If there is one thing you seem to be able to count on … it’s Kevin Kinel and his boys.

The Chesterton boys swim team captured its 17th consecutive Duneland Athletic Conference title on Saturday at LaPorte.

“I don’t think it’ll ever get old,” Chesterton coach Kevin Kinel said. “I think it’s important and we tried to use Conference records as motivation. LaPorte is our Sectional pool, so we felt like we needed to go in there and do well.”

The Trojans did just that as they amassed 536 points to outdistance second place Crown Point (347 points). Valparaiso was third (339), followed by Lake Central (231), Michigan City (222), Portage (209), LaPorte (112) and Merrillville (85).

“Everybody stepped up in a huge way,” Kinel said. “I’m always worried about a letdown after Munster. We just swam unbelievable.”

Chesterton set three conference records in the victory including Aaron Whitaker’s win in the 100 Fly (48.68). The previous record was held by Aaron’s brother, Kyle, and was set in 2010.

“It was fun for Aaron to break Kyle’s record,” Kinel said. “That’s a tremendous swim to go sub-49 in a conference meet.”

Ethan Whitaker broke one of the DAC’s oldest records with a victory in the 500 Free in 4:40.85. Chesterton’s Nick Oates had set the previous record (4:42.01) in 2004.

Jack Wallar set the final record with a season-best 57.63 in the 100 Breast.

“Ethan broke one of the DAC’s oldest record and that was really impressive,” Kinel said. “Jack’s swim was tremendous.”

The trio didn’t do it by themselves though. Patrick Curley won the 200 IM (1:59.28) and the 100 Free (48.12), while Andy Hurst won the 100 Back (55.15).

“We had Patrick Curley winning two events,” Kinel said. “Andy Hurst swam great in the 100 Back. It was really nice to see those guys perform under that pressure. We’re going to need them at the State Meet.”

The Trojans also got tremendous performances from Josh VanNevel, Jack Kurfman and Tony Kincaid.

“Josh in the 200 Free and 100 Fly and Jack in the 200 and 500 Free were great,” Kinel said. “Both had season bests. Tony Kincaid in the 100 Fly coming in second is becoming so consistent.”

Not to be outdone, the Trojan Divers also performed well.

“Our Divers really came through for us too,” Kinel said. “Collin Ringas was 7th and really steady. Jack McCusker was 10th and Ryan Cooper was 15th. I was really proud of Ryan. He didn’t have a whole lot of varsity experience and really did a great job.”

The Trojans will finish the regular season on Tuesday when they host Highland beginning at 6 p.m.

“Hopefully they see a light at the end of the tunnel now,” Kinel said. “This is a good, quality group and hopefully in the stretch run we stay focused.”

1. Chesterton, 536; 2. Crown Point, 347; 3. Valparaiso, 339; 4. Lake Central, 231; 5. Michigan City, 22; 6. Portage, 209; 7. LaPorte, 112; 8. Merrillville, 85.

200 Medley Relay – 1. Chesterton (Andy Hurst, Jack Waller, Aaron Whitaker, Patrick Curley), 1:36.96; 2. Crown Point, 1:41.59; 3. Michigan City, 1:43.23; 4. Portage, 1:45.71; 5. Lake Central, 1:46.13; 6. Valparaiso, 1:46.7.

200 Free -- 1. Ethan Whitaker ©, 1:42.25; 2. Josh VanNevel ©, 1:47.41; 3. Jack Kurfman ©, 1:47.41; 4. Trevor Stalbaum (V), 1:50.87; 5. Isaih Parrish (M), 1:52.15; 6. Joey Karczewski (CP), 1:52.36.

200 IM -- 1. Patrick Curley ©, 1:59.28; 2. Matt Quinlan (M), 2:01.08; 3. Andy Hurst ©, 2:02. 83; 4. Joshua Barajas (L), 2:02.92; 5. Alex Schreier (P), 2:03.59; 6. Andrew Kvachokoff (CP), 2:06.17.

50 Free -- 1. Aaron Whitaker ©, 21.57; 2. Jack Waller ©, 22.04; 3. Johnny Lynk (CP), 22.63; 4. Connor Homans, 22.88; 5. Cole Ozbolt (P), 23.08; 6. Reid Curry (V), 23.22.

1-Meter Diving -- 1. Joshua Arndt (L), 608.00 (DAC RECORD); 2. Muyenda Burnett (V), 486.80; 3. Zach Schwartz (V), 422.35; 4. John Fannin (P), 395.20; 5. Sage Chiaro (CP), 375.85; 6. Brandon Crosby (P), 370.30.

100 Fly -- 1. Aaron Whitaker ©, 48.68 (DAC RECORD); 2. Tony Kincaid ©, 53.82; 3. Tim Schoof (M), 54.11; 4. Joel Gintzler (CP), 54.33; 5. Josh VanNevel ©, 54.56; 6. Alex Schrier (P), 55.51.

100 Free -- 1. Patrick Curley ©, 48.12; 2. Andrew Antonetti (V), 48.90; 3. Johnny Lynk (CP), 49.37; 4. Brent Vondra ©, 50.20; 5. Nick Huls (CP), 50.88; 6. Tim Blue (V), 51.11.

500 Free -- 1. Ethan Whitaker ©, 4:40.85 (DAC RECORD); 2. Jack Kurfman ©, 4:55.88; 3. Spencer Wright ©, 5:00.24; 4. Joey Karczewski (CP), 5:01.57; 5. Trevor Stalbaum (V), 5:01.57; 6. Joshua Barajas (L), 5:03.15.

200 Free Relay -- 1. Chesterton (Jack Waller, Patrick Curley, Jack Kurfman, Ethan Whitaker), 1:30.73; 2. Valparaiso, 1:33.38; 3. Crown Point, 1:34.91; 4. Lake Central, 1:34.91; 5. Michigan City, 1:41.02; 6. Merrillville, 1:49.89.

100 Back -- 1. Andy Hurst ©, 55.15; 2. Andrew Antonetti (V), 55.43; 3. Brent Vondra ©, 56.59, 4. Connor Homans (L), 57.13; 5. Cody Olson ©, 57.70; 6. Darian Low (V), 58.15.

100 Breast -- 1. Jack Waller ©, 57.63 (DAC RECORD); 2. Matt Quinlan (M), 1:00.49; 3. Andrew Kvachokoff (CP), 1:01.14; 4. Jonathan Kindmark ©, 1:04.33; 5. Nathan Rodriquez ©, 1:04.62; 6. Greg Logothetis (CP), 1:05.24.

400 Free Relay -- 1. Chesterton (Ethan Whitaker, Andy Hurst, Jack Kurfman, Aaron Whitaker), 3:13.99; 2. Valparaiso, 3:19.97; 3. Crown Point, 3:23.63; 4. Michigan City, 3:24.27; 5. Portage, 3:31.67; 6. Lake Central, 3:35.71.

Posted 1/28/2013