No. 5 Penn (17-3) takes on No. 10 South Bend Riley (17-4) in a blockbuster match-up in the opening round of the Penn Boys Basketball Class 4-A Sectional on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019.

Penn defeated Riley, 63-61, at Riley on Saturday, Feb. 2, on a buzzer-beater basket by Noah Applegate.

Action starts with South Bend Adams (11-12) playing Mishawaka (11-9) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The Penn vs. Riley game will followed.

Semifinal action will be at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 1. The Adams-Mishawaka winner will play South Bend Clay (4-16) at 6 p.m., followed by the meeting between the Penn-Riley winner and LaPorte (12-9)

The Sectional Championship Game is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 2.

Admission is $6 per session or $10 for an all-sessions pass.

The Penn Sectional winner advances to the Michigan City Regional on Saturday, March 9.

The Penn Boys Basketball Team defeated Plymouth, 79-67, on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019.

To download high resolution jpg files from the photo gallery below, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. We are happy to provide this service to you free of charge.

The Penn Girls Basketball Team played in the LaPorte Regional on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019.

A Photo Gallery is posted below.

By EASTON MEYER

Student Reporter

On chilly Saturday last October, Penn High School student Sam Robinson walked into the Westin Hotel in Chicago to audition for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Los Angeles-based school that Anne Hathaway, Paul Rudd, Danny Devito and Sara Paulson each attended. Click to see the list of the Academy’s other famous actor/actress alumni.

Robinson had been working and preparing for this audition for a month and a half and spent the final week leading up to the audition rehearsing every day. Placed in a waiting room before his audition began, Robinson was able just sit with his thoughts, thinking about how hard he had worked to get to this point, feeling anxious, but even more so excited.

Robinson made eye contact with another person waiting to audition. No words were exchanged, but both of them knew what the other was going through. Robinson had no idea how long he had been waiting when a man approached him and asked, “Are you Sam?” Robinson replied “Yes I am!” and that's when Robinson knew his audition was about to begin.

Back when Robinson was just three years old, his family saw the natural performer in him. Robinson and his family were attending his sister’s dance recital. When Sam saw the fun dances and costumes, he knew he had to be a part of it and he couldn’t wait … literally. Robinson crawled his way up on stage and began to dance alongside them. Ever since, Robinson has had a strong drive and passion for live performance.

During his junior year, Robinson auditioned for Penn’s Spring Musical, “Shrek the Musical”, with low expectations. He knew he had a love for live performance, but at this point, he still hadn’t seen how incredibly gifted he actually was. To his amazement, Robinson landed the role of Donkey, a lead and crowd favorite.

Robinson put on a masterful performance as Donkey and left many people in awe and little did he know, captured the attention of some very important people, including scouts for Broadway World, who frequently scout high school plays.

Five months later in July, Sam received a letter from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, requesting his application and an audition. Robinson was shocked; he had not been looking for an opportunity like this, let alone expecting any letters in the mail asking for him to audition.

Robinson started working on his audition immediately. He spent weeks preparing two contrasting monologues and worked on cold-read exercises with his theatre teacher here at Penn, Ms. Crystal Ryan.

“(Ms. Ryan) opened my eyes to seeing my potential and has just been a great support system,” Robinson said.

Ms. Ryan worked with Robinson multiple times a week for many many weeks leading up to his audition. She saw his talent and work ethic emerge.

“(Sam) is an incredibly hard worker and has the ability to bring fresh ideas to the table every time he rehearses,” Ms. Ryan said. “When preparing for his auditions, he took each note given and built upon it to create two separate and exciting characters.”

The date of Robinson’s audition was upon him. He had worked weeks on his material, made his way to Chicago, and now sat in the audition room.

Robinson’s audition began with a brief interview, where the representatives from the school all got to know more about him. He then performed his two prepared contrasting monologues, where he showed his broad range in characterization.

Robinson was ready for a cold-read section. He would be given new material, where he would showcase his ability to create a character on the spot, but that is not what happened. Robinson was instead asked to partake in a role-playing experiment. He had not prepared for this, and was most definitely caught off guard, but he did not let it show in the slightest.

Displaying his ability to have versatility as an actor, Robinson captivated the school representatives with his performance.

His auditioned concluded, Robinson he walked out of the Westin Hotel knowing he had done his best and now all he could do was wait.

Twelve days after the audition, Robinson received another letter in the mail. The letter contained news of his admission. He not only was accepted into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, but was rewarded with a significant scholarship.

Sam Robinson is the perfect model of a humble, determined, and hard-working individual, and Penn has been privileged to see him grow and flourish into an incredible performer.

This past Tuesday night Academic Letters were handed out to some of our more than 700+ Kingsmen student-athletes. Click here to view a photo gallery from the ceremony on our Facebook page.

At Penn, we're proud to say our students are students FIRST and then athletes! This fall they have achieved a combined 3.61 GPA!

Watch the video below to see how they achieve #PHMExcellence in the classroom first BEFORE they hit courts, fields, mats, pool, tracks, gridiron, etc.

Penn High's Girls Swim Team will seek IHSAA Gold at the State Championships on Friday, Feb. 8, 2019, and Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019.

Penn's State Finalists are:

200-yard medley relay: Alyssa Messenger, Isabella Costa, Gabriella Costa, Madilyn Ziegert (1:47.74).

50-yard freestyle: Madilyn Ziegert (23.64).

100-yard freestyle: Madilyn Ziegert (51.78).

200-yard freestyle: Nicole Kilbourne, Madison Bottorff, Gabriella Costa, Madilyn Ziegert (1:38.38).

100-yard backstroke: Alyssa Messenger 58.85.

Diving: Kayla Ryan (368.00), Bailey Betzer (380.90).

Prelims start at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 8, at the Indiana University Natatorium on the IUPUI campus in Indianapolis.

Diving prelims and semis are scheduled for 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, at the I.U. Natatorium, and the Finals are set for 1 p.m.

The Finals will be live streamed at IHSAAtv.org.

Tickets are $8 for a single session and $15 for both days.

Penn High School boasted 15 student-athletes who participated in National Signing Day on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019.

Click here for a complete list and profiles on the 15 college commits from Penn:

Unbeaten Penn unleashed a balanced attack and bolted to a 55-33 victory against LaPorte to capture the Mishawaka Sectional Championship in high school girls basketball action on Monday, Feb. 4, 2019.

Penn captured its second consecutive Girls Basketball Sectional Championship and its 19th in Program history.

Coach Kristi Ulrich’s Kingsmen (24-0) advance to the LaPorte Regional. Penn takes on Plymouth (20-4) at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, in the Regional opener. Crown Point (26-0) plays Kankakee Valley (20-4) in the second game. The winners advance to the LaPorte Regional Championship Game at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9. LaPorte’s season ends at 16-8.

Trinity Clinton led Penn with 12 points to lead the Kingsmen.

Jordyn Smith and Reganne Pate scored nine points each.

Grace Adams and Jayda Smith scored seven points each.

Antreese Shelton scored six points.

To download high resolution jpg files from the photo gallery below, just simply click the “DOWNLOAD” button on the bottom right-hand corner of the photo while viewing it in the Photo Gallery function. We are happy to provide this service to you free of charge.

Penn High School will once again host the FIRST Robotics St. Joseph District Event on Saturday, March 9 and Sunday, March 10.

Plan on coming out and enjoying the excitement of more than 40 high school FRC robotics teams from Indiana and Michigan battling it out on a basketball court-sized field with four-foot tall, 120-pound robots! Join more than 5,000 students, coaches, mentors, parents and fans during this one-of-a-kind two-day event! WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW to get a taste of all the excitement!

Cheer on Penn’s Team 135 and make sure to bring your Robotics fans to enjoy Next Gen, an area for students ages K-8, who can get hands-on engaging fun with some of Team 135’s other robots. Next Gen will be open Saturday from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. The entire event is FREE ADMISSION!

Penn High’s Wrestling Team captured its ninth consecutive Regional Championship on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019.

Penn placed first with 157 points. Wawasee placed second with 137.5 points, and Mishawaka finished third at 135.

A total of 12 Penn Wrestlers advance to the East Chicago Semi-State on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019.

Jeffrey Harper led Penn’s effort with a Regional Championship at 145.

Penn Semi-state qualifiers:

106: Ryan Purvis, third.

113: Brayden McMillen, fourth

120: Vince Sparrow, third

126: Logan Hill, third

132: Nate Hadary, second

138: Alex Slates, fourth

145: Jeffrey Harper, first

160: Michael Garcia, fourth

182: Noah Brown, second

195: Rockne Hurley, second

220: Adam Berta, second

285: Hezzy Devault, second