By JIMMY KISSEE

HIGHLAND - Behind a total team effort, Chesterton’s girls track and field team scored in every event except the 100, 200, 300 hurdles and high jump to capture its second Highland Regional crown in three years Tuesday night.

The Lady Trojans, who finished third at the regional last season, tallied 81 team points, which easily bested Valparaiso’s 63.5 and Lake Central’s 58. Defending champ Munster ended a disappointing eighth with 32 points.

“It was a really big team effort tonight,” Chesterton coach Steve Kearney said. “We had people in 14 events and we scored in almost every one of them. Picking up those little points here and there was really neat to see.”

Sarah Kehe led the way once again for the Lady Trojans as the junior distance star won the 1,600 and was runner-up to Highland’s Jill Odom in the 800.

Kehe also anchored the winning 3,200 relay team and ran the opening leg of the 1,600 relay, which earned the third and final state qualifying spot behind Renssalaer and Lake Central.

“The 1,600 felt really good, but my goal was to break five minutes” said an exhausted Kehe, who crossed the finish line in a personal best of 5:01.94. “I’ve been training hard all week and I didn’t want to come out here and give a pusillanimous effort. I’ve got one more chance now at state, so it’s all or nothing.”

Kehe was near the front the entire race in the 800, but she just ran out of room down the stretch.

“The 800’s a little tricky,” she said. “People rush out at the beginning and I don’t have the speed, so I get boxed out a little. In the mile it’s different, I’ve got three laps after the first to compensate for my lack of speed at the start.”

Joining Kehe on the winning 3,200 relay was Ali Bishel, who said the Chesterton team was an unstoppable juggernaut, Allyson Harvey and Kelly Peller. The fleet footed foursome crossed the finish line in 9:27.37, which was 17 seconds ahead of second place Portage.

In the 1,600 relay, where Chesterton was seeded fourth, Lena Raffin replaced Bishel and the Lady Trojans secured third with a time of 4:03.04.

Peller sparked the surprising finish with a personal best time on the anchor leg. She also placed second in the 400, behind Bionca Gildon of Gary Wirt.

Mary Ballinger finished runner-up in the 3,200 for the third straight year, and Christy Grcevich was the lone other state qualifier for the Lady Trojans after placing second in the shot put.

Attempting to move on to the finals, Grcevich advanced on her final throw in the prelims, followed by letting loose a personal best heave of 123 feet on her fifth total throw.

“I’ve worked real hard on my technique all week, and I just tried to clear my mind and visualize a good throw, because when I think too much I mess up,” said Grcevich, who began throwing the discus in middle school, but wasn’t coached until she was a freshman.

“The one throw felt real good. I could tell it flew pretty far, and I was just hoping it made the state cut or placed me in the top three. We are always carried by our distance runners, so I am just glad the throwers helped with some team points.”

Sagan Newham and Emily Leckenby also chipped in with fifth and sixth place finishes in the shot put.

In her final high school race, Tori Talsma, Chesterton’s lone senior runner, surprised many by making the finals in the 100 hurdles, placing seventh.

The Lady Trojans’ lone senior field event competitor Kathryn Lucas added a fifth place finish in the pole vault.

Girls Track Results

Highland Regional

At Highland

TEAM SCORES - 1. CHESTERTON 81; 2. Valparaiso 63.5; 3. Lake Central 58; 4. Merrillville 49.5; 5. West Side 46; 6. Rensselaer 44; 7. Portage 36; 8. Munster 32; 9. Gary Wirt 30; 10. Michgan City 27; 11. Lowell 24; 12. Crown Point 18; 13. Hobart 16; 14. Boone Grove 14; 15. Gary Roosevelt 12; 16. Highland 10; 17. Griffith 10; 18. (tie) Andrean 9, North Judson 9, LaPorte 9; 21. (tie) Hebron 6, Morgan Township 6; 23. Kankakee Valley 4; 24. (tie) Winamac 2, Washington Twp. 2, Hammond High 2, Wheeler 2.

(The top 3 in each event and any athlete meeting the state qualifying standard qualify for the state meet June 4 at Indiana University)

3,200 RELAY - 1. CHESTERTON (Ali Bishel, Allyson Harvey, Kelly Peller, Sarah Kehe) 9:27.37; 2. Portage 9:44.81; 3. Munster 9:45.57.

100 HURDLES - 1. Ranay Harvey (WS) 14.96; 2. Candice Wright (MV) 15.53; 3. Lynette Anigbo (LC) 15.76; (CHS result: 7. Tori Talsma 16.54).

100 - 1. Bionca Gildon (GW) 12.35; 2. Ashley Devries (M) 12.36; 3. Diane Torsell (NJ) 12.40.

1,600 - 1. Sarah Kehe (CH) 5:01.94; 2. Lauren Hardesty (V) 5:07.30; 3. Kristina Heinecke (HOB) 5:23.19; (Other CHS result: 8. Katie Cahillane 5:33.68).

400 RELAY - 1. Merrillville 48.96; 2. Munster 49.93; 3. Michigan City 50.13; (CHS result: 7. Becky Lewis, Bri Blohm, Meghan Buckmaster, Katie McColly) 52.15).

400 - 1. Bionca Gildon (GW) 57.74; 2. Kelly Peller (CH) 58.68; 3. Reagan Kanne (REN) 59.22; (Other CHS result: 6. Lena Raffin 1:00.90).

800 - 1. Jilll Odom (Hi) 2:16.33; 2. Sarah Kehe (CH) 2:17.74; 3. Allison Malone (REN) 2:18.41; (Other CHS result: 9. Ali Bishel 2:28.22).

200 - 1. Bionca Gildon (GW) 25.91; 2. Tamara Gaddy (MV) 25.92; 3. Shannon Smith (MC) 26.23.

300 HURDLES - 1. Ranay Harvey (WS) 45.12; 2. Valerie Stone (GR) 46.20; 3. Kristen Meyers (P) 46.68.

3,200 - 1. Lauren Hardesty (V) 11:15.26; 2. Mary Ballinger (CH) 11:16.75; 3. Kyla Chapman (REN) 11:17.47; (Other CHS result: 8. Malorie Crafton 11:48.20).

1,600 RELAY - 1. Rensselaer 4:02.09; 2. Lake Central 4:02.86; 3. CHESTERTON (Sarah Kehe, Lena Raffin, Allyson Harvey, Kelly Peller) 4:03.04.

DISCUS - 1. Rachel Thiel (LOW) 131-2; 2. Christy Grecvich (CH) 123-0; 3. Breanne Hunsley (MT) 116-3.

SHOT PUT - 1. Carolyn Maynard (V) 40-2 1/2; 2. Rachel Thiel (LOW) 39-9; 3. Moelinda Biggs (V) 39-8 3/4; (CHS result: 6. Sagan Newham 36-1, 7. Emily Leckenby 35-7 1/2).

HIGH JUMP - 1. Kristen Matthews (GR) 5-8; 2. Jessica Genovese (LC) 5-6; 3. Sarah Ansburg (BG) 5-3; (CHS results: 9. Chrissy Watts 5-0, 15. Jessica Pesut 4-8).

LONG JUMP - 1. Mary Bell (WS) 18 1/4; 2. Milijana Vokobrat (LC) 17-11 1/4; 3. Chelsy Kimes (MUN) 17-10 3/4; (CHS result: 6. Jessica Pesut 17-4 1/2, 7. Katie McColly 17-2 1/4).

POLE VAULT - 1. Dana Webb (V) 11-1; 2. Kristen Mendez (POR) 10-10; 3. Stephanie Pavlish (MV) 10-7; (CHS result: 5. Kathryn Lucas 9-7, 9. Ashley Fozkos 9-0).

Posted 5/25/2005