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Sectional Champions: Boys Cross Country team: Members of the team (top photo) are Tyler Rusboldt, Manny Orlich, David Osborn, Shane Kenney, Andrew Morris, Ryan Cutter, Jon Rogers and Thomas Halpin. In the bottom photo is CHS runner Jon Rogers. (Corrected 10/15/2009)

Four years ago, Tim Ray saw a middle school squad brimming with talent on the horizon for the Chesterton boys cross country program.

Fast forward to that group's senior year and only three remain.

Not that the Trojans coach is complaining.

In the final home race of their high school careers, the senior trifecta of David Osborn, Shane Kenney and Ryan Cutter went 1-2-3 in Tuesday's Chesterton Sectional, leading the Trojans to a near sweep of the race. Chesterton posted 18 points, just three off perfection, to breeze to a title repeat at Sunset Hill Farm County Park. LaPorte was a distant second with 57.

"Coming in, that class was very highly-touted as going to be one of the greatest ever," coach Tim Ray said.　"From that class, David, Shane and Jon are the three left standing. As a coach, I'm certainly proud of those guys to see them achieve what they're doing, continuing to get faster. I hate to keep beating a dead horse, we just continue to try to make strides toward getting better for October 31st. That's what the kids have been visualizing, what they've been training themselves to be at their best for."

In addition to the top three, Chesterton put five in the top seven (Jon Rogers, fifth; Andrew Morris, seventh) and seven in the top 13 (Manny Orlich, 12th; Thomas Halpin, 13th).

"It's the consistency again," Ray said. "One of the big things with this team is when a kid has a bad race, it hasn't been a 40-second drop-off, it's been maybe four or five seconds. That's a tribute to their off-season training."

Osborn breezed to a 35-second victory in 15:27.56 for his first sectional title.

"To be able to look back and see all my teammates coming in pretty much right behind was just the greatest feeling ever," Osborn said. "It's my last race at Sunset, so it's kind of bittersweet, but it definitely means something. The whole point was just to simulate what it's going to be like at state. I was able to go out fast and I maintained the pace as well as I could, staying smooth and comfortable. I kind of dropped off the third K, but I was able to keep it pretty consistent throughout the race."

Ray targeted a three-minute first kilometer for Osborn, who reached that point in 2:58.

"We're just kind of planning out his races, taking bits and pieces of what we think the state meet's going to be like, and implementing them within races from here on out," Ray said. "Today, we said go out hard and see how it feels. We didn't care what everybody else does, just try to be at 3 (minutes) for the first K, and getting accustomed to that. He was able to maintain a good pace at the end."

Kenney slipped past Cutter (16:05.31) to take second in 16:02.21.

"I felt great," Kenney said. "I'm usually maybe 10, 15 seconds back (of Cutter at 3K). I was a lot closer, maybe two, three seconds. Seeing I was that close, I was thinking I can stay with him. At 3K, we got together, he encouraged me, I kind of took off, and I had a lot of confidence in doing so."

Ray called Kenney, who plays baseball rather than run track in the spring, Chesterton's Mr. October.

"One of those things Shane always seems to do when that weather turns, he seems to step on through," Ray said. "He's a baseball player and when it becomes October, you know what that means. He's been waiting for October. I hope that continues for him."

Ray was particularly happy for Morris, who has missed most of the season due to injuries, and Orlich.

"It's wonderful for him to get back and get a taste of what everybody else has been getting," Ray said. "Manny was one of those little kids as a freshman and now he's all-sectional. I'm happy　to see　those kids who kind of do what's right, do the things you ask them, to get the recognition they deserve."