There have been years when the Chesterton Sectional was a formality for the Trojans boys cross country teams, an assumed step in the process.

This isn't one of the those years and this isn't one of those teams.

Chesterton needed to perform well enough in Tuesday's Sectional to ensure itself of another race, which it did, placing fourth at Sunset Hill Farm County Park.

"Right now, they're running to the best of their abilities, doing as well as they can, which is all you can ask of a group," Trojans coach Tim Ray said. "You can't sit and pinpoint, we should've done this or that. You just remind them of everything they've done for, in some cases, four years, where they were and how far they've come, and continue moving forward in a positive light. We're talking about some guys who ran 23-minute 5Ks as freshman and now they're running 16:50 as seniors."

Chesterton put three runners in the top 20, led by Andrew Kearney (11th, 16:24.1). Kevin Kenney finished 13th (16:33.6) and Mitch Wilborn 19th (16:49.8).

"Andrew ran a good race, something we’ve been waiting for, for a while," Ray said. "Mitch, again, had another solid race. He keeps getting better. I'm sure there were places where guys could've done a little better, but for the most part, they all ran as well as they could."

Evan Mazurkiewicz (29th, 17:23.2) and Alex Genetski (31st, 17:26.7) completed the Trojans' top five, with Tyler Vore (39th, 17:54.1) and Parker Whitmore (44th, 18:27.1) also running.

Valparaiso put seven runners in the top 10 to post 24 points, plenty good enough to defend its title. Portage was second with 88. Wheeler and Chesterton each scored 103, with the Bearcats getting third on a better sixth-man finish. LaPorte (108) was the final regional qualifier.

"Sure, everybody's ultimate goal is to get to the state finals, but here's a group of kids who have to base their success differently," Ray said. "You have to keep things in perspective. We just wanted to start by getting out of sectionals."

Valparaiso's Peyton Reed won the race in 15:35.9.

1. Valparaiso 24, 2. Portage 88, 3. Wheeler 103, 4. Chesterton 103, 5. LaPorte 108, 6. New Prairie 122, 7. Michigan City 216, 8. Washington Township 275, 9. South Central 279, 10. Boone Grove 297, 11. Westville 314, 12. Lake Station 337.

1. Peyton Reed (V) 15:35.9, 2. Anthony Didion (LP) 15;47.1, 3. Taylor Bisacchi (V) 15;50.6, 4. Nickolas Arndt (NP) 16:01.1, 5. Ari Coulopoulos (V) 16:04.8, 6. Joel O'Shea (Wh) 16:10.6, 7. Landon Davison (V) 16:16.6, 8. Andrew Lyp (V) 16:17.1, 9. Xavier Reed (V) 16:20.6, 10. Pat Dalton (V) 16:23.6, 11. Andrew Kearney (C) 16:24.1, 12. Dustin Balboa (P) 16:27.1, 13. Kevin Kenney (C) 16:33.6, 14. David Kampf (NP) 16:36.6, 15. Jon Hogg (BG) 16:41.2, 16. Anthony Best (P) 16:41.6, 17. Tommy Martin (P) 16:45.1, 18. Alex Nader (Wh) 16:45.6, 19. Mitch Wilborn (C) 16:49.8, 20. David Clegg (P) 16:55.5.

Other Chesterton finishers: 29. Evan Mazurkiewicz 17:23.2, 31. Alex Genetski 17:26.7, 39. Tyler Vore 17:54.1, 44. Parker Whitmore 18:27.1.

Posted 10/10/2012