State Champ: Chesterton sophomore Blake Pieroni raises his hand in victory after winning the 100 Freestyle title at the IHSAA Boys Swimming and Diving State Championships in Indianapolis on Saturday. The Trojans finished fourth overall as a team.  (Tribune photo by TR Harlan)

Blake Pieroni just wasn’t going to lose.

After finishing second in the 200 Free, the Chesterton sophomore wasn’t about to let it happen again and he didn’t disappoint as he dominated the field to win the state championship in the 100 Free.

“I didn’t want to leave the State Meet without winning an event,” Pieroni said.

Pieroni’s first and second place finishes, along with a second place finish by the 200 Medley Relay, led the Trojans to a fourth place overall finish. Carmel edged Bloomington South 246.5-245 to win the team title.

“I’m pleased,” Chesterton coach Kevin Kinel said. “The kids did just about everything they could both nights. We’d been preaching that it was a four-step process through Sectionals and the State Meet. I’m proud of them.”

The Medley Relay quartet of Nick Boryzch, Jack Wallar, Aaron Whitaker and Pieroni finished in 1:32.30 just behind Bloomington South (1:32.08).

“Nick Borzych’s leadoff in the medley is one of the reasons we went as fast as we did,” Kinel said. “He was .7 faster than he was Friday night. That’s a huge drop.”

Pieroni finished second in the 200 Free (1:37.77), just .47 behind South Bend St. Joseph’s Trevor Carroll. The duo would hook-up again in the 100 Free where Pieroni’s 44.85 bested Carroll (45.19).

“I got out a tenth faster than the prelims,” Pieroni said. “On the last lap, I looked over and out of the corner of my eye I saw he was close. I just put my head in the water and tried to get to the wall first.”

“That was an awesome swim,” Kinel said. “You could see the fire in his eyes when he was up on the blocks. It was tremendous from start to finish.”

Aaron Whitaker recorded a pair of third place finishes with his performance in the 100 Fly (49.62) and the 100 Back (50.48).

“Aaron had lifetime best swims today,” Kinel said. “He broke Kyle’s (Whitaker) school record in the backstroke. He was crucial in relays and just incredible all day.”

Ethan Whitaker finished eighth in the 500 Free (4:38.95) and Jack Wallar was fifth in the 100 Breast (57.27).

“Ethan continues to amaze me with how far he’s come this year and the potential that he has,” Kinel said. “Jack gave it a shot in the breaststroke. He was out in the lead for a long time.”

Chesterton’s Wallar, Chris McGue, Ethan Whitaker and Pieroni finished sixth in the 200 Free Relay (1:25.98), while Ethan Whitaker, McGue, Patrick Curley and Aaron Whitaker finished ninth in the 400 Free Relay (3:11.77).

“Chris McGue was really strong on both our relays,” Kinel said. “Patrick Curley on the 400 relay too. It takes four guys in a relay and they came through in a big way today.”

1. Carmel, 246 1; 2. Bloomington South, 245; 3. Northridge, 217; 4. Chesterton, 175 1; 5. Indianapolis North Central, 151; 6. Columbus North, 117; 7. Jeffersonville, 110; 8. Bloomington North, 102; 9. Westfield, 92; 10. Highland, 75 1; 11. Valparaiso, 73; 12. SB St. Joseph’s, 64; 13. Center Grove, 62; 14. Franklin Community, 51; 15. Homestead, 50; 16. FW Carroll, 42 1; 17. (tie) Batesville and Hamilton Southeastern, 38; 19. Fishers, 36; 20. Zionsville, 32; 21. Anderson, 24; 22. (tie) Castle and LaPorte, 20; 24. (tie) Floyd Central and Clinton Central, 17; 26. Indianapolis Cathedral, 16; 27. (tie) Perry Meridian, FW Snider and Mount Vernon, 13; 30. (tie) FW Northrop and Greenfield-Central, 12; 32. (tie) Mishawaka Marian, Crown Point and Noblesville, 11; 35. (tie) Bedford North Lawrence and Lafayette Jefferson, 9; 37. (tie) Greencastle, Muncie Central and West Lafayette, 7; 40. (tie) Warren Central and Lawrence Central, 6; 42. (tie) Michigan City, Terre Haute South and Mt. Vernon (Fortville), 5; 45. West Lafayette Harrison, 4; 46. (tie) Munster and Franklin Central, 3; 48. (tie) Ben Davis, Penn and Portage, 2; 51. (tie) SB Riley, Avon and Bremen, 1.

200 Medley Relay -- 1. Bloomington South, 1:32.08; 2. Chesterton (Nick Borzych, Jack Wallar, Aaron Whitaker, Blake Pieroni), 1:32.30; 3. Carmel, 1:33.13; 4. Columbus North, 1:34.85; 5. Northridge, 1:35.88; 6. Bloomington North, 1:35.89; 7. Indianapolis North Central, 1:36.24; 8. Fishers, 1:36.99.

200 Free -- 1. Trevor Carroll (SB St. Joseph’s), 1:37.30; 2. Blake Pieroni (Chesterton), 1:37.77; 3. Alex Grissom (Franklin Community), 1:39.85; 4. Zachary Blankenbeker (Jeffersonville), 1:40.60; 5. Peter Koss (Westfield), 1:41.00; 6. Jon Astashinsky (Carmel), 1:41.03; 7. Kyle Johnson (Anderson), 1:41.38; 8. Terry Peoples (Northridge), 1:42.25.

200 IM -- 1. Jacob Cook (Homestead), 1:51.06; 2. Brennen Berger (Northridge), 1:51.84; 3. Cody Taylor (Columbus North), 1:52.38; 4. Dion Low (Valparaiso), 1:52.76; 5. Zechariah Banks (Carmel), 1:53.85; 6. Evan Oleson (Westfield), 1:54.45; 7. Mark Cooney (Carmel), 1:54.71; 8. Oscar Anderson (Floyd Central), 1:57.57.

50 Free -- 1. Adam Johnston (Highland), 20.79; 2. Austin Flager (Northridge), 20.94; 3. Bryce Timonera (Batesville), 20.96; 4. Timothy Martin (Jeffersonville), 21.04; 5. Jacob Kelzer (Bloomington South), 21.13; 6. Theodore Steinkamp (Indianapolis North Central), 21.23; 7. Roman Sarapin (Carmel), 21.35; 8. Landan Mintch (FW Snider), 21.56.

1-Meter Diving -- 1. Joshua Arndt (LaPorte), 543.80; 2. Muyenda Burnett (Valparaiso), 500.60; 3. Andrew Cramer (Indianapolis Cathedral), 493.20; 4. Dathan Schmidt (Bloomington South), 485.65; 5. Patrick King (Northridge), 463.10; 6. Michael Peterson (Perry Meridian), 457.75; 7. Brian Kress (Bloomington South), 457.70; 8. Stephen Rice (Mishawaka Marian), 454.30.

100 Fly -- 1. Max Irwin (Bloomingotn North), 48.72; 2. Peter Lyon (Zionsville), 49.56; 3. Aaron Whitaker (Chesterton), 49.62; 4. Nick Wonder (Bloomington South), 50.14; 5. Rawley Davis (Center Grove), 50.69; 6. Roman Sarapin (Carmel), 50.83; 7. Kyle Johnson (Anderson), 50.87; 8. Rick Kelley (Hamilton Southeastern), 51.25.

100 Free -- 1. Blake Pieroni (Chesterton), 44.85; 2. Trevor Carroll (SB St. Joseph’s), 45.19; 3. Bryce Timonera (Batesville), 45.82; 4. Timothy Martin (Jeffersonville), 46.16; 5. Scott Haeberle (Bloomington South), 46.24; 6 (tie) Jon Astashinsky (Carmel) and Adam Johnson (Highland), 46.30; 8. Peter Koss (Westfield), 46.32.

500 Free -- 1. James Costing (Indianapolis North Central), 4:33.09; 2. Zachary Blankenbeker (Jeffersonville), 4:35.54; 3. Nathan Hopkins (Westfield), 4:35.61; 4. Andrew Antonetti (Valparaiso), 4:35.65; 5. Adam Destrampe (Franklin Community), 4:36.98; 6. Terry Peoples (Northridge), 4:37.52; 7. Christopher Cutter (Fishers), 4:38.45; 8. Ethan Whitaker (Chesterton), 4:38.95.

200 Free Relay -- 1. Bloomington South, 1:24.44; 2. Carmel, 1:24.78; 3. Northridge, 1:25.06; 4. Indianapolis North Central, 1:25.26; 5. Bloomington North, 1:25.75; 6. Chesterton (Jack Wallar, Chris McGue, Ethan Whitaker, Blake Pieroni), 1:25.98; 7. Highland, 1:26.43; 8. Jeffersonville, 1:26.45.

100 Backstroke -- 1. Austin Flager (Northridge), 49.84; 2. Max McKay (Carmel), 50.21; 3. Aaron Whitaker (Chesterton), 50.48; 4. Peter Lyon (Zionsville), 50.61; 5. James Costing (Indianapolis North Central), 51.36; 6. Nick Wonder (Bloomington South), 51.46; 7. Mark Cooney (Carmel), 52.13; 8. Ryan Black (FW Northrop), 52.79.

100 Breaststroke -- 1. Zechariah Banks (Carmel), 56.00; 2. Brennen Berger (Northridge), 57.01; 3. Scott Haeberle (Bloomington South), 57.17; 4. Cody Taylor (Columbus North), 57.24; 5. (tie) Jack Wallar (Chesterton) and Blaine Nichols (FW Carroll), 57.27; 7. Dion Low (Valparaiso), 57.47; 8. Kendrick Vester (Clinton Central), 58.18.

400 Free Relay -- 1. Bloomington South, 3:04.90; 2. Northridge, 3:05.48; 3. Indianapolis North Central, 3:06.91; 4. Carmel, 3:07.24; 5. Columbus North, 3:08.58; 6. Jeffersonville, 3:09.39; 7. Bloomington North, 3:10.31; 8. Westfield, 3:12.26.