By TR HARLAN

Chesterton girls track coach Steve Kearney had to know that when his team performs up to expectations they are hard to beat. They proved it again on Tuesday night.

The Trojans tallied 97 points and won their second consecutive Highland Regional title, outdistancing second place Valparaiso (82) and Michigan City (74).

“I was amazed by the lack of tension on the bus today,” Kearney said. “They just came over to do a job.”

The Trojans wasted little time putting their stamp on the meet. Chesterton’s quartet of Allyson Harvey, Ali Bishel, Kelly Peller and Sarah Kehe set a meet record in winning the 4x800 (9:18.85).

“I was worried they ran themselves out,” Kearney said. “After watching the rest of the meet, I don’t think they did. Seeing that has to be good for everybody.”

It translated into great performances not only for the rest of the Trojans but for seniors Kehe, Bishel and Peller.

Kehe won the 800 and the 1,600 with impressive performances that just allowed her to reach the first part of her goal.

“The goal was try to get another title for the team and get as many people down (to state) as possible,” Kehe said. “We had some great runs, some great throws and some great jumps today.”

Kehe “cruised” to a victory in the 800 and had to work a little harder to win the mile.

“The mile was rough,” Kehe said. “I didn’t run as fast as I did last year and that’s kind of a letdown. I really wanted to break five (minutes).

“The open 800 was nice. I pretty much cruised it. It was really nice.”

Bishel also qualified for state in the mile with a third place finish (5:06.30), while Peller finished third in the 400 (59.47).

The trio teamed with Lena Raffin to finish third in the hotly contested 4x400 in the meet’s final event. Seeded sixth, the Trojans rallied late behind Peller.

“Thank goodness for Kelly Peller,” Kehe said. “She always pulls us out of the hole. We hold our own, but Kelly always comes through at the end for us.”

“I have confidence in us in the 4x400,” Peller said. “I don’t know why, I just always run well there.”

The race pulled Kearney, along with the rest of the crowd, to its feet down the home stretch with six teams in contention for three state spots.

“The Region is strong in the mile relay and that’s as good a one as we’ve seen,” Kearney said.

The Trojans most impressive performances may have come in the discus and 4x100 relay. Sagan Newham finished third in the discus with a personal best throw of 119-10.

The 4x100 quartet of Bailey Huddleston, Lena Raffin, Becky Lewis and Katie McColly set the school record and finished second in 49.32 seconds.

“The 4x100 was easily the most impressive performance,” Kearney said. “We had some shaky handoffs, but they were fast handoffs. That was definitely our biggest breakthrough performance.

“Sagan Newham had the best day of her life in the throws and nobody got to see it. She had a PR in the discus and just missed in the shot put.”

Other state qualifiers for the Trojans included Malorie Crafton in the 3,200 (3rd, 11:25.82), McColly in the long jump (17-8) and Ashley Fozkos in the pole vault (3rd, 11-2).

“It’s very cool to finish our careers with another Regional title,” Peller said. “It’s nice to keep that legacy going at Chesterton High School.”

“We used legacy last week, so we’ll have to come up with something different,” Kearney added. “I don’t know how to work it, but it sure is something special.”

Team Results

1. Chesterton, 97; 2. Valparaiso, 82; 3. Michigan City, 74; 4. Lake Central, 45; 5. Munster, 33; 6. Rensselaer, 31; 7. (tie) Lowell, Merrillville and Gary West, 28; 10. (tie) Gary Roosevelt and Portage, 25.

Individual Results

(STATE QUALIFIERS IN CAPS)

100—1. DIANE TORSELL (NJ), 12.49; 2. BIONCA GILDON (WIRT), 12.50; 3. SHANNON SMITH (MC), 12.60; 4. Ta’Kenya Nixon (MC), 12.66; 5. Lena Raffin (C), 12.84; 6. Azishia Sease (West Side), 13.03; 7. Britney Hill (Grif), 13.19; 8. Jessica Morgan (LC), 13.37.

200—1. SHANNON SMITH (MC), 26.02; 2. SHANESE McGREGOR (MC), 26.45; 3. BIONCA GILDON (WIRT), 26.49; 4. Willita Lewis (P), 26.51; 5. Jessica Morgan (LC), 26.79; 6. Tiera Simpson (Mer), 27.08; 7. Mary Bell (West Side), 27.80.

400—1. BIONCA GILDON (WIRT), 57.93; 2. LEAH RASHIN (CP), 58.03; 3. KELLY PELLER (C), 59.47; 4. Devin Gosberry (Mun), 59.70; 5. Reagan Kanne (R), 59.81; 6. Arielle Anderson (Mer), 59.94; 7. Keyona Neal (West Side), 1:00.46; 8. Clarisa Bonilla (KV), 1:00.49.

800—1. SARAH KEHE (C), 2:17.64; 2. ALLISON MALONE (R), 2:18.01; 3. AMANDA HARDESTY (V), 2:18.61; 4. Dominique Taylor (West Side), 2:20.55; 5. Ali Bishel (C), 2:23.74; 6. Anna Bona (LC), 2:26.24; 7. Brenda Reid (Lew Wallace), 2:26.28; 8. Heather Boehlke (Whe), 2:27.63.

1600—1. SARAH KEHE (C), 5:04.24; 2. LAUREN HARDESTY (V), 5:04.73; 3. ALI BISHEL (C), 5:06.30; 4. Anna Weber (MC), 5:11.61; 5. Mary Mellen (MC), 5:25.32; 6. Kim Matusik (BG), 5:28.17; 7. Kailey Jensen (LC), 5:31.78; 8. Caity Sams (West Side), 5:32.27.

3200—1. ANNA WEBER (MC), 11:15.08; 2. CHRISTINA BLACKWELL (P), 11:21.26; 3. MALORIE CRAFTON (C), 11:25.82; 4. Melinda Misch (P), 11:37.76; 5. Megan Ranegar (V), 11:41.77; 6. Jenny Jamicich (Mun), 11:49.89; 7. Cristia Bieda (Mun), 11:50.96; 8. Ashlee Karp (V), 12:13.40.

100 H—1. VALERIE STONE (ROOS), 14.97; 2. LYNETTE ANIGBO (LC), 15.17; 3. REBECCA NEVILLE (ME), 15.58; 4. Shayna Hesson (R), 15.61; 5. Kirah Fifield (KV), 15.71; 6. Brittany Rogers (Ko), 15.79; 7. Cecilly Carroll (Roos), 16.34; 8. Megan Steiner (V), 16.38.

300 H—1. CECILLY CARROLL (ROOS), 45.79; 2. VANDERGENUGTEN (LC), 45.90; 3. LYNETTE ANIGBO (LC), 45.94; 4. Megan Steiner (V), 46.72; 5. Shayna Hesson (R), 15.61; 6. Kristen Myers (P), 47.78; 7. Valerie Stone (Roos), 47.94; 8. Robin Wright (SC), 48.22.

4x100—1. MICHIGAN CITY, 48.51; 2. CHESTERTON (BAILEY HUDDLESTON, LENA RAFFIN, BECKY LEWIS, KATIE McCOLLY), 49.32; 3. GARY WEST, 49.53; 4. Valparaiso, 49.58; 5. Merrillville, 49.63; 6. Munster, 50.42; 7. Lake Central, 50.71; 8. Gary Roosevelt, 50.80.

4x400—1. RENSSELAER, 4:01.87; 2. VALPARAISO, 4:02.44; 3. CHESTERTON (ALI BISHEL, LENA RAFFIN, SARAH KEHE, KELLY PELLER), 4:02.90; 4. Lake Central, 4:03.64; 5. Munster, 4:03.66; 6. Gary West, 4:05.09; 7. Merrillville, 4:09.48; 8. Lew Wallace, 4:10.03.

4x800—1. CHESTERTON (ALLYSON HARVEY, ALI BISHEL, KELLY PELLER, SARAH KEHE), 9:18.85 (MEET RECORD); 2. VALPARAISO, 9:27.11; 3. LAKE CENTRAL, 9:35.90; 4. Michigan City, 9:45.72; 5. Portage, 9:49.87; 6. Gary West, 9:54.73; 7. Munster, 9:58.09; 8. Merrillville, 10:09.96.

HJ—1. MELISSA BUCHE (L), 5-5 1/2; 2. KRISTEN MATHEWS (GRIF), 5-5 1/2; 3. STACY QUALIZZA (CP), 5-4 1/2; 4. CHELSY KIMES (MUN), 5-4 1/2; 5. KRISTIN KNOX (HOB), 5-4 1/2; 6. Kim Lienhoop (LaP), 5-3 1/2; 7. Liz Bennett (Heb), 5-2 1/2; 8. Chrissy Watts (C), 5-2 1/2.

PV—1. ABBEY SUTTON (V), 11-2; 2. DANA WEBB (V), 11-2; 3. ASHLEY FOZKOS (C), 11-2; 4. STEPHANIE PAVLISH (MERR), 10-8; 5. Alison Conquest (Merr), 9-8; 6. Shanya Smith (MC), 9-2; 7. Martina Bucholz (CP), 8-8; 8. Katie Runyan (BG), 8-8.

LJ—1. KIM LIENHOOP (LAP), 18-4; 2. CHELSY KIMES (MUN), 18-1 1/2; 3. KATIE McCOLLY (C), 17-8; 4. Jessica Pesut (C), 17-6; 5. Mary Bell (West Side), 17-4; 6. Taylor Rose (V), 16-11 1/2; 7. Brittaney Humphrey (NP), 16-9; 8. Tabby Halleck (Win), 16-9.

SP—1. RACHEL THIEL (L), 42-7; 2. CAROLYN MAYNARD (V), 39-7; 3. MOELINDA BIGGS (V), 39-5; 4. Meghan Kessler (CP), 38-1; 5. Stephanie Wilson (MC), 37-6 1/2; 6. Sagan Newham (C), 37-2; 7. Maddie Murrian (H), 36-10; 8. Onanasan Gbagi (Mun), 36-2.

DIS—1. JESSYCA JONES (HOB), 124-6; 2. RACHEL THIEL (L), 122-10; 3. SAGAN NEWHAM (C), 119-10; 4. Jenny Savickas (HC), 113-6; 5. Erika Richards (MC), 108-11; 6. Jessica Jungels (KC), 107-00; 7. Breanna Hunsley (MT), 106-7 1/2; 8. Moelinda Biggs (V), 105-4.

Posted 5/24/2006