A fifth straight Sectional Title…A Sectional Record…Not a bad day.

The Chesterton girls golf team won its fifth consecutive IHSAA Sectional title and broke the meet record at the Valparaiso Country Club on Saturday afternoon.

The Trojans fired a 340-team score to squeeze past second-place Valparaiso (344) and third-place LaPorte (398). All three teams will play next Saturday at Beechwood in the LaPorte Regional.

“It was an excellent day today for us,” Chesterton coach Dale Hewitt said. “I knew it would be close today with Valparaiso. It was a total team effort.”

Chesterton’s 340 score broke the Sectional record by one shot (341), while Valparaiso’s Harley Dubsky (72) and the Trojans’ Kelly Grassel (73) both broke the individual Sectional record.

“We expected both Kelly and (Valparaiso’s) Harley (Dubsky) to break the Sectional record today (75),“ Hewitt said. “We thought they’d both be around par and that’s awfully hard to do here on this course. Valparaiso has had some awesome teams over the years. Breaking that record today is really impressive.”

The Trojans were aided by a great back nine from Stephanie Drake on her way to an 87. Drake fired a 49 on the front nine before responding with a 38 on the back.

“I’ve been preaching for years that I don’t care what’s happened on the front nine or the last hole,” Hewitt said. “Every hole is a new hole and every shot is a different shot. Stephanie made an awesome turn around today. That’s really the margin of victory for us.”

Chesterton also got an 89 from Marissa Kroeger and a 91 from Nicole Dutz. Jennifer Kattalia rounded out the scoring with a 115.

“We had some consistent scores,” Hewitt said. “We put together three other scores besides Kelly’s that were reasonable. They were a little higher than usual, but it’s a tough course that we don’t play very often. There are several shots out there from each kid that we can shave off.”

The Trojans will head to Beechwood in LaPorte next Thursday with a berth in the IHSAA State Finals on the line.

“We decided before the tournament series that we were going to put Ashley Ford into the lineup at Beechwood,” Hewitt said. “It’s a little longer course and she hits the ball a little further. She played it well at the Pat Ford Invite and it seems to suit her eye a little better.

“Penn is the No. 1 team in the State and Valpo will be there too. Nothing’s for sure. We’ll have to play well.”

1. Chesterton, 340 (SECTIONAL RECORD); 2. Valparaiso, 344; 3. LaPorte, 398; 4. New Prairie, 407; 5. Hobart, 415; 6. Portage, 437; 7. Michigan City, 464; 8. Wheeler, 469; 9. Boone Grove, 473; 10. Knox, 532.

Chesterton -- Kelly Grassel 73, Stephanie Drake 87, Marissa Kroeger 89, Nicole Dutz 91, Jennifer Kattalia 115.

Valparaiso -- Harley Dubsky 72 (Medalist), Jennifer Gough 88, Ellie Gorski 89, Brooke Fullenkamp 95.

LaPorte -- Ariana Mendez-Soto 84, Delanie Alcorn 97, Taylor Thompson 108, Katie Gurnicz 109.

New Prairie -- Lauren O’Malley 98 (Regional Qualifier), Chelsea Purkal 102, Stevie Kowalski 103, Alexis Wagner 104.

Hobart -- Allison Smith 94 (Regional Qualifier), Marina Tipold 100, Aimee Pope 105, Kate Bonner 116.

Portage -- Mackenzie Barcelli 99 (Regional Qualifier), Lauren Murray, 102, Autumn Stevenson 118, Gabrielle Ziulkowski 122.

Michigan City -- Paige Mellen 110, Dayna Pedzinski 112, Kristen Palmer 114, Veronika Werner 128.

Wheeler -- Alex Sanchez 110, Abbey Wodetzke 115, Erin Mitten 121, Sarah Becker 123.

Boone Grove -- Elizabeth Buth 107, Abbey Lukas 110, Kristen Buth 115, Natalie Dziadosz 141.

Knox -- Taylor Kimble 128, Miranda Shepherd 130, Sarah Coad 137, Kristine Keen 137.

Posted 9/19/2011