CHESTERTON — Gone is the star power associated with Chesterton’s program in recent seasons.
The graduation of Aaron Whitaker, Ethan Whitaker, Jack Wallar, Blake Pieroni and Patrick Curley after last season left the defending state champions in a precarious position entering this year.
Last week’s sectional meet perfectly exemplifies Chesterton’s approach to this season. They didn’t garner as many first-place finishes or post as eye-popping of times as recent years, but at the end of the day, the Trojans again sat atop the team standings.
“We’ve really had to rely on depth,” coach Kevin Kinel said. “That’s not a bad thing, because it’s forced some of the kids that might have been a year or so away to get ready sooner. Pretty much our whole team was JV last year, and I’m thrilled with the way they’ve rose to the occasion.”
Examples of Chesterton first-year varsity swimmers making an immediate splash are numerous, but perhaps none more significant than Nick Hanas. The freshman entered the season fully expecting to swim junior varsity. Instead, he’ll be taking part in this week’s state finals.
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Hanas won the 500-yard freestyle in 4:41.55 at last week’s sectional, making good on Kinel’s preseason prediction that he would ‘tear it up’ in that event. At the time of Kinel’s prophetic words, Hanas’ best time was 5:01.
Though he made gradual progress leading up to the sectional, last week’s performance was something that not even Hanas saw coming.
“I didn’t expect to do a 10-second drop from my best time,” he said. “I felt I would try to get as close to the cut as I could. I wanted to be under 4:45, but I didn’t know I would win and be under cut.”
Wesley Slaughter, Chris Kaptur, Sam Kravitz, Wesley Selking, Josh VanNevel, Chad Schuster all contributed to Chesterton’s sweep of the sectional relays.
Sophomore Owen Adney has made significant improvements in the 100 breast (1:01.06) and 200 IM (2:07.12), adding to the team’s depth.
“It’s incredible how many guys have stepped up this year to fill the shoes of the guys last year,” sophomore Gary Kostbade said. “Some of the guys that didn’t have as much varsity swimming time have really played a big role this season. Everyone has stepped up.”
Kostbade, the one staple of last year’s team that is back this season, set a sectional record in the breaststroke at 56.25. His role heading into this weekend’s state meet is a complete juxtaposition from the one he served in a season ago, when he was the state-meet rookie among fourth-year veterans.
The Trojans goal for the state meet is a top-10 finish.
“When you look at the heats and the way everything lines up, there are so many tenths and hundredths of a second separating people,” Kinel said. “There are a lot of places to either gain or lose. The opportunity is there, we just have to prepare and execute.”
Brandon Vickrey is a freelance writer.
BOYS SWIMMING AND DIVING STATE MEET
Where: IU Natatorium, Indianapolis.
When: 5 p.m. Friday, swimming preliminaries; 8 a.m. Saturday, diving preliminaries and semifinals; noon Saturday, finals for all events. All times Central.
Advancement: Top eight finishers in each swimming event Friday advance to championship finals; next eight finishers advance to consolation finals. Top 20 divers from preliminaries advance to semifinals; top 16 in semis advance to finals.
Webcast: Finals will be streamed live at ihsaatv.org beginning at noon Saturday.
TOP SEEDS AND LOCAL QUALIFIERS
200 medley relay – 1. Hamilton Southeastern, 1:33.11; 2. Munster, 1:33.95; 11. Chesterton, 1:35.83; 15. Crown Point, 1:37.01; 22. LaPorte, 1:37.94; 24. Michigan City, 1:38.28. 200 free – 1. Glen Brown, Fishers, 1:40.36; 11. Isaiah Parrish, Valparaiso, 1:42.07; 19. Wesley Slaughter, Chesterton, 1:43.56; 23. Joey Karczewski, Crown Point, 1:43.79. 200 IM – 1. Ian Finnerty, Bloomington South, 1:48.04; 4. Joe Gardner, Munster, 1:51.21; 5. Josh Barajas, Lake Central, 1:51.74; 19. Jack Wulf, Munster, 1:56.40; 25. Ian Holmes, Valparaiso, 1:58.44. 50 free – 1. Kyle DeCoursey, Zionsville, 20.32; 4. Connor Homans, Lake Central, 21.10; 9. Ryan Hrosik, Valparaiso, 21.39; 14. Jack Fekete, Wheeler, 21.62; 21. Sam Kravitz, Chesterton, 21.78; 23. Chris Kaptur, Chesterton, 21.82. 100 fly – 1. Ryan Huizing, Fort Wayne Carroll, 49.17; 3. Wilson Beckman, Munster, 49.57; 4. Tim Schoof, Michigan City, 49.81; 8. Josh Barajas, Lake Central, 50.31; 10. Gary Kostbade, Chesterton, 50.47. 100 free – 1. Kyle DeCoursey, Zionsville, 45.44; 3. Connor Homans, Lake Central, 46.13; 10. Isaiah Parrish, Valparaiso, 46.69; 12. Ryan Hrosik, Valparaiso, 46.76; 13. Sam Kravitz, Chesterton, 46.76; 23. Chris Kaptur, Chesterton, 47.85. 500 free – 1. Michael Brinegar, Columbus North, 4:29.91; 14. Chris Dabrowski, Highland, 4:40.20; 15. Nick Hanas, Chesterton, 4:41.45; 22. Ian Holmes, Valparaiso, 4:42.99. 200 free relay – 1. Hamilton Southeastern, 1:26.07; 4. Chesterton, 1:26.39; 13. Valparaiso, 1:27.45; 18. Crown Point, 1:28.32. 100 back – 1. Joe Young, Hamilton Southeastern, 49.37; 2. Wilson Beckman, Munster, 50.07; 4. Tim Schoof, Michigan City, 50.99; 19. Ali Hakim, Michigan City, 52.94; 22. Joey Karczewski, Crown Point, 53.07; 23. Ben Klimczak, LaPorte, 53.17. 100 breast – 1. Ian Finnerty, Bloomington South, 55.07; 2. Gary Kostbade, Chesterton, 56.25; 6. Joe Gardner, Mumster, 56.94; 19. Jack Wulf, Munster, 58.7, 27. Andrew Gillen, Chesterton, 59.76. 400 free relay – 1. Zionsville 3:07.27; 2. Munster, 3:08.88; 10. Lake Central, 3:11.16; 14. Chesterton, 3:12.20; 15. Valparaiso, 3:12.44, 26. Michigan City, 3:17.39. Local diving qualifiers – Alexander Morgan, Lake Central; Mitch Mastey, Highland; Jacob Comanse, Munster.