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.

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 School Location Mascot Colors Size IHSAA Class County Year joined Previous conference Jac-Cen-Del Osgood Eagles 296 A 69 Ripley 1960 none (new school) Milan1 Milan Indians 417 AA 69 Ripley 19521985 IndependentsEastern Indiana Rising Sun Rising Sun Shiners 312 A 58 Ohio 1952 Laughery Valley ShaweMemorial Madison Hilltoppers 93 A 39 Jefferson 1962 Independents SouthRipley Versailles Raiders 414 AA 69 Ripley 1966 none (new school) Southwestern (Hanover)2 Hanover Rebels 462 AA 39 Jefferson 1960 none (new school) SwitzerlandCounty Vevay Pacers 410 AA 78 Switzerland 1968 none (new school)

Milan played in the Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference from 1962 to 1985. Southwestern played as an Independent from 1994 to 1996 after being removed from the conference for rules violations.

Former members School Location Mascot Colors County Year joined Previous conference Year left Conference joined Hanover Hanover Bulldogs 39 Jefferson 1952 Jefferson County 1960 none (consolidated into Southwestern) North (Madison) Madison Tigers 39 Jefferson 1952 Jefferson County 1953 none (colsolidated into Madison) Osgood Osgood Cowboys 69 Ripley 1952 Southeastern Indiana 1960 none (consolidated into Jac-Cen-Del) Versailles Versailles Lions 69 Ripley 1952 Southeastern Indiana 1966 none (consolidated into South Ripley) Dillsboro Dillsboro Bulldogs 15 Dearborn 1953 Laughery Valley 1978 none (consolidated into South Dearborn) Moores Hill Moores Hill Bobcats 15 Dearborn 1953 Laughery Valley 1978 none (consolidated into South Dearborn) Vevay Vevay Warriors 78 Switzerland 1953 Southeastern Indiana 1968 none (consolidated into Switzerland County) Sunman Sunman Tigers 69 Ripley 1964 Tri-County 1973 none (consolidated into East Central)

Membership timeline

Conference championships Boys basketball # Team Seasons 20 South Ripley 1970, 1977, 1978*, 1981, 1982*, 1984*, 1986, 1987*, 1995*, 1996, 2002, 2004*, 2005, 2010, 2012*,2013, 2015, 2016, 2017*,2021 15 Jac-Cen-Del 1971, 1984*, 1985, 1992, 1993, 1994*, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2007, 2008*, 2009, 2011*,2022,2023 13 Southwestern 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1987*, 1994*, 2000*, 2018, 2019,2020 8 Milan 1954, 1955, 1956, 2000*, 2001, 2003, 2004*, 2012* 5 Switzerland County 1982*, 1995*, 2008*, 2014, 2017* 4 Rising Sun 1957, 1988, 1989, 1991 4 Shawe Memorial 1962*, 1987*, 2006, 2011* 3 Sunman 1965, 1966*, 1967 3 Versailles 1959, 1960, 1963 1 Vevay 1966* 0 Dillsboro 0 Hanover 0 Madison North 0 Moores Hill 0 Osgood Champions for 1952–53, 1957–58, 1960–61, 1963–64, 1974–75, 1979–80, 1982–83, and 1989–90 are unverified.

Girls basketball # Team Seasons 11 South Ripley 1981, 1985, 1991, 1993, 2000, 2004, 2005*, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017 8 Jac-Cen-Del 1976, 2006*, 2007, 2010, 2014*, 2015, 2016, 2018 7 Southwestern 1984, 2001, 2002, 2005*, 2006*, 2008, 2009 6 Switzerland County 1983, 1988, 1997, 2003, 2006*, 2014* 0 Dillsboro 0 Milan 0 Moores Hill 0 Rising Sun 0 Shawe Memorial 1994

Girls champions from 1976-77 until 1998-99 are unverified (except for 1983–84, South Ripley, and Switzerland County titles).

Boys Soccer # Team Seasons 5 Jac-Cen-Del 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020 5 Rising Sun 2004, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2 South Ripley 2009, 2010 1 Southwestern 2011 1 Switzerland County 2022

Girls Soccer # Team Seasons 4 Switzerland County 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 3 Milan 2017*, 2018, 2020* 2 Rising Sun 2016, 2017* 1 South Ripley 2015 1 Southwestern 2017*

Girls conference champions not officially recognized until 2015

State championships Jac-Cen-Del (2) 2009 Boys Basketball (A) 2016 Girls Basketball (A)

Milan (1) 1954 Boys Basketball

Southwestern (Hanover) (1) 2002 Girls Basketball (2A)

Rising Sun (0) 2000 Girls Basketball (2A) Runner-Up

Shawe Memorial (0) South Ripley (0) Switzerland County (0)

References

Resources IHSAA Conferences IHSAA Directory