Penn High School honored 15 student-athletes who participated in NCAA National Signing Day on Wed., Nov. 8.

Click here for a list for a profile of each student-athlete.

Out of 410 Indiana High School Athletic Association members, only one — Penn High School – hoisted a Sectional Championship trophy in each of the eight Fall Sports.

Penn-Harris-Madison Supt. Dr. Jerry Thacker, Penn Principal Principal Sean Galiher, and Athletic Director Aaron Leniski announced that for the first time, Penn swept Sectional Championships in each of the eight IHSAA Fall sports, and that Penn is the only school in the state to accomplish that feat this year.

“What an amazing example of excellence!” Dr. Thacker said. “I am so proud of these champions – coaches and players.  They are remarkable role models and products of our Triangle of Success.  Congratulations!”

Galiher lauded the efforts of the entire Penn community in the remarkable achievement.

“This accomplishment reflects the collective efforts of our students, coaches, teachers, parents and school community,” Galiher said. “I am so proud of these student-athletes. We take great pride in providing experiences that challenge students both academically and on the field. Our coaches are the best in the state.  “

Leniski said that being the only team in the state this year to sweep Sectional crowns in all of the Fall Sports is a comprehensive effort.

“The Athletic Department is pleased to play a vital role in providing education-based athletics for our school community,” Leniski said. “The school administration is extremely proud of the accomplishments by the Fall sports teams. 

“An IHSAA Sectional Championship, due to the number teams involved at that tournament level, is the most challenging championship to earn in the state series.  Our student-athletes and coaching staff have dedicated countless hours in the off-season to sports-performance training and open-facility development work in order to attain their goals. 

“Hard work, dedication, and perseverance continue to produce outstanding results on the athletic field and in the classroom for Kingsmen student-athletes,” Leniski said. “This is a win-win for our school community.”

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY (Coach Tom Miller): Penn won its second consecutive Cross Country Sectional Championship and 22nd in Program history. The Kingsmen placed five runners in the Top 10. Penn scored 27 points. Mishawaka placed second with 68 points. The Kingsmen also won a Regional Championship.

BOYS SOCCER (Coach Josh Nakayama): Penn won its seventh consecutive Sectional Championship in Boys Soccer and 11th overall with a 2-1 victory against South Bend Riley in the Championship Match.

BOYS TENNIS (Coach Eric Bowers): Penn won its 16th consecutive Sectional Championship in Boys Tennis and 23rd Sectional Championship overall. The Kingsmen defeated Marian, 5-0, in the Championship Match. The Kingsmen also won a Regional Championship.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY (Coach Michael Clements): Penn won its 14th consecutive Girls Cross Country Sectional Championship and 26th overall. The Kingsmen placed six runners in the Top 10 to finish with 29 points. Mishawaka placed second with 52 points. The Kingsmen also won a Regional Championship.

GIRLS GOLF (Coach Dominic Demeter): Penn Girls Golf  won its ninth Sectional Championship in a row and 19th in Program history. Penn shot a 349 to lead the 11-team field. South Bend St. Joseph placed second with a score of 367.

GIRLS SOCCER (Coach Jeff Hart): Penn extended its state-best streak of consecutive Sectional Championships to 11. The Kingsmen own 16 Sectional Championships in Program history. Penn went on to win the Class 3-A State Championship, and were named National Champions by topdrawersoccer.com.

FOOTBALL (Coach Cory Yeoman): Penn beat Warsaw, 40-0, to win its fifth consecutive Football Sectional Championship and 24th in Program history. Penn competes in the Regional Championship at Crown Point on Friday, Nov. 10.

VOLLEYBALL (Coach Sarah Hendricks): Penn defeated No. 16 LaPorte, 25-14, 25-13, 25-16, to win the Sectional Championship. It was the 14th Sectional Championship in Program history.

In honor of upcoming Veteran’s Day, P-H-M’s DVT & Planetarium is proud to show once again the historical mini documentary “D-Day: Normandy 1944” narrated by Tom Brokaw.  

The showing will be at the P-H-M DVT/Planetarium on Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 6:30 p.m. The DVT/Planetarium is located inside Bittersweet Elementary School at 55860 Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka.

In gratitude to our veteran’s, the show will be FREE TO ALL VETERANS!!!

Ticket prices for adults are $4, Seniors $3 and children are $2.

Penn Winter Guard Auditions will take place at the high school Tuesday, Nov.14^th, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. Use Door D.

Girls and boys will be accepted. 

Click here to download and print the flyer.
 

The Penn High School Girls Basketball Team played LaPorte in the season opener on Thursday, Nov. 2.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

Penn High School’s Fall Choral Concert – scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9 – will blend the talents of the Viva Voce choir with the Women's Chorale and the Concert Choir.

“This is the first time these three choirs have a concert entirely to themselves!” Penn Choir instructor Andrew Nemeth said. “This was planned this way to challenge the students to learn music at a quicker pace than years past, which is especially helpful as we prepare music for our Hawaii trip in April.”

Nemeth said that music selections for Thursday’s performance are centered around the theme of "love," and how that gets expressed through song, often through metaphors. Most selections will be in English, but there is also a piece entirely in Hebrew, called "Five Hebrew Love Song," written by composer Eric Whitacre.

“I think the audience will appreciate the wide variety of styles that are all centered around the topics of "love" and beauty,” Nemeth said. “It's pretty incredible that there are seemingly endless ways to express these common emotions. It is my hope that my students will communicate the meaning of each carefully crafted piece to the audience, in turn, moving the audience to experience a wide array of emotions at this concert.”

Tickets are $6 in advance through ticketracker.com or during lunches (Monday-through-Thursday). Tickets are $8 at the door.

Penn High’s Girls Basketball Team score its second win of the season with a 48-33 victory against Northern Lakes Conference power NorthWood on Saturday, Nov. 4.

Sara Doi led the Kingsmen effort with 22 total points, including five 3-pointers. She was also 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.

Reganne Pate had seven points, and Trinity Clinton scored six points.

Penn High’s girls basketball team started the season off right with a 40-25 victory over LaPorte in the season opener on Thursday, Nov. 2.

Jordyn Smith led the Kingsman with 12 total points, including going 4-of-6 free throws.

Reganne Pate scored nine points, all of those points coming from three 3-pointers.

Tia Chambers scored 8 points for the Kingsmen.

One of the biggest challenges for teachers is to find new and creative ways to teach students.

Penn Physics teacher Jonathon Lockwood has done just that by hosting Penn’s first Punkin’ Chunkin’ contest. 

Nearly 500 Penn students from various STEM classes such as Physics, Introduction to Design and Engineering were divided into teams. Studying the unit on projectile motion, the teams were tasked with researching and choosing one of the three types of seige engines; the ballista (large crossbow/slingshot), the trebuchet, and the mangonel catapult to launch their pumpkins. Classes then spent four class periods designing and building.

The Introduction to Design class, made up of freshmen and sophomores, built their machines out of popsicle sticks and launched mini candy pumpkins. The other classes (using wood, PVC pipe and other assorted items) designed larger machines, which catapulted mini-foam pumpkins which were weighted down equally to make the competition even. 

The competition was held for two days (Oct. 31 & Nov. 1). The competition saw students collecting data that would then be used to calculate maximum horizontal, vertical and directional velocity for their launcher. The calculations are then used to help students study the projectile motion unit and will also be used later this year when studying the conservation of energy.

At the end of the two days of competition, team Men in Black won the Catapult division with a distance of 107-8, team Arrowhead won the Ballista division with a distance of 56-3 and The Door Stops won the Trebuchet division with a distance of 122-1.

Finishing in third place for overall distance was team Men in Black with a distance of 107-8, second place went to team Taco Tuesday at 121-6 and finishing in first place was The Door Stops with a winning distance of 122-1. The Door Stops will have their name put on a trophy helmet, much like the Stanley Cup. Watch their winning throw below …

 “I got the idea for this assignment when watching re-runs of a past fall special on Punkin’ Chunkin’ run by the Discovery Channel,” said Mr. Lockwood.

The launching devices built for the Discovery Channel show are capable of launching real pumpkins nearly a mile long and velocities above the speed of sound. Due to cost and mess, Mr. Lockwood decided not use real pumpkins for Penn’s Punkin Chuckin’.

“In physics and science in general we look to find real life applications for the simple concepts that we talk about at the high school level,” Mr. Lockwood said. “This competition allows students the opportunity to organically develop, test, measure and explain the success of a device that they built, based on these principles that we discussed in class.”

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

Penn High School’s Kristina Lynch added to an All-American legacy when she was named the Indiana High School Athletic Association Mental Attitude Award winner following the Class 3-A State Championship Game at Butler University on Friday, Oct. 27.

Penn beat Guerin Catholic, 2-0, to repeat as State Champions.

Lynch, a Florida State University women’s soccer recruit, led Penn to three consecutive State Championship Games. Penn was state runner-up in 2015, won State Championships in 2016 and 2017.

A midfielder, Lynch owns the Penn career record with 130 goals and has a record 68 career assists. She has 44 goals and 18 assists this season.

Named a First-Team All-American by USA Today, Lynch has been invited to play in the All-American Game in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 2. 

Lynch is the 26th IHSAA Mental Attitude Award winner in Penn history.

“Kristina is a remarkable student athlete who is genuinely dedicated to making her teammates better,” Penn High School Principal Sean Galiher said. “She always shows commitment to her team and treats others with respect and dignity.  She is the model teammate who represents her family and school with pride.”

Lynch is Penn's eighth IHSAA Mental Attitude Award Winner since 2015.

"Kristina Lynch is the epitome of Penn's commitment to education-based athletics and our commitment to the concept of a student-athlete," Penn Athletic Director Aaron Leniski said. "She pursues excellence in the classroom and on the soccer field. We are proud of the way she has represented Penn, and in the outstanding legacy that she has carved out. She is an outstanding role model for our younger players."

PENN IHSAA MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD WINNERS 

1983, Football (4-A), Mark Plencner             
 
1989, Football (5-A), Eric Kline       
 
1992, Girls Cross Country, Jill Nace            
 
1995, Football (5-A), Matt Geesman             
 
1996, Football (5-A), Scott Becker 
 
1998, Baseball (4-A), Blake Gaugler
 
1997, Football (5-A), Brad Monhaut              
 
1999, Boys Soccer, Matthew Abbott           
 
2000, Football (5-A), Justin Smith  
 
2003, Girls Tennis, Lauren Woodward
 
2003, Girls Golf, Casey North
 
2003, Football (5-A), Wade Iams
 
2004, Girls Cross Country, Laura Carr
 
2005, Boys Tennis, Chris Jordan
 
2011, Girls Basketball (4-A), Ashley Lutz
 
2011, Girls Golf, Deanna Song
 
2011, Volleyball (4-A), Kaitlyn Hickey
 
2011, Football (5-A), Patrick Adkins
 
2015, Wrestling, Chase Osborn
 
2015, Baseball (4-A), Tim Lira
 
2015, Soccer (2-A), Kamra Solomon
 
2016, Football (6-A), Camden Bohn
 
2016, Softball (4-A), Alyssa Griman
 
2016, Soccer (2-A), Alexis Marks
 
2017, Baseball (4-A), Trevor Waite

2017, Soccer (3-A) Kristina Lynch