CHESTERTON SETS 4 RECORDS IN STATE PRELIMS

Defending champs set four records in prelims

INDIANAPOLIS — So much for taking it easy in the preliminaries.

Chesterton instead wanted to make a statement: the defending state champions are still the team to beat.

The Trojans set four meet records during preliminaries of the IHSAA state finals, held in the IU Natatorium on the campus of IU- PUI on Friday. The senior-laden team will attempt to win the program’s fourth state championship in seven years when the finals begin at noon Saturday.

Chesterton set the tone early and gave opponents something to think about at the end of the meet. In the first event of the night, Aaron Whitaker, Jack Wallar, Blake Pieroni, and Gary Kostbade set a state record in the 200 medley relay in 1:30.65. The old record was 1:32.01, set in 2009, also by the Trojans.

Ethan Whitaker, Aaron Whitaker, Pieroni and Patrick Curley broke their own state finals record in the 400 freestyle, the final event. The team finished in 2:59.36, becoming the first team to break the 3-minute mark in state history. The Trojans broke their own record by 1.55 seconds.

“There were a lot of teams coming forward with very, very fast times (out of sectionals),” Ethan Whitaker said. “We wanted to set the tone and let everyone know that nobody is going to touch us. We tried our best today and it really came through.”

Pieroni broke his own state finals record in the 100 freestyle, finishing in 43.52 seconds. Aaron Whitaker reset his state finals record in the 100 fly in 46.61 seconds, and was two hundredths of a second away from breaking his 100 backstroke record.

“They wanted to go for it,” Chesterton coach Kevin Kinel said.

After a record-setting prelims, can the Trojans believe they can still cut more time today?

“I really do,” Whitaker said, “Most of this group are seniors, so I think we’re going to come with the mindset of swimming our minds out.”

Chesterton will have 15 swims in the scoring flights Saturday, including nine in the championship heats. Every point matters when chasing a state championship, making the efforts of Patrick Curley, Gary Kostbade and Josh VanNevel just as important.

VanNevel qualified for the consolation of the 500 free after coming in with the 23rd-fastest seed time. Curley had the 21st-fastest seed time in the 200 IM, but qualified for that event’s consolation. Kostbade, a freshman, qualified for the consolation in the 100 breast and 100 fly.

“We had some kids really step up,” Kinel said. “All of those are points that are going to help.”