Even with the State’s top-ranked team in tow, Chesterton coach Kevin Kinel had some nerves Thursday night.

“We haven’t had a meet for two and a half weeks,” Kinel said. “You never are sure exactly how they are going to react to that. For the most part we were on our times and we didn’t really do anything to get here.”

The Trojans will be the top seed in all 11 swimming events at Saturday’s IHSAA Sectional Finals in LaPorte after another dominating performance in the prelims.

“I’m pretty pleased tonight,” Kinel said. “We set ourselves up pretty well to race to win the Sectional and get some good State seeds.”

Chesterton set two Sectional records on the night as Aaron Whitaker broke the Sectional record in the 100 Fly (Kyle Whitaker, 49.95) in 49.74, while Blake Pieroni now owns the 100 Free record (Seth Barry, 46.32) with a time of 45.74.

“They took down some big names,” Kinel said. “Both of those record holders were former State Champions at Chesterton. I think they feel pretty good about it and will get excited for Saturday.”

The only decisions to be made for Kinel come in the Relays where the Trojans have some options.

“We’ve got some decisions to make on relays for Saturday,” Kinel said. “I know where we’re at right now. I just want to enjoy this first and I’ll worry about the relays tomorrow.”

If the Trojans swim anywhere near their seeds times, a 15th straight Sectional title is within reach.

“I really feel like our big drops are coming on Saturday,” Kinel said. “I would have to go through our whole lineup to tell you all the guys that swam well.”

Posted 2/15/2013