HEBRON

Boys track is the second oldest sport at Hebron High School. The baseball team's first recorded game was in

the spring of 1903. The first track meet was in the spring of 1905. After joining the Valparaiso Athletic Conference, the

team participated in the first annual Porter County track meet. Despite being named the Porter County track meet, the

meet was won by Hobart (Lake county). Other participating schools were Valparaiso and Wanatah (LaPorte county).

The following year, 1906, the team participated in its first dual meet. Hebron defeated Crown Point in that meet. The

second meet was a championship in the 2nd annual Porter County track meet. To cap off the season, three Hebron

boys traveled to Crawfordsville to compete in the 3rd annual IHSAA state track meet. Levi Smith, Joe Brown and Harry

Brown were the first Hebron athletes to represent Hebron at the state level. Levi stole the show for Hebron, with 2nd

place finishes in the 100 yard dash and the 220 yard dash. His performance was good for six points and as a team

Hebron finished 10th in the state. Although there was no official All-State teams back then, he is being included with the

other Hebron All-State athletes.

In 1907, Hebron won the Porter County track meet again. In the 4th annual Porter County track meet, in 1908, Hebron

finished 2nd to Valparaiso. This would be the last Hebron track team for over 30 years.

The IHSAA added sectionals in 1916. Prior to this anyone who wanted to participate in the state meet just showed

up on the day of the meet.

By 1943, a number of local schools were fielding track teams. Hebron also fielded a team, and competed against

eight other schools. The administrators and coaches in Porter County also organized the "1st" annual Porter County

track meet. Apparently they weren't aware of the fact that almost 40 years earlier the "1st" county meet was run. With

the exception of a couple years, the Porter County meet was run until 1958.

Hebron didn’t field a track team in 1949 or 1950. In 1949, the IHSAA added a regional round in additon to the

sectional. Prior to 1992, an athlete would have to exceed a qualifying standard during the season to qualify for

participation in the sectional. In 1992, the IHSAA allowed two athletes from each school to participate in each event

in the sectional. There was also a National High School Federation rule that stated an athlete had to win the event for

a record to be broken. It isn't clear what year this rule changed, but appeared to still be in effect through the 1980s. With

the advancement in timing technology this rule was eliminated.

The Porter County Conference started in 1958-59 with a PCC meet as the only championship offered. The round

robin schedule and championship was introduced in boys track in 1971 with Hebron winning the first 5 trophies, going

28-0 in the process. Hebron wouldn't win another round robin trophy for nearly 20 years. In 1992, Hebron won the first

of four straight and five out of six round robin championships. The round robin record for the six years was 46-2. Hebron

has won 13 PCC meet championships, including five in a row from 1970-1974. Hebron made it seven out of eight with

wins in 1976 and 1977. The last three trophies came in 1993, 94 and 95.

The boys track team stands out at Hebron with the most success in the IHSAA tournaments. During the 1990s, 14

Hebron boys participated in the state meet. Bill Centifanto (1600m-92), Rafe Terpstra (PV-95), Carl Patz (DIS-95,96),

Mark Thurner (1600m-99), and P J Fox (800m-2002) were IHSAA All-State performers. Mark Hoagland (PV), Matt

Norris (300mLH), Clay Malayter (3200m), Greg Hoagland (HJ), Justin Barton (DIS), Mark Passine (DIS), and Jasen Egolf

(1600m) also have been IHSAA state qualifiers.