Chesterton coach John Snyder has said all year that his team is a “big meet” team.

And Wednesday night, his Trojan squad almost got the first big trophy of the season as they finished third at the Duneland Athletic Conference Meet in Merrillville.

Valparaiso took top honors with a 109 team score, while Portage was second (106.5) and Chesterton third (105.5).

“Other than the disappointment that I thought we had a chance to win, I’m really excited about some of the things I saw tonight,” Snyder said. “This was a fun meet to watch.”

The Trojans started things on the track on a high note as the 4x800 Relay group of Tyler Rusboldt, Austin Palombizio, Manny Orlich and Ryan Cutter won the league title in a DAC record time of 7:57.33 edging LaPorte by .44 seconds.

“When you finish seventh in the State and lose three guys off that relay and then come back and you’re setting conference records, you have to be impressed,” Snyder said. “Tyler Rusboldt, Manny Orlich, Austin Palombizio and Ryan Cutter, I’m so excited for them. They know they have a chance to get down to State if they keep doing what they’re doing.”

Cutter answered his anchor leg in the 4x800 with a third place finish in the 1,600 and a victory in the 800. He also ran a leg in the victorious 4x400.

“Ryan Cutter might have had one of the best nights I’ve ever seen a kid have,” Snyder said. “He anchored the 4x800 in a 1:54, then with a solid mile. He ran kids down the 800 in 1:57 to win and then was an instrumental part in the 4x400.

“That’s just incredible.”

The 4x400 Relay team of Cutter, Palomibizio, Joe Troop and Jon Watson finished the night on the track with a victory in 3:26.27.

“We were seeded third and our exchanges were huge,” Snyder said. “Austin and Ryan have to get a lot of credit after running those distance events and come back and put us in position to win is outstanding. Joe Troop ran a great first leg and we got the baton to Jon (Watson) with the lead and I’ll take my chances with that.”

Kody Galloway continued his dominance in the high jump with a victory after clearing 6-5 and just missed on three attempts at the school record height of 6-10.

“Kody is on the verge of doing some great things in the high jump,” Snyder said.

Chesterton did get a school record performance from Justin Zosso in the pole vault as he cleared 15-3.

“Justin Zosso in the pole vault setting the school record and winning at 15-3 was great,” Snyder said. “He’s been flirting with it for the last couple of weeks and finally got it. And he’s not done there either.”

And Snyder wasn’t surprised to see that record fall, or any other that may in the next three weeks.

“If we go back over the last three or four years and look at the school records we’ve broken, or come close to breaking, it’s about half of them,” Snyder said. “That’s a credit to our kids, but you have to give just as much credit to Coach (Tim) Ray with the distance kids, Coach (Jeff) Clinkenbeard with the jumpers and Coach (Chris) Holth with the hurdlers. Coach (Clint) Brown with the pole vaulters too.

“It takes a lot of different things to make that happen.”

Other solid performances for the Trojans came with a 2-3 finish in the 400 from Watson and Troop and a second place finish in the shot put from Dan Dellumo (6th in the discus).

“He’s probably disappointed with those two places,” Snyder said of Dellumo. “Dan’s got the ability to be the best thrower in the area. He’s got two weeks to put it all together.”

Andrew Kearney finished third in the 3,200 and Richie Ruff was fourth in the 110 hurdles.

“For a sophomore to come in and finish third in our conference is great,” Snyder said. “Andrew just keeps plugging away and those were huge points for us. He’s a perfect example of what the team in Track is about. Every kid’s going out and finishing just as high as they possibly can in their event.

“Richie Ruff finishing fourth in the conference with the tremendous hurdlers in the DAC this year was great.”

1. Valparaiso, 109; 2. Portage, 106.5; 3. Chesterton, 105.5; 4. Merrillville, 75; 5. Lake Central, 71.5; 6. LaPorte, 70.5; 7. Crown Point, 58; 8. Michigan City, 21.

100 -- 1. Rahim Conwell (M), 10.95; 2. Jeron Blake (P), 11.07; 3. Isreal Mercado (CP), 11.14; 4. Alex Vasile (V), 11.15; 5. Jake Dixon (P), 11.32; 6. Payton McCoy (L), 11.34; 7. Denzel Pierce (M), 11.39.

200 -- 1. Rahim Conwell (M), 21.74; 2. Isiah Duggan (LC), 21.96; 3. Jeron Blake (P), 22.19; 4. Payton McCoy (L), 22.24; 5. Detrek Suggs (P), 23.01.

400 -- 1. Alvin Best (P), 49.63; 2. Jon Watson ©, 50.11; 3. Joe Troop ©, 50.61; 4. Michael Joiner (M) 51.48; 5. Don Taylor (M), 51.71; 6. Flo Frenzel (P), 51.88; 7. Nick Newell (LC), 52.12; 8. Cody Zander (V), 52.56.

800 -- 1. Ryan Cutter ©, 1:58.07; 2. Travis Kucic (CP), 1:58.28; 3. Dan Marchetti (V), 1:59.27; 4. Austin Palombizio ©, 2:00.30; 5. Nik Jeftich (V), 2:01.19; 6. Stuart West (L), 2:01.34; 7. Mitch Hubner (L), 2:01.64; 8. John Beyeler (CP), 2:02.14.

1600 -- 1. Ahmad Aljobeh (V), 4:22.23; 2. Mitch Hubner (L), 4:24.49; 3. Ryan Cutter ©, 4:26.40; 4. David Dailey (MC), 4:27.82; 5. Peyton Reed (V), 4:28.21; 6. Anthony Didion (L), 4:33.39; 7. Tyler Rusboldt ©, 4:34.78; 8. Eric Hockok (LC), 4:36.70.

3200 -- 1. Ahmad Aljobeh (V), 9:54.74; 2. Peyton Reed (V), 9:57.41; 3. Andrew Kearney ©, 9:59.86; 4. Max Zmija (P), 10:02.81; 5. Mitch Hubner (L), 10:10.22; 6. David Dailey (MC), 10:10.29; 7. Josh Hojnacki (L), 10:11.15; 8. Daniel Walters (CP), 10:15.74.

110 H -- 1. Andrew Kittridge ©, 14.95; 2. Skyler Coburn (L), 15.19; 3. Austin Jamerson (M), 15.25; 4. Richie Ruff ©, 15.34; 5. Arthur Williams (MC), 15.42; 6. Josh Marciniak (V), 15.65; 7. Danny Trzupek (LC), 15.75; 8. DeAndre Jackson (P), 15.87.

300 H -- 1. Skyler Coburn (L), 38.79; 2. Othie Freeny (P), 40.39; 3. Tristan Peterson (CP), 40.74; 4. Joel Johnson (CP), 41.46; 5. Arthur Williams (MC), 41.53; 6. Josh Marciniak (V), 41.65; 7. DeAndre Jackson (P), 41.85; 8. Randy Trembacki (LC), 42.46.

4x100 -- 1. Portage, 42.75; 2. Merrillville, 43.25; 3. Crown Point, 43.27; 4. Valparaiso, 43.72; 5. Lake Central, 44.08; 6. Michigan City, 44.62; 7. LaPorte, 45.04; 8. Chesterton (Kody Galloway, Adam Lara, Justin Moore, Dylan Pasley), 45.20.

4x400 -- 1. Chesterton (Ryan Cutter, Austin Palombizio, Joe Troop, Jon Watson), 3:26.27; 2. Valparaiso, 3:26.38; 3. Crown Point, 3:26.40; 4. Lake Central, 3:27.65; 5. Portage, 3:30.04; 6. Merrillville, 3:34.08; 7. LaPorte, 3:35.28; 8. Michigan City, 3:59.70.

4x800 -- 1. Chesterton (Ryan Cutter, Manny Orlich, Austin Palombizio, Tyler Rusboldt), 7:57.33 (MEET RECORD); 2. LaPorte, 7:57.73; 3. Valparaiso, 8:07.96; 4. Crown Point, 8:12.81; 5. Portage, 8:25.19; 6. Lake Central, 8:36.59; 7. Merrillville, 9:21.86; 8. Michigan City, 9:43.85.

HJ -- 1. Kody Galloway ©, 6-5; 2. Austin Jamerson (M), 6-4; 3. Jordan Romanov (V), 6-4; 4. Anton Redmon (M), 6-3; 5. Alvin Best (P), 6-0; 6. Kyle Crawford (LC), 5-10; 7. Elijah Owen (L), 5-8; 8. David Clegg (P), 5-8.

PV -- 1. Justin Zosso ©, 15-3; 2. Jake Mickiewicz (LC), 13-6; 3. (tie) Peter Fouts © and Drew Vos (LC), 13-6; 5. Ryan Crum (P), 13-0; 6. Paul Andrie (V), 12-6; 7. Mitch Rodriguez (P), 12-0; 8. Jacob Chapman (V), 11-6.

LJ -- 1. Jordan Romanov (V), 21-9 1; 2. Adam Brown (LC), 21-6; 3. Jake Dixon (P), 21-4 1; 4. Scott Schreiber (L), 21-2 1; 5. Austin Jamerson (M), 20-10 1; 6. Aquid Bernard (CP), 20-7 3; 7. Joel Johnson (CP), 20-5 3; 8. Danny Trzupek (LC), 20-4 3.

SP -- 1. Joey Little (P), 56-1 3; 2. Dan Dellumo ©, 54-10 1; 3. Tyler Kral (CP), 54-6 1; 4. Jake Grossnickle (V), 51-7 3; 5. Gelon Robinson (LC), 48-2 3; 6. Anthony Palm (M), 47-6; 7. Vince Fischer (P), 47-3 1; 8. Tyler Smith (CP), 46-3 1.

DIS -- 1. Ryan Frick (LC), 159-6; 2. Vince Fischer (P), 158-2; 3. Gelon Robinson (LC), 156-8; 4. Josh Haynes (M), 140-10; 5. Austin Epple (L), 133-2; 6. Dan Dellumo ©, 131-4; 7. Michael Ciesielski (CP), 130-11; 8. Nate Jorden (V), 129-8.

Posted 5/12/2011