If you've lived in the Evansville area long enough or were born and raised here like me, you know high school sports are a big deal. If you're new to the area, first of all, welcome. Secondly, you should know that high school sports are a big deal here. Fans pack football stadiums every Friday night in the fall, basketball stadiums in the winter, and baseball and softball fields in the spring to cheer on their teams. And of course, they're also there for tennis, golf, cross-country, track and field, and any other sport that I'm forgetting. While most of the state looks at Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and South Bend schools as having some of the best programs in the Hoosier State due to the size of the schools and the larger populations to pull talent from, we have some darn good programs here in southern Indiana as well. Two of which were recently ranked in the top 10 best for sports in the entire state.

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Stacker recently listed the top 25 high schools in Indiana that are the best for sports using data from Niche, a company that provides in-depth profiles on every school and college in the country to help parents and students find the right school for them. Specifically, Stacker looked at data from parent and student surveys on sports, along with total high school enrollment, K-12 sports championships, the number of sports a high school offers, and athletic participation rates. Once all the numbers were crunched, two rival schools, Mater Dei and Memorial, found themselves sitting near the top of the list.

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Mater Dei, my alma mater, came in at number six receiving A+ grades in both sports and clubs and activities, an A- for academics, a B+ for college prep, a B- for teachers, and a C for diversity for an overall grade of a B+. Mater Dei has a long history of strong sports programs, most notably its wrestling program which has won numerous individual and team state titles, and is one of the most respected programs in the state.

Being the only two private and Catholic high schools in the city, plus with Mater Dei being on the west side of town and Memorial on the east, there is a long-standing rivalry between the two, so it might irk Mater Dei fans to know Memorial edged them out just a bit in this particular instance.

The Tigers came in at number four. Like the Wildcats, Memorial received A+ grades in both sports and clubs and activities, and a B+ in college prep. The pushed past Mater Dei in the Teacher and Diversity categories, receiving a B and a C+, respectively to earn an overall grade of an A-.

Regardless of who was higher on the list, both schools, their students, faculty, and alumni, as well as the city of Evansville should be proud of that fact they both landed inside the top 10, with one of them sitting in the top 5. It's a testament to the dedication both institutions have to provide the best academic and athletic atmosphere's they can for thier students. Congrats to them both.

You can see the complete list of schools on Slacker.

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