Penn High School is bringing a family favorite onto the stage.

The Penn Fine Arts and Communications Academy is presenting, “Shrek, the Musical”, at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 2, and Saturday, March 3, and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 4.

The showings will be held within the Center for Performing Arts (enter through Door C).

Tickets are $10 pre-sale by clicking here to access Penn Theater’s TicketTracker.com online ticket store, or $12 at the door.
 

Penn student C. Monte Teeple, starring as Lord Farquaad, said that the musical as a contemporary appeal.

“Unlike a lot of musicals that you would find locally, Shrek is a much more modern show,” Teeple said. “This not only means that many jokes and much of the humor will be understood by students, but also that the actual songs and music are far more modern as well.”

The plot of “Shrek the Musical” revolves around a hated Ogre (Shrek) and a talking donkey who go on a quest to save Princess Fiona in order to reclaim Shrek’s swamp.

Lord Farquaad claimed the swamp and has housed all magical creatures there.

From a deeper point of view, the story is about the misfits and those who don’t fit in, and finding your place in the world.

Penn High School student-athletes are used to encouraging fellow high school students to pursue excellence in the classroom or in the athletic arena.

On Friday, Feb. 23, 2018, Kingsmen student-athletes were encouraging Bittersweet Elementary Students to try their best on the upcoming ISTEP. The ISTEP testing window is Monday, Feb. 26 – Friday, March 9, 2018.

Penn High School’s Student-Athlete Leadership Council staged an ISTEP Pep Rally to encouraged third, fourth and fifth-graders to prepare and make their best effort on the upcoming state-standardized tests. Click here to see the full photo gallery below.

The Kingsmen sprinted into the Bittersweet Gym and dished out high-fives to nearly 300 Bittersweet students who were gathered there. Student-Athletes Noah Applegate, Payton Kerr and Brandon Stahl then performed a inspirational ISTEP rap.

After that, Notre Dame Football recruit Paul Moala conducted an ISTEP preparation activity called “Are You Smarter Than a High School  Student?”

An exhibition of soccer skills by Molly McLaughlin and Brandon Stahl demonstrated the value of teamwork, focus and preparation, while a basketball relay stressed the importance of encouraging others and always trying your best. 

The Kingsmen also shared their tips for ISTEP success with students, and closed the session out by distributing baseball cards featuring the Student-Athlete Leadership Council members. The baseball cards included background information on the Kingsmen student-athletes, advice to youngsters and ISTEP tips.

Members of Penn’s Student-Athlete Leadership Council are:

• Sara Doi (Girls Basketball, 2016 State Champ, 2018 Regional champion)
• Mackenzie Griman (Softball, state RBI leader, team ranked in Top 10 in the nation last year, Butler recruit)
• Maya Lacognato (2X State Champion Girls Soccer, nation’s No. 1 team)
• Kendra Laidig (Girls Track, Lilly Scholar)
• Molly McLaughlin (2X State Champion Girls Soccer, nation’s No. 1 team)
• Mallory Newman (Softball, team ranked in Top 10 in the nation last season)
• Noah Applegate (Basketball, the sixth 1,000-point scorer in Penn Boys Basketball history)
• Rockne Hurley (Football and Wrestling State Finalist)
• Payton Kerr (Baseball, State Finalist)
• Paul Moala (Football, State Finalist, Notre Dame recruit)
• James Morris (Football State Finalist, first-team all-state)
• Brandon Stahl (Soccer, Top 10 in the State last season)

Penn High School’s 9/10 TEAMS (Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Math and Science) entry placed first in a regional competition at Trine University on Tuesday, Feb. 20.

State champions and national qualifiers will be determined from regional events around the state in which test, design and essay scores are tabulated.

Penn’s 9/10 TEAMS entry was captained by Rebecca Mattson. Team members were Mattson, John Donaruma, Komal Kumar, Keaton Smith, Karen Wang, Hamid Al-fadhl, Mia Schwartz, and Courtney Sharpe.

Penn's dream of a Girls Basketball State Championship ended in the Semi-State with a 53-45 loss to Zionsville on Saturday, Feb. 17.

The Kingsmen, who won the State Championship in 2016, finished the season with a 26-2 record.

Reganne Pate led the Kingsmen in scoring with nine points.

Jordyn Smith and Sara Doi scored eight points each.

Antreese Shelton and Grace Adams scored seven points each.

Penn High’s Wrestling season ended at the State Championships in Indianapolis on Friday, Feb. 16.

The Kingsmen qualified six wrestlers for the State Finals – Vince Sparrow (120), Tanner DeMien (126), Logan Hill (132), Preston Risner (138), Max Chaffee (182) and Rockne Hurley (195).

Each of the Penn Wrestlers was defeated in the first round.

Penn's Kingsmen captured first place in six events at the Penn Boys and Swimming Sectional on Saturday, Feb. 17. Penn placed second in the sectional to South Bend Riley.

Kingsmen qualifiers advance to the State Championships on Friday, Feb. 23, and Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Indiana University Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI in Indianapolis.

The 200 Medley Relay Team of Aaron Dies, Evan Dies, Joel Cummins and Ethan Backhus won blue ribbons in a time of 1:36.43.

Evan Dies won a total of three blue ribbons, winning the 100 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley in addition to being on the winning 200 Medley Relay Team.

Matthew Rach earned first place in two events, the 50 freestyle and the 100 butterfly.

Aaron Dies placed first in the 100 backstroke, and was also on the winning 200 Medley Relay Team.

IHSAA BOYS SWIM SECTIONAL

At Penn

TEAM SCORES: Riley 510, Penn 491 ½, New Prairie 256, Bremen 254, Adams 172, Saint Joseph 155, Marian 125 ½, Mishawaka 107, Clay 77, Washington 50.

200 Medley Relay: 1, Penn (Aaron Dies, Evan Dies, Joel Cummins, Ethan Backhus) 1:36.43. 2, Riley 1:39.25. 3, Bremen 1:40.86. 4, New Prairie 1:45.46. 5, Marian 1:52.07. 6, Adams 1:52.15. 7, Mishawaka 1:52.17. 8, Saint Joseph 2:00.78.

200 Freestyle: 1, Aiden Maurer (Riley) 1:42.43. 2, Kyle Brothers (Penn) 1:48.04. 3, Joel Cummins (Penn) 1:49.27. 4, Joseph Gomes (Riley) 1:49.44. 5, Troy Weber (Penn) 1:50.00. 6, Anders Brurok (Bremen) 1:51.24. 7, Carter Filchak (Bremen) 1:52.65. 8, Bernal Cortes (Adams) 1:56.03.

200 Individual Medley: 1, Evan Dies (Penn) 1:55.56. 2, Joseph Radde (Riley) 1:59.33. 3, Aaron Dies (Penn) 1:59.80. 4, Michael Burns (Riley) 2:01.49. 5, Beck Brurok (Bremen) 2:01.72. 6, Connor Craig (Penn) 2:01.76. 7, Garrett Woodbury (Riley) 2:04.64. 8, Chris Achkar (Saint Joseph) 2:08.56.

50 Freestyle: 1, Matthew Rach (Penn) 21.31. 2, Errol Thomas (Riley) 21.46**. 3, Isaac Baker (Riley) 21.95. 4, Axel Brandenburg (Penn) 22.20. 5, Tie between Filip Kosel (Marian) and Ethan Backhus (Penn) 22.38. 7, Gage Hannewyk (Saint Joseph) 22.73. 8, Dalton Thomas (New Prairie)  23.09.

Diving: 1, Kyle Kirkpatrick (Riley) 372.15. 2, Andrew Walkowski (Riley) 333.85. 3, Briley Leeper (Bremen) 312.05. 4, Jacob Hazel (Saint Joseph) 309.35. 5, Chase Carrico (Bremen) 301.00. 6, Brant Zickefoose (Mishawaka) 286.05. 7, Spencer Houghton (Riley) 285.40. 8, Mahalha Chalulu (Adams) 273.45.

100 Butterfly: 1, Matthew Rach (Penn) 52.35. 2, Joseph Radde (Riley) 52.89. 3, Bryce Knight (Riley) 54.01. 4, Filip Kosel (Marian) 54.31. 5, Luke Becker (Bremen) 54.60. 6, Michael Adami (Penn) 55.73. 7, Adam Broadstreet (Riley) 55.82. 8, Matthew Pruitt (Penn) 1:00.96.

100 Freestyle: 1, Errol Thomas (Riley) 47.72. 2, Isaac Baker (Riley) 48.16. 3, Axel Brandenburg (Penn) 48.55. 4, Kyle Brothers (Penn) 49.10. 5, Joel Cummins (Penn) 49.29. 6, Carter Filchak (Bremen) 49.86. 7, Gage Hannewyk (Saint Joseph) 50.06. 8, Bryce Schwing (Riley) 50.53.

500 Freestyle: 1, Aiden Maurer (Riley) 4:51.39. 2, Anders Brurok (Bremen) 4:57.57. 3, Matt Howell (Penn) 4:57.92. 4, Garrett Woodbury (Riley) 4:59.92. 5, Troy Weber (Penn) 5:07.12.  6, Cody Mowers (Marian) 5:07.54. 7, Bernal Cortes (Adams) 5:11.26. 8, Matthew Pruitt (Penn) 5:18.51.

200 Freestyle Relay: 1, Riley (Joseph Radde, Isaac Baker, Aiden Maurer, Errol Thomas) 1:25.96. 2, Penn (Matthew Rach, Alex Brandenburg, Ethan Backhus, Joel Cummins) 1:26.36**. 2, Bremen 1:33.96. 4, New Prairie 1:34.40. 5, Saint Joseph 1:35.21. 6, Adams 1:38.11. 7, Mishawaka 1:38.30. 8, Clay 1:50.09.

100 Backstroke: 1, Aaron Dies (Penn) 52.87. 2, Bryce Schwing (Riley) 55.31. 3, Adam Broadstreet (Riley) 55.59. 4, Connor Craig (Penn) 56.52. 5, Matt Howell (Penn) 56.65. 6, Luke Becker (Bremen) 57.48. 7, Bryce Knight (Riley) 58.69. 8, Wrigley Hemphill (New Prairie) 58.81.

100 Breaststroke: 1, Evan Dies (Penn) 58.67. 2, Michael Burns (Riley) 1:00.97. 3, Michael Adami (Penn) 1:01.36. 4, Ethan Backhus (Penn) 1:02.34. 5, Joseph Gomes (Riley) 1:03.17. 6, Beck Brurok (Bremen) 1:03.75. 7, Adam Boniface (New Prairie) 1:04.92. 8, Ethan Piergalski (New Prairie) 1:08.06.

400 Freestyle Relay: 1, Riley (Joseph Radde, Isaac Baker, Errol Thomas, Aiden Maurer) 3:11.69. 2, Penn (Matthew Rach, Axel Brandenburg, Kyle Brothers, Evan Dies) 3:11.98**. 3, New Prairie 3:30.38. 4, Bremen 3:32.47. 5, Saint Joseph 3:32.55. 6, Adams 3:32.71. 7, Marian 3:42.95. 8, Clay 4:10.38.

** Met State Standard.

Penn High’s Kingsmen pounced on Plymouth early and sprinted to a 69-45 high school basketball victory on Saturday, Feb. 17.

"I thought our half-court defense was excellent tonight and our rebounding was very strong," Penn Head Coach Al Rhodes said. "We are playing very well on offense as a unit.  It is exciting to see the team come together!"

The Kingsmen used an efficient offense – connecting on 59 percent of their shots (19-of-32). Penn hit 8-of-14 shots (57 percent) from 3-point range.

On defense, the Kingsmen limited Plymouth to 41 percent shooting.

Penn’s rebounding played a critical role in the victory. Penn outrebounded Plymouth 30-12. The Kingsmen boasted a 91 percent defensive rebounding percentage to Plymouth’s 50 percent. Penn outscored Plymouth 12-0 in second-chance points.

Noah Applegate led Penn with 21 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Applegate also swatted away two shots.

Drew Lutz scored 19 points, including 4 rockets from 3-point range. Lutz dished out seven assists.

Beau Ludwick scored nine points.

Kegan Hoskins scored seven points.

PENN 69: Carter Hickey 2, Drew Lutz 19, Drew Schneider 0, Beau Ludwick 9, Luke Carlton 3, Noah Applegate 21, Noah Krathwohl 4, Kegan Hoskins 7, Cameron Koschnick 2, Jeffrey Hemmelgarn 2, Christian Marshall 0.

Plymouth 45: Benji Nixon 0, Clay Hilliard 11, Bryce Carmichael 2, Cole Filson 5, Kadin McCrammer 11, Tim Tremaine 3, Jake Reichard 7, Brayson Leazenby 2, Payton Skirvin 2, Garrett Tharp 2.

PENN             13        20        19        17 – 69

Plymouth       7          13        8          17 – 45

Three-pointers: PENN 8 (Drew Lutz 4, Noah Applegate 2, Luke Carlton 1, Beau Ludwick 1), Plymouth 8 (Hilliard 3, McCrammer 2, Tremaine 1, Reichard 1, Carmichael 1).

Penn High’s Boys Basketball Team turned in one of its best defensive efforts of the season as the Kingsmen rolled past Jimtown, 60-37, on Tuesday, Feb. 20.
 
Jimtown is the third opponent this season that the Kingsmen have held to less than 40 points (Penn beat Concord 66-37 and beat Bremen 79-38).
 
"I thought we played excellent defense throughout the game," Penn Head Coach Al Rhodes said. "We played together well on offense and had a strong rebounding performance!"
 
Penn’s relentless defense harassed Jimtown into 36 percent shooting, and forced the Jimmies into 16 turnovers. Penn outscored the Jimmies 24-8 in points off of turnovers.
 
Penn’s efficient offense delivered 18 assists, while limiting Jimtown to one assist.
 
Noah Applegate powered the Kingsmen with a double-double – 25 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Drew Lutz scored 18 points and dished out seven assists.
 
Penn outrebounded Jimtown 35-18, including a 14-4 advantage in offensive rebounds.
 
Penn (13-8 overall, 7-5 in the NIC) hosts Merrillville on Friday.
 
PENN 60: Carter Hickey 0, Drew Lutz 18, Beau Ludwick 2, Luke Carlton 0, Noah Applegate 25, Noah Krathwohl 6, Kegan Hoskins 6, Cameron Koschnick 0, Jeffrey Hemmelgarn 2, Evan Chrise 0, Christian Marshall 0, Ryan Williams 0.
 
Jimtown 37: Caaden Beck 2, Bill Pawlak 8, Austin Pearison 13, Braedon Brubaker 0, Dustin Whitman 0, Clay Campbell 5, Preston Phillips 3, Brayden Rice 2, Blake Garretson 4, Mike Laws 0.
 
PENN    15 19 19 7 – 60
Jimtown 9 5 14 9 – 37
 
Three-pointers: PENN 4 (Drew Lutz 2, Noah Applegate 2), Jimtown 5 (Pawlak 2, Pearison 2, Campbell 1).

Penn’s Kingsmen wiped out deficits of 10 points in the first half, and eight points in the fourth quarter, but lost to Marian, 87-86, in four overtimes in a high school boys basketball game at Marian on Friday, Feb. 16.

Last season, Marian beat Penn 72-69 in triple overtime.

In Friday’s Junior Varsity Game, Penn rallied from a six-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Marian 59-53.

Drew Lutz scored 27 points and had eight assists to lead the Penn Varsity effort in the four-overtime battle.

Beau Ludwick scored 22 points.

Noah Applegate scored 14 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Applegate also blocked four shots.

Kegan Hoskins scored 12 points and Noah Krathwohl scored eight points.

PENN 86: Drew Lutz 27, Beau Ludwick 22, Noah Applegate 14, Kegan Hoskins 12, Noah Krathwohl 8, Drew Schneider 0, Luke Carlton 1, Jeffrey Hemmelgarn 2, Carter Hickey 0.

Marian 87: Hemingway 26, Ivey 17, Lattimer 24, Muphey 0, Decker 10, King 0, Quinn 10, Bishop 0.

PENN             9          17        10        22        5          9          7          7 – 86

Marian            19        7          18        14        5          9          7          8 – 87

Three-pointers: PENN 7 (Drew Lutz 3, Beau Ludwick 3, Noah Applegate 1), Marian 7 (Lattimer 5, Ivey 2).

Penn High School swimmers dominated the Penn Sectional Preliminaries on Thursday, Feb. 15.

Kingsmen swimmers placed first in eight of the 11 events that were competed in the prelimaries. Bremen took two firsts and Marian took one first.

Penn swimmers will pursue individual Sectional Championships and the Team Championship at the Finals on Saturday, Feb. 17, at Penn. The Dive Finals are set for 9 a.m., and the Swim Finals are set for 1 p.m.

Penn is seeking its eighth consecutive Boys Swimming and Diving Sectional Championship and 18th in Program history.

The complete preliminary results and heat sheets are posted below.

Here is a list of Kingsmen first-place finishers at the preliminaries:

200 freestyle: Joel Cummins 1:49.12.

200 individual medley: Evan Dies 1:59.79

50 freestyle: Matthew Rach 21.97

100 freestyle: Axel Brandenburg 49.09

200 freestyle relay: Kyle Brothers, Joel Cummins, Ethan Backhus, Troy Weber 1:33.19

100 backstroke: Aaron Dies 53.13

100 breaststroke: Evan Dies 1:00.74

400 freestyle relay: Aaron Dies, Troy Weber, Matthew Howell, Connor Craig 3:29.48

Click here for the complete Sectional Preliminaries results.

Click here for the Heat Sheets for the Sectional Championships.