Hancock Hancock may refer to: Places in the United States * Hancock, Iowa * Hancock, Maine * Hancock, Maryland * Hancock, Massachusetts * Hancock, Michigan * Hancock, Minnesota * Hancock, Missouri * Hancock, New Hampshire ** Hancock (CDP), New Hampshire * ...

counties were added. Eventually, large disparities in enrollment causing the conference to disband, as city and consolidated schools outgrew their rural counterparts.. Schools would move into the

Big Blue River Conference The Big Blue River Conference was an IHSAA-mandated conference featuring schools from North Central and East Central Indiana. It operated from the 1968–69 school year until 1988–89. Five of the original seven schools came from the East Central ...

Classic Athletic Conference The Classic Athletic Conference was a short-lived IHSAA-sanctioned conference based in northern East Central Indiana. Formed by the largest schools in their predecessor conferences, the conference only lasted nine years before disbanding History ...

, and

Mid-Eastern Conference The Mid-Eastern Conference is an IHSAA-sanctioned conference in East Central Indiana. The conference formed in 1963 as schools from Delaware, Henry, and Randolph counties banded together with impending consolidations making their conference situ ...

. The conference was refounded in 1989, with virtually the same lineup as 1977. Pendleton Heights and Yorktown had been independent since the demise of the CAC, and Mount Vernon had been independent since the original WRC folded. Lapel and Shenandoah were left without a home with the breakup of the BBRC, while Frankton and Wes-Del were eager to join a conference that sponsored football (they played independently since the MEC does not sponsor the sport). Anderson Highland was the only member who did not rejoin, as their move to the Olympic Conference caused the demise of the CAC. Delta, another former CAC school, would take their place in the reformed conference, and divisions in football were introduced to address enrollment disparity. This lineup would remain intact until 1995, though a massive change would happen in the next three years as five schools left. Delta, Mount Vernon, and Pendleton Heights would all leave for the

Hoosier Heritage Conference Hoosier Heritage Conference is an athletic and extra/co-curricular activity conference of Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its ...

, while Yorktown would join the

Rangeline Conference The Rangeline Conference was an IHSAA-Sanctioned High School Athletic Conference that lasted from 1965 to 1999, containing schools in Boone, Clinton, Delaware, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Howard, Marion, Shelby, and Tipton Counties in Central ...

before also ending up in the HHC. Frankton would join the more geographically compact

in 1998, joining fellow northern Madison County schools Alexandria and Elwood. The WRC countered by adding two former BBRC schools: Knightstown (1995) and Eastern Hancock (1997). While the number of members in the conference shrank, its five members were of similar size and demographic. The conference remained stable for the next decade. The end of the conference began when Wes-Del left after the 2007-08 academic year to rejoin the MEC. Lapel then joined the

Indiana Crossroads Conference The Indiana Crossroads Conference is an eight-school conference, with schools located in Hendricks, Marion, Morgan and Shelby counties, mostly consisting of smaller-to-medium public and private schools, with the latest change being Cascade join ...

in 2009-10, playing in both conferences for the season before becoming a full member of the ICC for 2010-11. The three remaining schools afterward became independents. Eastern Hancock and Knightstown would join the

Mid-Hoosier Conference The Mid-Hoosier Conference is a seven-member IHSAA-sanctioned athletic association located within Bartholomew, Decatur, Johnson, and Shelby Counties in Central Indiana. History The conference was formed in 1964 by seven schools from Bartholomew ...

and its football arm, the

Mid-Indiana Football Conference Mid-Indiana Football Conference is a six-member Indiana High School Athletic Association The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public and private high schools in the U.S. state of ...

, after being independent for a few years. The school's have since left and joined the

(where Shenandoah will join them, having been independent since the demise of the WRC) and Tri-Eastern Conference, respectively, in 2017. Lapel struggled to compete in the ICRC, and left that conference in 2014, playing independently since then.

Former membership (1989–2010)

# Lapel played the 2009-10 season concurrently in the WRC and ICRC.

Football Divisions 1989–1995

Former Membership (1954–1977)

# Wes-Del played concurrently in the WRC and MVC for its entire duration in the first incarnation of the WRC.

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:750 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1953 till:2011 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:red from:1954 till:1977 text: Frankton (1954-1977, 1989-1998) bar:1 color:red from:1989 till:1998 text:Frankton bar:2 color:red from:1954 till:1977 text:

Lapel Lapels ( ) are the folded flaps of cloth on the front of a jacket or coat below the collar and are most commonly found on formal clothing and suit jackets. Usually they are formed by folding over the front edges of the jacket or coat and sewing t ...

(1954-1977, 1989-2010) bar:2 color:red from:1989 till:2010 text:Lapel bar:3 color:red from:1954 till:1969 text: Markleville (1954-1969) bar:4 color:red from:1954 till:1969 text:

Pendleton Pendleton may refer to: Places ;United Kingdom *Pendleton, Lancashire, England *Pendleton, Greater Manchester, England ;United States *Pendleton, Indiana * Pendleton, Missouri *Pendleton, New York *Pendleton, Oregon *Pendleton, South Carolina *Pe ...

(1954-1969) bar:5 color:red from:1954 till:1966 text: St. Mary's (1954-1966) bar:6 color:red from:1954 till:1969 text: Summitville (1955-1964) bar:7 color:red from:1955 till:1963 text: Anderson Highland (1955-1963, 1969-1977) bar:7 color:red from:1969 till:1977 text: bar:8 color:red from:1955 till:1967 text: Middletown (1955-1967) bar:9 color:red from:1956 till:1959 text: Madison Heights (1956-1959) bar:10 color:red from:1963 till:1977 text: Yorktown (1963-1977, 1989-1997) bar:10 color:red from:1989 till:1997 text:Yorktown bar:11 color:red from:1967 till:1977 text: Shenandoah (1967-1977, 1989-2010) bar:11 color:red from:1989 till:2010 text:Shenandoah bar:12 color:red from:1968 till:1977 text:

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

(1968-1977, 1989-1995) bar:12 color:red from:1989 till:1995 text:Mount Vernon bar:13 color:red from:1969 till:1977 text:

Pendleton Heights Pendleton Heights is a historic neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. It is near the downtown highway loop, between Paseo and Chestnut Trafficway to the west and east, and Independence Avenue and Cliff Drive to the south and nort ...

(1969-1977, 1989-1997 bar:13 color:red from:1989 till:1997 text:Pendleton Heights bar:14 color:red from:1969 till:1977 text: Wes-Del (1969-1977, 1989-2008) bar:14 color:red from:1989 till:2008 text:Wes-Del bar:15 color:red from:1989 till:1997 text:

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also re ...

(1989-1997) bar:16 color:red from:1995 till:2010 text: Knightstown (1995-2010) bar:17 color:red from:1997 till:2010 text: Eastern Hancock (1997-2010) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1955 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(175,30) # tabs:(0-center) text:"WRC Membership History"

References

Resources

IHSAA Conferences

IHSAA Directory
{{Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Indiana high school athletic conferences High school sports conferences and leagues in the United States Indiana High School Athletic Association disestablished conferences 1954 establishments in Indiana 2010 disestablishments in Indiana