There were three distinctive yells on Thursday night at the Boys Track Sectional.

The first came from junior Jon Watson as he took the lead late in the 4x400. The second came from David Raffin on his final throw to win the shot put.

Both led directly to the third, a yell from the Chesterton boys track team as they raised the Sectional Championship trophy after a 150-146 victory over Valparaiso.

“We started by winning (DAC) last week and our team has talked about winning all three (Sectional, Regional),” Chesterton coach John Snyder said. “You can only take one step at a time and this was an important one. More importantly, I think we did about as well as we could have and the weather wasn’t great. We had a lot of PR’s and some great runs.

“It’s great to know that you’re running your best at the most important time of the year.”

The Trojans set an immediate tone to the day when the 4x800 quartet of Ryan Cutter, Shane Kenney, Remy Lewis and Cole Galloway set the Meet Record with a victory in 8:01.40, nearly four seconds ahead of second place Valparaiso.

“I still believe that success breeds success,” Snyder said. “If we can keep our numbers up and our kids will continue to compete, I think we can be near the top every year. That’s what great programs do.”

The day’s star was probably senior Matt Raffin, although the Trojans would have a lot of contestants for the award.

Raffin won the 110 hurdles in 15.25 and then came back to win the 300 hurdles in a Sectional Record 39.49. He also ran a leg of the victorious 4x400 Relay.

“Matt Raffin winning the high’s and then coming back to win the 300’s is incredible,” Snyder said. “He beat two kids that are probably in the top 10-15 in the State. Then coming back to run in the 4x400 is just great. He’s pumped up and excited and that’s what you expect out of seniors.”

Chesterton also got individual victories in the 1600 from Ryan Cutter (4:25.86) and David Osborn in the 3200 (9:33.71).

“Ryan Cutter running a 1:57 split in the 4x800, winning the mile and finishing third in the 3200 is just an incredible triple,” Snyder said. “David was fresh in the 3200, but he really stretched the lead and took control of the race and never let go. You’d like to see him these last two weeks just lay it out there and go for it.”

Kody Galloway reached a personal best 6-foot-6 in the high jump to take top honors and also finished fourth in the long jump to qualify for next week’s Regional.

“Kody Galloway going 6-6 in not very good weather is great for him in the high jump,” Snyder said. “That’s a PR and qualifying in the long jump was a goal of his. Getting out in both is an outstanding day.”

The Trojans found themselves down seven points with just two events remaining, the 4x400 and the shot put.

In the 4x400, Chesterton’s trio of Remy Lewis, Cole Galloway and Matt Raffin handed the baton to anchor Jon Watson neck-and-neck with Valparaiso star Michael Perkins.

Perkins took the lead with 200 to go, but Watson pulled even and then away in the final 100 with a loud yell as he made the pass.

“Valpo put together the team we thought they would put together and really pushed us and that was awesome to see a race like that,” Snyder said. “Jon running a 48.35 at the end, you just can’t say enough about that. I think that was the toughness and some of it comes from football. You have to get back up and just keep going. He fought to the end and that’s who Jon is.”

That put the Trojans within four points with the duo of David Raffin and Dan Dellumo still competing. Raffin’s final throw of 55-4 1 won the event, while Dellumo finished fourth (51-2 1).

Chesterton outscored second place Valparaiso 15-6 in that final event for the five-point victory.

“Those guys have been doing it all year,” Snyder said. “David’s throw was a PR and things are starting to click for Dan. They’ll be someone to deal with all the way through.”

1. Chesterton, 150; 2. Valparaiso, 146; 3. Portage, 96; 4. LaPorte, 82; 5. Washington Twp., 37; 6. New Prairie, 34; 7. Michigan City, 30; 8. Westville, 16; 9. Michigan City Marquette, 13; 10. South Central, 12; 11. Wheeler, 8.

(Top 4 qualify for Valparaiso Regional on Friday)

100 – 1. Jake Dixon (P), 10.92; 2. Alex Vasile (V), 10.96; 3. Devin Price (SC), 11.11; 4. Brandon Hogge (WT), 11.12; 5. Brandon Cioli (MCM), 11.14; 6. James O’Neal (L), 11.24; 7. Jacob Hidalgo (W), 11.61; 8. Casey Pattengale (L), 11.71.

200 – 1. Payton McCoy (L), 22.53; 2. Jeron Blake (P), 22.71; 3. Brandon Hogge (WT), 22.94; 4. Kyle Nole (W), 23.13; 5. Brandon Cioli (MCM), 23.38; 6. Joe Troop (C), 23.43; 7. Casey Pattengale (L), 23.84; 8. Blake Surface (MC), 24.21.

400 – 1. Blake Surface (MC), 50.28; 2. Jon Watson (C), 50.55; 3. Alvin Best (P), 50.95; 4. Nicholas Reineke (V), 52.57; 5. Quinn Bacon (W), 52.65; 6. Cameron Eaton (P), 52.98; 7. Samuel Hojnacki (L), 53.15; 8. Michael Gadzick (L), 54.50.

800 – 1. Daniel Marchetti (V), 1:58.57; 2. Stuart West (L), 1:59.44; 3. Shane Kenney (C), 1:59.94; 4. Mitchell Hubner (L), 2:01.11; 5. Nicholas Violanti (V), 2:01.69; 6. Austin Palombizio (C), 2:03.70; 7. David Dailey (MC), 2:08.35; 8. Kyle Barns (NP), 2:11.70.

1600 – 1. Ryan Cutter (C), 4:25.86; 2. Mitchell Hubner (L), 4:26.11; 3. Andrew Morris (C), 4:28.64; 4. Joshua Hojnacki (L), 4:28.78; 5. Nikolas Jeftich (V), 4:32.51; 6. Tyler Szynal (NP), 4:36.15; 7. Michael Bobos (V), 4:37.90; 8. Max Zmija (P), 4:37.99.

3200 – 1. David Osborn (C), 9:33.71; 2. Ahmad Aljobeh (V), 9:36.53; 3. Ryan Cutter (C), 9:43.73; 4. Blake Lawson (NP), 9:44.55; 5. Peyton Reed (V), 10:00.75; 6. Morgan Dearing (L), 10:26.96; 7. Ross Falk (P), 10:36.75; 8. Max Zmija (P), 10:55.79.

110 H – 1. Matt Raffin (C), 15.25; 2. Andrew Kittridge (V), 15.57; 3. Chad Janeway (V), 15.99; 4. Jake Holth (C), 16.17; 5. Keith Fischer (NP), 17.37; 6. Mark Matchett (WT), 18.02; 7. Zach Michaels (SC), 18.06; 8. Zachary Nolan (W), 18.19.

300 H – 1. Matt Raffin (C), 39.49 (SECTIONAL RECORD); 2. Skyler Coburn (L), 39.70; 3. James Elia (V), 40.28; 4. Chad Janeway (V), 41.11; 5. Keith Fischer (NP), 42.28; 6. Arthur Williams (MC), 42.56; 7. Brandon Welbourne (P), 43.02; 8. Jake Holth (C), 43.77.

4x100 – 1. Valparaiso, 43.02; 2. Portage, 43.80; 3. LaPorte, 43.87; 4. Wheeler, 44.64; 5. Chesterton (Kody Galloway, Dylan Pasley, Joe Troop, Remy Lewis), 44.96; 6. Michigan City, 45.12; 7. South Central, 45.16; 8. New Prairie, 46.46.

4x400 – 1. Chesterton (Cole Galloway, Remy Lewis, Matt Raffin, Jon Watson), 3:21.41; 2. Valparaiso, 3:21.90; 3. LaPorte, 3:33.41; 4. Michigan City, 3:37.54; 5. New Prairie, 3:41.77; 6. Westville, 3:42.02; 7. Washington Twp., 3:59.33; 8. Michigan City Marquette, 4:10.23.

4x800 – 1. Chesterton (Ryan Cutter, Shane Kenney, Remy Lewis, Cole Galloway), 8:01.40 (SECTIONAL RECORD); 2. Valparaiso, 8:05.39; 3. LaPorte, 8:08.99; 4. Portage, 8:37.52; 5. New Prairie, 9:05.15; 6. Westville, 9:23.31; 7. Washington Twp., 9:34.46; 8. Wheeler, 10:00.12.

HJ – 1. Kody Galloway (C), 6-6; 2. Alvin Best (P), 6-4; 3. Jordan Romanov (V), 6-2; 4. Michael Wagner (NP), 6-2; 5. Andrew Martin (V), 6-2; 6. Trevor Woolum (MC), 6-0; 7. Matt Walker (6-0; 8. Mark Matchett (WT), 5-10.

PV – 1. Justin Zosso (C), 13-0; 2. Peter Fouts (C), 12-6; 3. Mark Matchett (WT), 11-6; 4. Paul Andrie (V), 11-6; 5. Benjamin Kucinski (V), 11-0; 6. Casey Newcomb (P), 11-0; 7. Chase Christensen (L), 11-0; 8. Mitch Rodriguez (P), 10-0.

LJ – 1. Jake Dixon (P), 22-4; 2. Michael Perkins (V), 21-9 1; 3. Andrew Martin (V), 21-8 1; 4. Kody Galloway (C), 21-1 1; 5. Brandon Cioli (MCM), 21-0 1; 6. Anthony Catchings (MC), 19-10 1; 7. Derrick Brewer (NP), 19-9 3; 8. Scott Schreiber (L), 19-9.

SP – 1. David Raffin (C), 55-4 1; 2. Joey Little (P), 54-4 3; 3. Jacob Grossnickle (V), 51-4 1; 4. Dan Dellumo (C), 51-2 1; 5. Tyler Monahan (P), 47-1; 6. Matthew Wagner (V), 46-9 3; 7. Richard Russell (WT), 46-3 /2; 8. Benjamin Barber (L), 45-3.

DIS – 1. Vince Fischer (P), 154-7; 2. Richard Russell (WT), 147-4; 3. Tyler Monahan (P), 146-3; 4. Nathaniel Jorden (V), 135-3; 5. Austin Epple (L), 133-1; 6. Paul Runyan (V), 129-1; 7. Zachary Cannon (WT), 128-3; 8. Kody Kleine (NP), 126-3.

Posted 5/21/2010