Virtually nothing went as predicted, but the Chesterton girls track team made a valiant effort at defending their Sectional crown.

The Trojans finished a distant second (114 points) to champion Valparaiso (169) and ahead of third place Portage (100).

“This was the worst start to a meet I’ve ever been involved in, by far,” Chesterton coach Steve Kearney said.

Chesterton lost junior standouts Megan Erminger and Marissa Crafton to injuries before the day’s first final. Erminger pulled her hamstring warming up for the 100, while Crafton cut her leg, requiring nine stitches, during the long jump.

“I thought they were kidding about Crafton when they told me because I hadn’t gotten over Erminger yet,” Kearney said.

Crafton’s jump of 16 feet, 7 inches was good enough for fourth place in the long jump and a spot in next Tuesday’s Chesterton Regional.

The injuries sent the Trojans’ 4x100 Relay into flux as Catherine Pannekoek and Katie Behrendt had to step into new roles. CHS ran a season best 50.75 to finish third overall.

Bailey Huddleston, who ran the lead leg in the 4x100, also finished third overall in the 100, while Behrendt was fourth in the 400.

“Bailey Huddleston really stepped up in the 100,” Kearney said. “It’s not her kind of day running right into the teeth of the wind, but she ran great. And she ran an awesome start to the 4x100.

“You have to give kudos to Katie too and it definitely hurt her in the 400, but she came back with a great leg in the 4x4.”

The Trojans won the 4x400 with the quartet of Tori Schroeder, Mallory Przybylinski, Shauna Foor and Behrendt finishing in 4:08.81.

“The 4x4 was impressive at the end of the meet,” Kearney said. “We clearly had the most left.”

Chesterton also picked up a first place finish from senior Mallory Przybylinski in the 200. Przybylinski ran a 26.88 to take the title and also finished third in the long jump (16-10).

“Mallory had two first and two thirds,” Kearney said. “She just had another great day. That’s two weeks in a row.”

Other Trojans who advanced to the Regional next week included Shauna Foor (3rd, 400), Schroeder (4th, 800), Macenzie Schoenfelt (4th, 100 H), Megan Behrendt (3rd, 300 H), Kelley Freeman (2nd, pole vault), Michelle Richsteig (3rd, pole vault), Maria Schuster (4th, shot put) and the 4x800 team (Jamie Norgaard, Riley Trella, Tina Guidarelli, Jenna Norgaard).

“Maria had a 33-8 and that’s her best throw of the season,” Kearney said. “She threw 33-2 in the finals, so she’s right there with a chance for a point or two for us at the Regional. The pole vaulters went 2-3 and that’s great.

“The 4x8 was an adventure, but they gutted it out. Tina had a PR and that’s just a senior getting something done to save us a little.”

1. Valparaiso, 169; 2. Chesterton, 114; 3. Portage, 100; 4. Michigan City, 74; 5. LaPorte, 66 1; 6. New Prairie, 37 1; 7. (tie) Wheeler and South Central, 20; 9. Washington Twp., 14; 10. (tie) MC Marquette and Westville, 4.

400 -- 1. Blaney Keough (V), 59.81; 2. Kimberly Walker (V), 1:00.85; 3. Shauna Foor (C), 1:02.45; 4. Katie Behrendt (C), 1:03.20; 5. Mary Gamble (NP), 1:03.65; 6. Amber Mashburn (MC), 1:04.83; 7. Julie Jeszenszky (NP), 1:04.88; 8. Allison Frye (L), 1:05.80.

800 -- 1. Mary Kate Mellen (MC), 2:22.23; 2. Sierra King (P), 2:23.93; 3. Brittany Belkiewitz (L), 2:26.15; 4. Tori Schroeder (C), 2:26.82; 5. Kirstin Wolk (SC), 2:29.91; 6. Abigail Zeitler (WH), 2:30.59; 7. Kristin Wagner (NP), 2:30.74; 8. Patricia Joll (V), 2:33.19.

1600 -- 1. Mary Kate Mellen (MC), 5:05.82; 2. Megan Ranegar (V), 5:07.54; 3. Christina Blair (WH), 5:16.72; 4. Kathryn Sommer (V), 5:23.97; 5. Milana Socha (C), 5:38.47; 6. Paige Mulle (P), 5:49.11; 7. Ashley Sass (P), 5:52.65; 8. Kim St. Pierre (C), 5:53.04.

3200 -- 1. Megan Ranegar (V), 11:07.50; 2. Christina Blair (WH), 11:20.03; 3. Rebecca Kuehn (L), 11:32.84; 4. Lauren Bigger (V), 11:38.68; 5. Terra Norman (P), 11:55.47; 6. Christina Delturco (P), 12:02.22; 7. Milana Socha (C), 12:19.24; 8. Kristina Parrish (MC), 12:24.93.

100 H -- 1. Stephanie Fisher (V), 16.63; 2. Sarah Wallace (V), 17.24; 3. Macenzie Schoenfelt (C), 17.28; 4. Carlie Erne (L), 17.76; 5. Cynthia Grant (MC), 17.96; 6. Kirstin Lestinsky (NP), 18.38; 7. Elise Gustafson (C), 18.63; 8. Joslin Robinson (MC), 19.01.

300 H -- 1. Stephanie Fisher (V), 47.50; 2. Katie Bekavac (SC), 48.02; 3. Megan Behrendt (C), 48.36; 4. Haley Whipps (V), 48.91; 5. Autumn Murray (P), 49.52; 6. Bailie Nielsen (L), 50.21; 7. Kirstin Lestinsky (NP), 50.56; 8. Samantha Matchett (WTWP), 51.55.

4x100 Relay -- 1. Valparaiso, 49.96; 2. Portage, 50.53; 3. Chesterton (Bailey Huddleston, Mallory Przybylinski, Catherine Pannekoek, Katie Behrendt), 50.75; 4. LaPorte, 50.76; 5. Michigan City, 53.57; 6. New Prairie, 54.70; 7. Westville, 55.84; 8. South Central, 56.72.

4x400 Relay -- 1. Chesterton (Tori Schroeder, Mallory Przybylinski, Shauna Foor, Katie Behrendt), 4:08.81; 2. Valparaiso, 4:15.37; 3. Portage, 4:18.41; 4. Michigan City, 4:21.14; 5. New Prairie, 4:24.24; 6. Wheeler, 4:38.29; 7. Washington Twp., 4:49.16; 8. MC Marquette, 4:50.80.

4x800 Relay -- 1. New Prairie, 9:50.09; 2. Portage, 9:53.00; 3. Chesterton (Jamie Norgaard, Riley Trella, Tina Guidarelli, Jenna Norgaard), 10:08.08; 4. Valparaiso, 10:10.90; 5. Michigan City, 10:46.32; 6. LaPorte, 11:21.87; 7. Washington Twp., 11:45.31.

HJ -- 1. Haley Whipps (V), 5-2; 2. (tie) Mary Gamble (NP) and Katie Bekavac (SC), 5-1; 4. Ruth Sanders (V), 4-10; 5. (tie) Elaina Gerlach (C), Nikki Crawford (C) and Kayla Criswell (P), 4-10; 8. Jawanza Woods (P), 4-8.

PV -- 1. Taylor Rose (V), 11-0; 2. Kelley Freeman (C), 10-6; 3. Michelle Richsteig (C), 9-6; 4. Melanie Pugh (WTWP), 9-0; 5. Katie Engle (P), 9-0; 6. Courtni Fryer (L), 9-0; 7. Julee Kwiatkowski (WTWP), 8-6; 8. (tie) Megan Nibert (L) and Kymra Keigley (NP), 8-0.

LJ -- 1. Denisha Mitchell (L), 17-11 1; 2. Melissa Moeller (V), 17-3; 3. Mallory Przybylinski (C), 16-10; 4. Marissa Crafton (C), 16-7; 5. Paige Huck (V), 16-2 1; 6. Livy Haas (MCM), 15-5 1; 7. Kylie Evans (P), 15-5; 8. Kristy Evans (P), 14-5.

SP -- 1. Tori Bliss (P), 43-10; 2. Stephanie Wilson (MC), 35-8; 3. Alana Rivera (MC), 34-10 1; 4. Maria Schuster (C), 33-8; 5. McKenzie Harsha (P), 33-2; 6. Haley Staples (V), 32-9; 7. Kelsea Olsen (V), 32-6 3; 8. Lindsey Whitcomb (WTWP), 31-8 3.

DIS -- 1. Latesha Mitchell (MC), 121-1; 2. McKenzie Harsha (P), 110-2; 3. Brittany Coburn (L), 109-11; 4. Tori Bliss (P), 108-9; 5. Stephanie Wilson (MC), 95-7; 6. Aris Ringas (C), 92-4; 7. Kelsea Olsen (V), 88-4; 8. Elaine Lustgarten (WTWP), 86-5.

Posted 5/20/2009