It's not just about winning titles for the Chesterton boys cross country team.

Each meet has its purpose as it fits into the grand scheme, a.k.a. the Oct. 31 state finals.

So while the Trojans breezed to repeat　team honors Saturday morning at the New Prairie Regional, posting just 25 points to runner-up LaPorte's 80, coach Tim Ray was again looking at the performance as it fit into the big picture.

"It's still a regional championship," Ray said. "But we're so focused on the next two weekends, everything from here on out is preparation for that."

With five runners in the top 11, headed by race winner David Osborn, the Trojans left little suspense. Then again, Ray hinted it could've been even better.

"It was a solid effort," Ray said. "But we didn't do some of the things I'd hoped we'd have done. I'd liked to have seen us compete a little more the last K. We were like, well, we're where we should be. We were a little too complacent. We have to learn to continue to attack, to pass people, no　matter where a race is. We have to know that every single place is going to count next weekend and the weekend after that. We can't have people passing us. We're going to have our work cut out for us."

In contrast to Tuesday's sectional run, when Osborn went out hard, he ran a more　modest start, working with his teammates in the early going.

"We wanted to bring the back of the pack up a little closer," Osborn said. "It's one of those little pieces we have to　put together for the team and this race was one time we could do it. It feels great to go out with the team. It feels better than going out by myself."

Osborn still pulled away after the 2K mark to win in 15:53.8, 26.5 seconds ahead of Kouts' Jake Carden.

"Coming back the last half, I didn't kill myself," Osborn said. "I pushed, but I kept it even, comfortable."

Ryan Cutter placed third at 16:12.7, with Jon Rogers (16:21.5) fifth and Shane Kenney (16:22.9) sixth. Andrew Morris completed the Chesterton scoring in 11th at 16:35.2. Manny Orlich (17th, 17:02.1) and Thomas Halpin (43rd, 18:00.7) rounded out the Trojan contingent.

"The way　we approached it, it was a separate entity from the sectional championship," Ray said. "We packed up a little more than we had in the past. We wanted to try to go out a certain pace, a little more controlled, bring our guys up a little more, run　hard the second half of the race　and see how it panned out. We put a little more leadership on David's shoulders the middle part of the race."

Chesterton returns to New Prairie on Saturday for the semistate and a berth in the state finals.

"We have to take our little mistakes and factor them into what we do next week and two weeks from now," Osborn said.

1. Chesterton 25, 2. LaPorte 80, 3. Valparaiso 97, 4. Rensselaer 108, 5. New Prairie 122, 6. Portage 159, 7. Kouts 167, 8. Hebron 195, 9. Kankakee Valley 197, 10. West Central 275.

1. David Osborn (C) 15:53.8, 2. Jake Carden (K) 16:10.3, 3. Ryan Cutter (C) 16:12.7, 4. Blake Lawson (NP) 16:20.2, 5. Jon Rogers (C) 16:21.5, 6. Shane Kenney (C) 16:22.9, 7. James Elia (V) 16:24.1, 8. Mike Fauser (Boone Grove) 16:29.7, 9. Mitch Hubner (L) 16:30.0, 10. Dustin Schultz (KV) 16:30.5, 11. Andrew Morris (C) 16:35.2, 12. Trent Nagel (R) 16:49.0, 13. Justin Miller (L) 16:49.8, 14. Josh Hojnacki (L) 16:54.1, 15. Patrick Massoels (R) 16:54.4, 16. Corey Dowds (R) 16:56.8, 17. Manny Orlich (C) 17:02.1, 18. Austin Alcorn (L) 17:03.1, 19. Michael Bobos (V) 17:04.5, 20. Jasen Egolf (H) 17:05.0.

Other Chesterton finishers: 47. Thomas Halpin 18:00.7.

Posted 10/19/2009