Half a Kelley Freeman is better than none.

The Chesterton senior was limited to two events for Saturday's Duneland Athletic Conference meet at Portage, but certainly made the most of it.

Freeman placed fourth in both the uneven bars (9.425) and floor exercise (9.525), leading the Trojans to a runner-up team　finish. Chesterton scored 109.275, second to top-ranked Valparaiso, which posted a meet-record 114.3 in winning for the third year in a row.

“Kelley's worked through a lot of adversity this year,” coach Kathy Wilburn said. “She's a very mentally tough kid.　We're very proud of her. Her ankle's still sore,　so　she's being very smart, looking at what's best for us overall. We decided to step back a little bit to give her more time　where she can　help the team more down the road.”

Chesterton had exceeded 111 in its last few meets, one with Freeman competing all-around and one without, but Wilburn wasn't too concerned about the team score.

“I don’t think it was as much not having Kelley as it was we just didn't have some of our best connections here and there,” Wilburn said. "Nothing major. We were struggling a little but going to our last rotation and we pulled together a nice floor set, which shows a lot of desire and competitiveness on their part. They were able to dig deep inside and handle the pressure, which should be a real positive for the rest of the season.”

It was a solid day for　Freeman's classmate, Bri Hendrix, who tied for sixth on vault (9.2) and just missed the all-around awards, placing seventh with 36.075. Hendrix was a last-minute fill-in for Freeman on beam and posted　a personal-best　and team-high 8.95, good for ninth overall. Lauren Weibl subbed for Freeman on vault and　registered an 8.9　as the first competitor of the meet.

“It was one of the nicest (vaults) she's done all year,” Wilburn said of Weibl.　“Bri started us off well on beam. We had a pretty good idea last night. We just wanted to give Kelley a chance to see how she was feeling this morning. I was pleased they were both able to step in there under pressure and perform.”

Chesterton's 28.1 team total on floor exercise was its top event score of the day. It posted 27.325 on uneven bars, 27.2 on vault and 26.65 on balance beam.

Valpo's Haley Whipps, the all-around champion (38.425),　took vault (9.7) and bars (9.625) and was second to teammate Steffanie Long (9.8) on floor. LaPorte's Abaigale Light won beam (9.55).

1. Valparaiso, 114.3 (MEET RECORD); 2. Chesterton, 109.275; 3. Portage, 108.25; 4. LaPorte, 107.275; 5. Michigan City, 104.4; 6. Merrillville, 102.85; 7. Crown Point, 101.025; 8. Lake Central, 94.275.

VAULT -- 1. Haley Whipps (V), 9.7; 2. Steffanie Long (V), 9.375; 3. Cassidy Swenson (V), 9.325; 4. Ashley Farley (P), 9.25; 5. Liz Mauk (MC), 9.225; 6. (tie) Morgan Algozine (V) and Bri Hendrix (C), 9.2.

BARS -- 1. Haley Whipps (V), 9.625; 2. Steffanie Long (V), 9.55; 3. Ashley Farley (P), 9.525; 4. Kelley Freeman (C), 9.475; 5. Hannah Erwin (V), 9.4; 6. Morgan Algozine (V), 9.375.

BEAM -- 1. Abaigale Light (LP), 9.575; 2. Steffanie Long (V), 9.525; 3. Cassidy Swenson (V), 9.45; 4. (tie) Haley Whipps (V) and Ashley Farley (P), 9.4; 6. Carly Kiran (CP), 9.175.

FLOOR -- 1. Steffanie Long (V), 9.8; 2. Haley Whipps (V), 9.7; 3. Abaigale Light (LP), 9.55; 4. Kelley Freeman (C), 9.525; 5. Mackenzie Barcelli (P), 9.475; 6. Algozine (V), 9.45.

ALL-AROUND -- 1. Haley Whipps (V), 38.425; 2. Abaigale Long (V), 38.25; 3. Ashley Farley (P), 37.6; 4. Abaigale Light (LP), 37.125; 5. Morgan Algozine (V), 36.95; 6. Mackenzie Barcelli (P), 36.7.

Posted 3/1/2010