When the final team standings were announced, to say Chesterton boys track coach John Snyder was surprised, is an understatement.

“I’m extremely proud of the kids who competed today,” Snyder said after the Trojans won the West Lafayette Relays on Saturday. “We went in with the attitude of just going down to Lafayette to have fun, do our best and see what happens.”

The Trojans scored 97 team points to beat second place Lawrence North (76) and third place Valparaiso (71) in the 11-team field.

“I said before that we are a better Big Meet team because of our top-level quality performers in events as opposed to depth,” Snyder said. “I didn’t think we could win the title, so I didn’t even keep a running score. I always keep a running score. As the meet went on, I thought we had a chance to finish near the top, but I was incredibly surprised when they announced it.

“We didn’t even have anyone around to accept the team trophy. We were all headed to the bus.”

A quick look through the results showed the Trojans’ domination, especially in the field events where they scored 55 team points.

Kody Galloway scored 18 points himself in the field events with a first place finish in the long jump (21-9 1) and a second place finish in the high jump (6-4). Justin Zosso cleared 14-7 to win the pole vault and set a meet record, while teammate Peter Fouts was second at 13-6.

“Kody scoring 18 points by himself in those two events is outstanding,” Snyder said. “Justin and Peter accounted for 18 points too. Justin setting the meet record and having a shot at the school record (15-0) was great too.”

Dan Dellumo finished second in the shot put (52-2) and third in the discus (142-0).

“Dan throwing 142 in the discus without spinning is unbelievable,” Snyder said. “When he figures out that technique out, he could be one of the best in the area.”

On the track, the Trojans lone victory came from the quartet of Tyler Rusboldt, Manny Orlich, Austin Palombizio and Ryan Cutter in the 4x800 (8:04.64).

“We had an impressive come-from-behind win in the 4x8,” Snyder said. “Cutter anchored it in 1:57 and that’s the best time in the area so far this year.”

The Trojans also got season-best times in four events, including the 4x400 (3:27.3), 4x100 (45.47) and 4x200 (1:32.29).

“The 4x4 ran well finishing second behind a really strong Merrillville team and those four guys (Jon Watson, Joe Troop, Cutter, Palombizio) continue to improve,” Snyder said. “The 4x1 finished a close fifth with Adam Lara, Kody Galloway, Dylan Pasley and Justin Moore.”

Team Results

1. Chesterton, 97; 2. Lawrence North, 76; 3. Valparaiso, 71; 4. Franklin Central, 68; 5. West Lafayette, 59.5; 6. Lafayette Jefferson, 47.5; 7. Merrillville, 42; 8. Danville, 28; 9. McCutcheon, 22; 10. FW Concordia Lutheran, 18; 11. West Lafayette Harrison, 16.

Individual Results

3200 -- 1. Scott Stanley (LN), 9:40.20; 2. Zane Cooperider (WL), 9:47.67; 3. William Hogston (LN), 9:58.24; 4. Dylan Harrison (M), 9:59.80; 5. Ahmad Aljobeh (V), 10:06.54; 6. Jacob Reinking (FWCL), 10:06.72; 7. Ari Kouropoulos (V), 10:26.28; 8. Matt Shaw (FC), 10:30.20; 13. Andrew Kearney ©, 10:34.55; 19. Conner Ennis ©, 11:14.80.

300 H -- 1. Marcus Safer (LN), 39.29; 2. Timothy Wilson (LJ), 41.04; 3. Alessandro Vasile (V), 41.14; 4. Josh Marciniak (V), 41.31; 5. Marquis Kingery (FC), 41.67; 6. Richie Ruff ©, 41.68; 7. Josh Robinson (D), 41.68; 8. David Afolabi (WL), 42.34; 11. Will Butz ©, 42.83.

4x100 -- 1. West Lafayette, 43.05; 2. Lafayette Jefferson, 43.51; 3. Franklin Central, 43.66; 4. Merrillville, 43.66; 5. Chesterton (Adam Lara, Dylan Pasley, Kody Galloway, Justin Moore), 45.47; 6. Valparaiso, 45.51; 7. FW Concordia Lutheran, 45.67; 8. West Lafayette Harrison, 45.84.

4x200 -- 1. Merrillville, 1:30.28; 2. Franklin Central, 1:31.93; 3. West Lafayette, 1:31.97; 4. Chesterton (Adam Lara, Dylan Pasley, Joe Troop, Jon Watson), 1:32.29; 5. FW Concordia Lutheran, 1:34.89; 6. Valparaiso, 1:35.10; 7. Danville, 1:36.77.

4x400 -- 1. Merrillville, 3:25.22; 2. Chesterton (Joe Troop, Austin Palombizio, Ryan Cutter, Jon Watson), 3:27.30; 3. Franklin Central, 3:28.62; 4. Valparaiso, 3:31.53; 5. McCutcheon, 3:34.00; 6. Danville, 3:34.53; 7. Lawrence North, 3:35.16; 8. Lafayette Jefferson, 3:35.67.

4x800 -- 1. Chesterton (Tyler Rusboldt, Manny Orlich, Austin Palombizio, Ryan Cutter), 8:04.64; 2. Franklin Central, 8:09.16; 3. Lawrence North, 8:17.00; 4. Danville, 8:17.97; 5. Valparaiso, 8:20.93; 6. Lafayette Jefferson, 8:20.94; 7. West Lafayette Harrison, 8:44.24; 8. West Lafayette, 8:51.94.

4x1600 -- 1. Lawrence North, 17:57.36; 2. Valparaiso, 18:23.75; 3. West Lafayette, 18:30.14; 4. Franklin Central, 18:32.92; 5. Danville, 19:12.98; 6. West Lafayette Harrison, 19:17.75; 7. Merrillville, 19:44.45; 8. FW Concordia Lutheran, 19:48.70; 9. Chesterton (John Ward, Evan Mazurekiewicz, Eric Menn, Andrew Kearney), 20:01.42.

800 Sprint Medley -- 1. Lafayette Jefferson, 1:34.33; 2. Valparaiso, 1:35.63; 3. Chesterton (Jon Watson, Adam Lara, Justin Moore, Joe Troop), 1:36.38; 4. Franklin Central, 1:38.20; 5. West Lafayette, 1:38.44; 6. McCutcheon, 1:41.58; 7. Lawrence North, 1:43.74; 8. FW Concordia Lutheran, 1:44.06.

Shuttle Hurdles -- 1. Lawrence North, 1:02.68; 2. Valparaiso, 1:02.93; 3. Chesterton (Jacob Andrews, Will Butz, Richie Ruff, Dana Konchar), 1:06.71; 4. West Lafayette, 1:07.84; 5. Franklin Central, 1:08.74; 6. Danville, 1:09.05; 7. FW Concordia Lutheran, 1:15.78.

HJ -- 1. Taylor Caldwell (WLH), 6-6; 2. Kody Galloway ©, 6-4; 3. Jordan Romanov (V), 6-2; 4. Anton Redmon (M), 6-2; 5. Austin Jamerson (M), 6-0; 6. Zack Koenemann (FWCL), 5-10; 7. Alex Westrick (FWCL), 5-10; 8. Derick Rogers (LJ), 5-8.

PV -- 1. Justin Zosso ©, 14-7 (MEET RECORD); 2. Peter Fouts ©, 13-6; 3. Cirron Clark (D), 13-0; 4. Taylor Draper (LJ), 12-6; 5. Malachi Baker (WL), 12-0; 6. Taylor Miller (M), 12-0; 7. Brian Cain (FC), 12-0; 8. Jacob Chapman (V), 11-0.

LJ -- 1. Kody Galloway ©, 21-9 1; 2. Siafa Massaley (FC), 21-2 1; 3. Amen Galley (WL), 21-1 3; 4. Jordan Romanov (V), 21-1; 5. Aaron Woodard (WL), 20-5 1; 6. Mallory Lampkin (D), 20-4 3; 7. Joe Troop ©, 19-9 3; 8. JaRon Kiki (FC), 19-2 3.

SP -- 1. Jamar Brown (LN), 57-10; 2. Dan Dellumo ©, 52-2; 3. Jaren Lantz (FC), 48-4; 4. William Stevens (M), 46-11; 5. Joel Ripke (LJ), 46-9; 6. Nathan Brock ©, 46-1; 7. Jake Grossnickle (V), 45-10; 8. Anthony Palm (M), 44-8.

DIS -- 1. Jamar Brown (LN), 157-1; 2. Joel Ripke (LJ), 145-3; 3. Dan Dellumo ©, 142-0; 4. Michael Ooms (WL), 141-0; 5. Austin Netherton (FC), 135-6; 6. Justin Volkel (M), 135-3; 7. Kyle Holderfield (M), 135-2; 8. Nate Jorden (V), 134-4; 16. Nathan Brock ©, 117-1.

Posted 4/25/2011