When you’re the heavy favorite, you need to send a message early.

The Chesterton girls swim team did just that on Saturday at the IHSAA Sectional Finals and with a clarity that might be heard throughout the rest of the State.

“The kids were just awesome,” Chesterton coach Kevin Kinel said. “We swam great up and down the line. It was a great day for us and set us up well for next weekend.

“The kids couldn’t have done much better.”

The Trojans scored 403 team points to best second place Valparaiso (248) and third place Portage (180.5).

“It’s a lot of points,” Kinel said. “This is the most kids that we’ve taken to a State Meet. I don’t think we’ve ever had this many in individual events, plus the three relays.”

Chesterton started the day with a Sectional and Pool record in the 200 Medley Relay. The quartet of Brittany Fozkos, Olivia Kabacinski, Meaghan McLaughlin and Shauna Foor won in 1:47.57, nearly seven seconds ahead of second place Portage.

Kabacinski followed with a Sectional record in the 200 Free (1:52.33), while teammate Julia Campbell also made the State Cut. (1:54.28). McLaughlin won the 200 IM (2:09.79) to make the Trojans 3-for-3.

Cristina Gonzalez of Portage won the 50 Free in 24.02, but the Trojans went 2-3-4 as Fozkos (24.04), Lauren Foor (24.35) and Shauna Foor (24.42) all beat the State Cut.

“At this point, it’s trying to set up for the State Meet,” Kinel said after winning an 11th straight Sectional title. “The Sectional streak is nice, but we have bigger goals. We wanted to get as many kids down as we could. We did that.”

As the swimmers took a break, Chesterton’s Marissa Kroeger took the forefront with a fourth place finish in 1-Meter Diving. The freshman tallied 298.90 points to advance to the Diving Regional.

“Marissa Kroeger had an unbelievable day Diving for a first year kid,” Kinel said.

McLaughlin picked up her second individual title of the day with a win in the 100 Fly (58.81), just ahead of Kabacinski qualifying for State in the 100 Free (51.77).

In the 500 Free, the Trojans finished 1-2-4 as Julia Campbell (5:05.78), Maddie Miller (5:08.91) and Kate Curley (5:13.62) all beat the State Cut.

“Kate went 5:20 last Thursday (in the 500) at Munster,” Kinel said. “She dropped seven seconds in a week.”

After the 200 Free Relay won a Sectional title, the Trojans went 1-2-3 in the 100 Back as they all qualified for the State Finals. Fozkos won in 58.09, while Miller (58.36) and Lauren Foor (58.94) followed.

“What can you say about Maddie Miller, Kate Curley, Lauren Foor and kids like that,” Kinel said. “All those kids getting close to the cut on Thursday and them bombarding it today.”

The Trojans then put together another impressive performance to finish the day and win the 400 Free Relay with the group of Milana Socha, Julia Campbell, Miller and McLaughlin.

“Our normal kids like Olivia, Shauna, Milana, Meghan and Brittany all came through,” Kinel said. “I really feel good about where we are. There’s a lot of great teams in the State and a lot of parity. We feel like we’ll be a player in Indy.”

1. Chesterton, 403; 2. Valparaiso, 248; 3. Portage, 180.5; 4. Wheeler, 135; 5. LaPorte, 115; 6. Michigan City, 114; 7. Merrillville, 57; 8. Hobart, 34.5; 9. North Judson, 22; 10. Knox, 18; 11. South Central, 17; 12. Gary West Side, 16.

Sectional champions and State Cut swimmers qualify for next weekend’s State Finals in Indianapolis

200 Medley Relay – 1. Chesterton (Brittany Fozkos, Olivia Kabacinski, Meaghan McLaughlin, Shauna Foor), 1:47.57 (SECTIONAL, POOL RECORD); 2. Portage, 1:54.48; 3. Michigan City, 1:57.27; 4. Wheeler, 1:57.46; 5. Valparaiso, 1:57.70; 6. Merrillville, 2:07.13.

200 Free – 1. Olivia Kabacinski (C), 1:52.33 (SECTIONAL RECORD); 2. Julia Campbell (C), 1:54.28 (STATE CUT); 3. Milana Socha (C), 1:56.80; 4. Danielle Radosevic (V), 1:58.64; 5. Tayler Bayer (P), 1:59.87; 6. Sydney Perry (V), 2:04.39.

200 IM – 1. Meaghan McLaughlin (C), 2:09.79; 2. Kate Curley (C), 2:11.52; 3. Sierra King (P), 2:13.49; 4. Jessica Campbell (C), 2:15.33; 5. Amanda Janda (W), 2:19.48; 6. Kristina Parrish (MC), 2:20.78.

50 Free – 1. Cristina Gonzalez (P), 24.02; 2. Brittany Fozkos (C), 24.04 (STATE CUT); 3. Lauren Foor (C), 24.35 (STATE CUT); 4. Shauna Foor (C), 24.42 (STATE CUT); 5. Allie Lamberson (V), 24.95; 6. Barbara Niziolek (V), 25.01.

1-Meter Diving – 1. Jeanne Nolan (V), 354.15; 2. Khalela ElNaggar (V), 316.20; 3. Lauren Haddox (P), 313.40; 4. Marissa Kroeger (C), 298.90; 5. Amanda Sorensen (V), 287.45; 6. Stephanie West (MC), 271.65.

100 Fly – 1. Meaghan McLaughlin (C), 58.81; 2. Carly Jackson (L), 59.82; 3. Barbara Niziolek (V), 1:00.14; 4. Kaitlyn Steffus (V), 1:00.50; 5. Gabriella Popovich (W), 1:03.45; 6. Melanie Buckmaster (C), 1:06.01.

100 Free – 1. Cristina Gonzalez (P), 51.41; 2. Olivia Kabacinski (C), 51.77 (STATE CUT); 3. Milana Socha (C), 53.86; 4. Shauna Foor (C), 53.91; 5. Allie Lamberson (V), 55.38; 6. Payton Povlock (L), 56.78.

500 Free – 1. Julia Campbell (C), 5:05.78; 2. Maddie Miller (C), 5:08.91 (STATE CUT); 3. Carly Jackson (L), 5:10.59 (STATE CUT); 4. Kate Curley (C), 5:13.62 (STATE CUT); 5. Victoria Klimczak (SC), 5:23.34; 6. Tayler Bayer (P), 5:27.05.

200 Free Relay – 1. Chesterton (Brittany Fozkos, Shauna Foor, Milana Socha, Julia Campbell), 1:38.71; 2. Valparaiso, 1:41.26; 3. LaPorte, 1:47.25; 4. Wheeler, 1:48.98; 5. Portage, 1:53.44; 6. Michigan City, 1:53.48.

100 Back – 1. Brittany Fozkos (C), 58.09; 2. Maddie Miller (C), 58.36 (STATE CUT); 3. Lauren Foor (C), 58.94 (STATE CUT); 4. Danielle Radosevic (V), 59.47 (STATE CUT); 5. Bridget Callaghan (MC), 1:03.10; 6. Audrey Schnell (W), 1:05.69.

100 Breast – 1. Sierra King (P), 1:08.46; 2. Allison McAloon (C), 1:11.10; 3. Jessica Campbell (C), 1:12.65; 4. Elizabeth Dobben (MC), 1:13.00; 5. Erin Kelley (C), 1:14.17; 6. Gabriella Popovich (W), 1:17.31.

400 Free Relay – 1. Chesterton (Milana Socha, Julia Campbell, Maddie Miller, Meaghan McLaughlin), 3:36.07; 2. Valparaiso, 3:40.69 (STATE CUT); 3. Portage, 3:47.88; 4. LaPorte, 3:55.15; 5. Wheeler, 4:06.78; 6. Michigan City, DQ.

Posted 2/8/2010