New IHSAA sectional alignments shift several South Bend area schools

The IHSAA released new sectional alignments for the multi-class fall and winter sports on Tuesday, and as expected, there were changes for the South Bend area. Any changes to spring sports alignments (baseball and softball) will be announced after those seasons end in June.

These new alignments will be in effect for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years unless a school moves up or down in a sport due to the tournament success factor system used by the IHSAA.

Here is a breakdown of each sport’s notable area changes. The full new pairings can be found online at ihsaa.org .

Football

In football, the biggest change came with Mishawaka moving down to Class 4A due to its enrollment number decreasing. It's in Sectional 18, which features a loaded field of Northridge, NorthWood, Plymouth, South Bend Riley, South Bend Saint Joseph, South Bend Washington and Wawasee.

The other classes saw some shuffling as well. Penn and Elkhart are in separate Class 6A sectionals now with the Kingsmen grouped with three schools from northwest Indiana and the Lions with three Fort Wayne teams. Warsaw moving down to 5A lumped them in a sectional with Concord, Goshen and Fort Wayne North Side. This shifted South Bend Adams to a 5A sectional with Kokomo, Lafayette Jefferson and McCutcheon.

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In Class 3A, Mishawaka Marian has moved into a sectional with teams in the northwest part of the state, including defending regional champion Knox. Jimtown and John Glenn also joined the new Sectional 25, with Fairfield staying in Sectional 26.

Bremen stayed in Class 2A, but LaVille moved down to 1A. The Lancers’ toughest new sectional opponent will likely be North Judson-San Pierre.

Boys soccer

The three-class sport has its biggest change with Mishawaka Marian moving to 3A due to its tournament success factor. The Knights were 2A state runner-up in 2022 and then won the state championshipslast fall. They are in a sectional with LaPorte, Michigan City, Plymouth, Adams and Riley, with Penn shifting from Sectional 3 back to Sectional 4 alongside Concord, Elkhart, Goshen, Mishawaka and Northridge.

A new 2A sectional with seven teams features area schools Bremen, Glenn, New Prairie, NorthWood and Saint Joseph. In 1A, defending state champion Bethany Christian is in a seven-team grouping that includes area programs ECA, LaVille, Marquette Catholic and Trinity at Greenlawn.

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Girls soccer

In Class 3A, Sectional 3 features LaPorte, Michigan City, Mishawaka, Penn, Adams and Riley. This leaves a five-team Sectional 4 of Concord, Elkhart, Goshen, Northridge and Warsaw.

Saint Joseph moves back down to 2A after being in 3A the last two seasons. It's paired back with rival Marian, who has won three straight regional titles and a semistate championship in 2021. Those two are joined by Glenn, New Prairie and Jimtown in Sectional 18.

The area 1A teams are split between three sectionals. Notably, Marquette Catholic is in Sectional 34, Bethany Christian, Bremen and Trinity in 35, and Argos and LaVille in 36.

Volleyball

Penn shifts again in the new sectional alignment, going to Class 4A Sectional 3 with LaPorte, Michigan City, Mishawaka, Adams and Riley. The Kingsmen depart Sectional 4, which is now just five teams: Concord, Elkhart, Goshen, Northridge and Warsaw.

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Classes 3A and 1A stayed mostly intact. Jimtown moving down to 2A formed a new sectional alongside Bremen, South Bend Career Academy, Knox, LaVille and Winamac.

Boys and girls basketball

The new basketball alignments mirror each other, minus South Bend Washington. The Panthers girls basketball team is in 4A due to its recent tournament success while the Washington boys are in 3A.

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That leaves 4A Sectional 3 with seven teams on the girls’ side with Washington joined by LaPorte, Michigan City, Mishawaka, Penn, Adams and Riley. The latter six make up the boys Class 4A Sectional 3 draw. With Penn moving out of Sectional 4, it leaves that sectional with five teams for boys and girls: Concord, Elkhart, Goshen, Northridge, Warsaw.

Class 3A Sectional 19 for the girls is Culver Academies, Glenn, Marian, New Prairie, Plymouth, and Saint Joseph, with Washington joining those six in the boys’ bracket. Sectional 20 for both includes area teams Fairfield and NorthWood.

Class 2A Sectional 34 for boys and girls includes Bremen, Career Academy, Jimtown, Knox, LaVille and Winamac.

New 1A alignments send Bethany Christian to sectionals with more Fort Wayne-based teams, including defending 1A boys state champion Canterbury. The Bruins have been split from former sectional foes Elkhart Christian and Trinity, among others. Class 1A girls state runner-up Marquette Catholic stayed in Sectional 49.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: New IHSAA sectional alignments shift several South Bend area schools