Jordan Bunch’s first sport as a kid was tee-ball.
On her first hit, she was supposed to stop at first base, but she just kept on running all the way around the bases. After that, Bunch’s parents decided that she would fit better in a sport where she could get all of her energy out and never stop running.
And thus, a soccer career was born.
Bunch eventually became a star for Delta girls soccer, scoring 23 goals and leading the state with 34 assists in her senior season while earning all-conference, all-district and all-state. She was a team captain on the greatest team in Delta girls soccer history, leading the Eagles to a 19-2 overall record, their first IHSAA sectional and regional titles since 2002 and their first 2A final four appearance ever.
On top of that, Bunch also put together an illustrious Delta swimming career. The Eagles never lost a dual meet and won sectional titles in all four of her years as a varsity swimmer, allowing her to finish each swimming season at the IHSAA state finals.
After two elite Delta athletic careers, Bunch has been named The Star Press Female Athlete of the Year for 2025-26. She is both the staff pick and the IU Health Fan Vote winner.
“The whole year has just been, each time we do something better, it’s just been like, ‘Wow, I’m just beyond grateful,'” Bunch said. “I always give glory to God because the hard practices and workouts and things like that would not be possible without Him, but then it’s also cool just to see that those hard practices, the workouts, the extra time that I put in and those kinds of things that they’re really starting to pay off and that other people can see that too.”
More than an athlete
As impressive as her athletic accomplishments are, they’re just a footnote on Bunch’s résumé. At Delta, she was a member of Best Buddies, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and National Honor Society, served as president of Freshman Mentors and helped found the Sweets and Salvation Club to uplift the school through prayer and random acts of kindness.
In the community, Bunch serves as a small group leader, head of the special education program and media volunteer at The Jar Community Church where her father, Chris, is the lead pastor. She also helped the church start The Community Basket, a “non-food food bank” which provides hygiene items and cleaning supplies to those in need.
And on top of all that, she managed to graduate top of her class at Delta. Her extensive athletic, academic and community-based achievements made her one of 13 seniors statewide to receive the IHSAA’s prestigious C. Eugene Cato Memorial Scholarship worth $2,500.
“People don’t see the rough nights where I’m having a rough time studying for a test or struggling emotionally or going through these things that I don’t put on all the time because you have to be strong for your team and that kind of thing,” Bunch said. “Nehemiah 8:10 is a verse that’s really helped me, ‘The joy of the Lord is your strength.’ To balance all of that, I feel like trying to really be grateful for the day that I’ve been given, even if it’s a hard day or a hard workout, try and find joy in that.
“The strength that I have is definitely not my own — it’s from my willingness to work and to allow other people to work through me.”
Great coaches around Bunch
Bunch had strong support systems in both of her sports. Delta girls soccer coach Mason Turner was also her coach throughout middle school, and she grew up playing alongside the 11 other seniors on this past year’s roster. Throughout coaching changes and injury challenges, the group stuck together and produced the finest season the program has ever seen.
“I would say that the turning moment was when we lost sectionals my junior year,” Bunch said. “In the final, we played two overtimes and then lost in penalty kicks to Yorktown. I really feel like that put a fire under us. We just made it our motto that we were going to make sure everything goes our way this year, and we’re really going to push each other to be the best that we could be.”
Meanwhile, swim coaches Alison Jackson and Laura Seibold-Caudill coached Bunch through the Cardinal Swim Club years before her Delta athletic career began. That team featured a similar environment of connectedness and shared faith.
“I think what really did it for me, in both sports honestly, is that they’re my teammates on the field, but they’re also some of the people I’ve grown up with,” Bunch said. “We’ve been best friends a long time, especially on the swim team. That connection was just really strong. We knew that even if we had a rough day in the pool, we were still going to be there to encourage each other.”
Bunch credited her parents, Chris and Jennifer Bunch, for her success (after all, they were the ones who recognized a soccer player on a tee-ball diamond), as well as her sister Shiloh, a rising junior at Delta and a teammate in both sports.
Jordan is set to continue her soccer career at Taylor University, where she plans to continue living out the number one lesson she learned as an Eagle.
“Just have so much fun,” Bunch said. “Going out there and them calling your number and you stepping forward is a feeling like no other. You get to represent your school, you get to play with some of your best friends, and that’s a huge part about why I wanted to play college soccer, not just because I wanted to be competitive or have the title of collegiate athlete, but because I love representing something bigger than myself and working with a team.”
Contact Cade Hampton via email at cbhampton@usatodayco.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Delta’s Jordan Bunch is The Star Press 2025-26 Female Athlete of the Year
Reporting by Cade Hampton, Muncie Star Press / Muncie Star Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Cade Hampton, Muncie Star Press | USA TODAY Network
