Penn High’s Kingsmen nearly pulled off one of the biggest upset in its Boys Basketball history, but Elkhart Central’s Cornell Conner hit a putback as time expired to give the Blue Blazers a 75-73 triple overtime victory in Class 4-A Sectional action on Central’s home court.

Central (20-2) beat Penn 65-48 in the regular season.

Penn’s season ends 10-13.

Sophomore wing Drew Lutz led Penn with 23 points.

Noah Applegate, a 6-foot-5 sophomore wing, scored 21 points for Penn.

Senior Brian Doslak scored 13 for Penn.

PENN 73: Drew Lutz 23, Drew Schneider 2, Brian Doslak 13, Beau Ludwick 5, Noah Applegate 21, Matt McCown 0, Connor Schneider 9.

Elkhart Central 75: Trenton Culbreath 0, Desmond Johnson 0, Kenyatta Young 0, Cornell Conner 23, Adonis Brown 28, J.T. Webb 0, Michael Boone 0, DeVeon Jackson 13, Brycen Sherwood 6, Andrew Salmon 5.

PENN                    18           16           16           8              9              6              0 – 73

Elkhart Central  10           8              17           23           9              6              2 – 75

Three-pointers: PENN  7 (Doslak 4, Lutz 2, Ludwick 1), Elkhart Central 4 (Sherwood 2, Conner 1, Brown 1).

Penn placed third in the Speech Sectionals/State Qualifier on Saturday, Feb. 25.

Ten students from Penn qualified for state:

• Colin Lucero-Dixon – 1st in Discussion.

• Max Bernstein and Cameron Carpenter – 3rd and 5th in Radio Broadcasting.

• Sanjana Kulkarni and Payton Holland – 2nd and 5th in Informative Speaking.

• Komal Kumar – 6th in Original Oratory.

• Elizabeth Carrier – 5th in Poetry Interpretation.

• Caroline Carrier – 3rd in Impromptu Speaking.

• Andrew Galang – 5th Humorous Interpretation.

• Lyvia Li – 2nd in U.S. Extemporaneous Speaking.

Click here to vote!

Penn Junior Jack Neubauer is one of seven area high school students competing for their artwork to be chosen for the 2017 U93 “Roofsit.”

Roofsit is a multi-county event hosted each year by Martin’s Super Markets and U93 to raise funds for child abuse prevention programs in in Indiana and Michigan. In addition to the dollars raised, Roofsit brings attention to the issue of child abuse to the entire community over five days. Roofsit takes place June 19-23, 2017.

Neubauer is competing against other student artists from Adams, Clay, Marian, Mishawaka, St. Joe and Washington high schools. All the creations are featured on the Roofsit Facebook page  and are competing for votes.

So cast your vote for Jack Neubauer. You can vote once per day until March 31^st.

The winning logo will be revealed on April 22 during the annual Prevent Child Abuse “Safe at Home Night” at Four Winds Field.

Roofsit sponsors include U93, Martin’s Super Markets, Prevent Child Abuse St. Joseph County and Youth Service Bureau. 

All funds from Roofsit stay in a five-county area. Partner agencies apply for grants focused on child abuse prevention, education, and services for victims.  In 2016, more than $160,000 was raised during Roofsit. Grants were awarded to 11 agencies.

More than 15,000 cases of child abuse and neglect are reported in St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties each year. 

For more information about Roofsit, or Prevent Child Abuse St. Joseph County, visit roofsit.org.

Penn High School’s Fine Arts Academy presents the musical “Kiss Me Kate” at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, March 3-4, and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 5.

The production will be at Penn’s Center for the Performing Arts.

Tickets are $12 at the door, or $10 pre-sale. Click here to buy tickets online today.

Taqia Heryadi, a sophomore at Penn, was named to the FIRST Robotics Dean’s List and is one of three students to represent Indiana at the Robotics World Championships in St. Louis on April 26-30.

The Dean’s List recognizes the leadership and dedication of FIRST’s most outstanding FIRST Tech Challenge students. Since its introduction in 2010, the FIRST Dean’s List Award has attracted the attention of prestigious colleges and universities who desire to recruit FIRST Dean’s List students. 

“Kia is a wonderful example of a student that embodies all that FIRST stands for,” Penn Robotics instructor Jim Langfeldt said. “In my 20 years of coaching robotics, I have not seen a better example of a team member putting the needs and interests of her team ahead of her own.  Kia brings happiness and joy to everything and everyone she surrounds.”

Langfeldt said that Heryadi plays an essential role on her FIRST Tech Challenge team.

“She is a natural leader, and steers the direction of her team,” Langfeldt said. “She leads the organization of the  engineering notebook, team outreach projects, and fundraising efforts. Taqia is very friendly and helps bridge the gap between the highly technical members and the outreach focused teammates. She is very well rounded and her communication skills are what set her apart from your typical FTC student.”

Mark your calendars for the 12th Annual Silver Mile Run for Education & Health and Fitness Fair, hosted by the P-H-M Education Foundation.  This popular fun-filled family event will take place on Saturday, May 6, from 8:30 a.m. – noon at Penn High School. 

The Run for Education includes a 5K Run/Walk, festive Fun Walk around the Penn High School campus and a Timed Mile Run on TCU Freed Field Track.  All events start and finish on the Penn High School track, with finisher medals to all student-age participants. Cost to participate ranges from $12-$45 depending on event.

Head inside Penn High School after your run, walk or stroll, and stop by the Health Fair, Summer Family Fitness Expo and the Silver Mile Silent Auction.  The Silver Mile also features select talent from several P-H-M students groups, tours of the Penn Robotics lab and Art Gallery, Penn Summer Camp registration and much more.  What a great way to kick off Spring and connect with our amazing community!

All proceeds benefit the P-H-M Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support excellence in education in all 15 P-H-M schools by awarding innovative teaching grants, scholarships to students, staff development and other corporation-wide initiatives.

Please click here for early registration and be sure to check www.phmef.org for event updates.

Penn High School Orchestra presents the highly acclaimed Barrage 8, an innovative stage performance features all the instruments in the modern string family.

Members of Barrage 8 will work with Penn students on Monday, March 6 and Tuesday, March 7.

Barrage 8 will perform a concert at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7 at Penn’s Center for the Performing Arts. The concert will feature the Penn Orchestras along with orchestras from Schmucker, Grissom and Discovery Middle Schools..

Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for students.

Click here to purchase tickets online through Barrage 8’s website, www.barrage8.com.

Penn High School’s Dance Team, coached by Cindi Minegar, placed second in the Northern Regional Championships at Lake Central on Saturday, Feb. 25, and earned a trip to the State Finals.

Penn’s Dance Team will compete in the State Finals on Saturday, March 11, at New Castle.

Penn High School’s Girls Wrestling program served immediate notice that the Kingsmen will be a force, storming to the first Indiana High School Girls Wrestling State Championship.

Penn High School won the event with 67 points, well outpacing the rest of the schools in the 44-team event on Jan. 20 at Hamilton Heights High School. Hamilton Heights was second with 27 points.

Jaden Johnson led Penn with state championship in the 88-pound weight class.

“What a outstanding opportunity for our high school girls,” Penn coach Brad Harper said. “Having an all-Girls Wrestling Team has been a goal for our program to develop ever since (Olympic hopeful) Sarah Hildbrandt left our program.

“Now that they offer an all-Girls Wrestling State Finals, we have develop amazing girls wrestling team,” Harper said. “I’m proud that we made history who has made history by winning the very first all-Girls Wrestling State Finals.

Harper said that if any girl would like to join Penn’s all-Girls Wrestling Team, no experience is required, just a willingness to learn and to be the best.”

Penn results:

88 – Jaden Johnson placed 1st, winning by falls in rounds two & three to win the tournament.

98 – Eryn Benak placed 3rd

138 – Alexis Garwood placed 5th.

152 – Madison Burke placed 5th.

160 – Morgan Caldwell placed 2nd.

170 – Karissa Bennett placed 4th.

170 – Fernanda Arjona placed 2nd.

182 – Kaylee Meyers placed 5th.

195 – Aisha Helepa placed 2nd.

220 – Andelisia Henry placed 2nd.

285 – Mikayla Ringer placed 3rd.

Penn High School Principal Steve Hope announced that 12 Penn students have been named Finalists in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship academic competition.

Grant Brenner, Muqsit Buchh, Balajimonesh Devireddy, Jonathan Harley, Sanjana Kulkarni, Julia Kwak, Mason Lee, Hannah McGinness, Baker Nasser, Peter Rutkowski, Matthew Shan and Michelle Tapp of Penn are among 15,000 students nationwide who have been named National Merit Scholarship FinalistsMore than 1.6 million students entered to competition. A total of 7,500 students will be named to share more than $33 million in scholarship money.

“We are proud to congratulate and honor our 12 National Merit Finalists,” Hope said. “There is no higher honor for a student than to be named as a National Merit Finalist.

“The fact that Penn High School has 12 National Merit Finalists stands as not only tribute to these incredible students, but also to the Penn staff for providing the rigorous and challenging course work to produce students of such high caliber,” Hope continued. This is a great honor for these students and a great honor for Penn High School.”