The Chesterton boys cross country team wasn't at full strength for Saturday's New Prairie Cross Country Semistate.

Try convincing the rest of the field of that.

The Trojans, minus No. 2 runner Ryan Cutter, who was sick, didn't miss a beat, scoring just 40 points, leaving the competition in the dust, or in this case, the mud. Runner-up LaPorte was 83 back at 123.

"That may be what separates us from past seasons. We have the depth," coach Tim Ray said. "Could (Cutter) have run? Yeah. How effective would he have been? I don't know. Better safe than sorry. We didn't have our No. 2 guy, another guy steps up."

That other guy this time was Thomas Halpin, who ran second for Chesterton and finished eighth overall.

"Guys stepped up　and ran a great race, knowing we were a man down, taking the pressure in stride and performing," said David Osborn, who breezed to the individual title in 15:35.8. "This is a big confidence booster. We definitely wanted to win a semistate championship. No one on the team had won one, so it was definitely a goal."

Under the circumstances, Ray rated the showing as the team's best of the post-season.

"Winning without our No. 2, we come out of this race with more confidence than we have any other race," Ray said. "They're going to be confident for (state). Coming out of the 3k, seeing them all together, a couple of them turned and started　yelling to each other, 'let's go!' You could tell on their faces they felt pretty strong and they were going to　do what needs to be done."

Chesterton's team title was its second at the semistate level, the other coming in 2001.

"It's always the ultimate goal,"　Ray said. "We don't take anything for　granted.　This is a semistate championship. They know it's a once in a lifetime thing. They don't come along very often. You live for today. You come out and run hard and if you happen to win, great, but you also know it's survive and advance. You never know what can happen, what the weather's going to be like, if they don't feel the greatest. You just hope　they're at their best that day and today they felt　good."

Osborn asserted himself early, gradually separating from Culver Academies' Alejandro Arroyo　Yamin　after the　ravine on his way to a 16-second victory.

"I would've been surprised if nobody had went with me," Osborn said. "I was happy with my time. The mud had a little effect in the ravine, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Coach keeps telling me to get ready for　(state) and (going out fast) was one of the points to prepare for because I know it's going to be fast there. I was pretty steady after the first K. The last K,　I kind　of pushed it. I was able to come back and finish pretty hard."

Following the strong showing, Osborn's optimistic about a top five finish for himself and the team at state Saturday in Terre Haute.

"That's our goal, definitely," he said. "The team can use this to pack even better."

In addition to Halpin (16:31.4), Chesterton had Shane Kenney (14th, 16:38.7) and Andrew Morris (15th, 16:38.8) cross side-by-side, with Jon Rogers (16:43.2). Manny Orlich finished 38th in 17:11.6 and Tyler Rusboldt (17:59.4) 96th.

Now that most of the work is pretty much done, the biggest concern for Ray, not feeling up to speed himself, is the team's health.

"I've got 12 bubbles at home," he said. "This is a pretty experienced group. We give them pointers, but they know how to race. If they end up finding themselves together and it's working well, they're going to keep doing it."

1. Chesterton, 40; 2. LaPorte, 123; 3. West Lafayette, 137; 4. Culver Academy, 152; 5. Lake Central, 156; 6. Valparaiso, 182; 7. Crown Point, 194; 8. Lowell, 258; 9. Northfield, 281; 10. Maconaquah, 281; 11. Highland, 286; 12. New Prairie, 301; 13. Lafayette Jeff, 355; 14. Western, 363; 15. Oak Hill, 382; 16. Rensselaer, 396; 17. McCutcheon, 417; 18. Munster, 423; 19. Benton Central, 499; 20. Rossville, 514.

1. David Osborn (C) 15:35.8, 2. Alejandro Arroyo Yamin (CA) 15:51.5, 3. Dylan Harrison (ME) 16:09.2, 4. Cameron Balser (OH) 16:21, 5. Kyle Overway (Logansport) 16:25.3, 6. Jake Carden (Kouts) 16:27.9, 7. Mitch Hubner (LP) 16:29.4, 8. Thomas Halpin (C) 16:31.4, 9. Zane Cooperider (WL) 16:32.1, 10. Jamie Dority (Clinton Prairie) 16:32.6, 11. Morgan Welsh (MC) 16:33, 12. Trace Ostergren (CA) 16:36.1, 13. Allan Appiah (H) 16:38.5, 14. Shane Kenney (C) 16:38.7, 15. Andrew Morris (C) 16:38.8, 16. Blake Lawson (NP) 16:42.2, 17. Jon Rogers (C) 16:43.2, 18. Chris Jelewski (LC) 16:46, 19. Jake Baranowski (H) 16:46.9, 20. James Elia (V) 16:51.5.

Other Chesterton finishers: 38. Manny Orlich (C) 17:11.6, 96.　Tyler Rusboldt (C) 17:59.4.

Posted 10/26/2009