Lots of things changed, but one thing remained the same.

With 14 records coming off the boards Saturday at the Chesterton High School pool, the host Trojans continued its Duneland Athletic Conference by hoisting its 13th consecutive girls swimming title.

The Trojans totaled 487 1 points to best Crown Point (407) and Lake Central (359). Valparaiso was fourth (278) followed by Portage (182), Michigan City (152), LaPorte (137 1) and Merrillville (100).

“There is a lot of talent in this conference so you knew a lot of records would be broken,” Chesterton coach Kevin Kinel said. “When you get a bunch of good teams together, the atmosphere gets electric and the kids go crazy. We feel good about this and hopefully it will give us some confidence for the end of the year.

“We’ve been at a sort of sticking point lately. I’m pleased.”

After Crown Point won the meet’s opening event (200 Medley Relay), the Trojans staked their claim to the team lead in the 200 Free with a 1-2-4 finish by Julia Campbell, Kate Curley and Gena Banta-Long.

“Julia, Kate and Gena coming on like that at the start of the meet really helped us out and kind of charged up everybody,” Kinel said. “The list is endless with the amount of good swims we had today. Our depth really came through today.”

The win was Campbell’s first of the day as she would later win the 500 Free in 5:06.38.

“Julia and Olivia (Kabacinski) were incredible,” Kinel said. “They are racers. They came today to get it done and they did just that.”

Kabacinski was named the DAC MVP after winning the 50 Free (23.49) and the 100 Breaststroke (1:04.71).

“This is one of the last times this year I’ll swim it, so it was nice to finish it with a bang,” Kabacinski said of the 100 Breaststroke title. “It’s really cool to have the rest of the DAC Community recognize me like that.”

The other Trojan victory came in the 400 Free Relay where the quartet of Curley, Maddie Miller, Campbell and Kabacinski won in 3:31.36.

“It was really fun because it was all four captains together and it was a really special thing for us,” Kabacinski said. “It’s something that we’ll always remember.”

“I didn’t realize it was the four captains until after it was over,” Kinel said. “I thought the way the were swimming throughout the meet, they could come close to the record. I didn’t have any idea they were going to shatter it.”

The Trojans won five events on the day, but it was the depth the Chesterton lineup showed that proved to be the difference.

“I was really pleased with just about every swim up and down the line,” Kinel said. “I swam some alternates in some spots today because they’d been swimming well. We’ve got a lot of spots where we have a battle going on this last week.”

And that battle translated into the Trojans being the only DAC champion in girls swimming since 1999.

“The coaches always tell us that we aren’t swimming for ourselves, but for the 13 teams before us too,” Kabacinski said. “We want to keep the tradition alive and make sure Chesterton stays as the top swimming program in the area.”

Mission accomplished.

Team Results

1. Chesterton, 487 1; 2. Crown Point, 407; 3. Lake Central, 359; 4. Valparaiso, 278; 5. Portage, 182; 6. Michigan City, 152; 7. LaPorte, 137 1; 8. Merrillville, 100.

200 Medley Relay -- 1. Crown Point, 1:46.70 (DAC RECORD); 2. Chesterton (Maddie Miller, Olivia Kabacinski, Erin Socha, Madisyn Coudriet), 1:48.10; 3. Lake Central, 1:50.72; 4. Portage, 1:58.45; 5. Michigan City, 2:00.72; 6. LaPorte, 2:01.62; 7. Valparaiso, 2:03.73; 8. Merrillville, 2:08.77.

200 Free -- 1. Julia Campbell ©, 1:53.96; 2. Kate Curley ©, 1:56.07; 3. Kaitlyn Steffus (V), 2:00.50; 4. Gena Banta-Long ©, 2:00.75; 5. Tayler Bayer (P), 2:02.06; 6. Hannah Schuster (CP), 2:02.22; 7. Jill Tharp (LC), 2:05.45; 8. Sydney Perry (V), 2:05.96.

200 IM -- 1. Holly Schuster (CP), 2:09.46; 2. Maddie Miller ©, 2:10.18; 3. Stephanie Krause ©, 2:13.43; 4. Alex St. Amour (CP), 2:15.20; 5. Tracy Muszalski (LC), 2:16.07; 6. Sierra King (P), 2:16.44; 7. Erin Socha ©, 2:18.42; 8. Brianna Shoemaker (LC), 2:22.42.

50 Free -- 1. Olivia Kabacinski ©, 23.49 (DAC RECORD); 2. Hannah Raspopovich (CP), 24.42; 3. Rachel Murkowski (CP), 24.56; 4. Allie Lamberson (V), 25.08; 5. Madisyn Coudriet ©, 25.18; 6. Holly Spears (LC), 25.26; 7. Brittany Borzych ©, 25.32; 8. Kyra Oselka (MC), 26.01.

1-Meter Diving -- 1. Khalela El-Naggar (V), 409.95; 2. Charlie Wayne (CP), 368.15; 3. Abbi Fryer (L), 343.90; 4. Ashley Holland (CP), 335.55; 5. Taylor McBride (V), 326.90; 6. Mackenzie Barcelli (P), 304.60; 7. Abby Prince (LC), 303.20; 8. Kristen Copple (LC), 298.20.

100 Fly -- 1. Aly Tetzloff (CP), 57.47 (DAC RECORD); 2. Liz Mickiewicz (LC), 1:00.17; 3. Kaitlyn Steffus (V), 1:00.51; 4. (tie) Stephanie Krause © and Carly Jackson (L), 1:01.05; 6. Kaylee Slont ©, 1:01.71; 7. Erin Socha ©, 1:02.14; 8. Hayley Balko (CP), 1:02.80.

100 Free -- 1. Holly Spears (LC), 53.75; 2. Rachel Murkowski (CP), 53.83; 3. Kate Curley ©, 53.93; 4. Madisyn Coudriet ©, 54.99; 5. Allie Lamberson (V), 55.01; 6. Shelby Carroll (LC), 55.10; 7. Megan Curley ©, 56.00; 8. Hannah Schuster (CP), 57.22.

500 Free -- 1. Julia Campbell ©, 5:06.38; 2. Holly Schuster (CP), 5:11.75; 3. Carly Jackson (L), 5:13.85; 4. Tracy Muszalski (LC), 5:15.74; 5. Wendy Banta-Long ©, 5:19.00; 6. Kaylee Slont ©, 5:22.92; 7. Tayler Bayer (P), 5:31.27; 8. Sydney Perry (V), 5:33.35.

200 Free Relay -- 1. Crown Point, 1:37.72 (DAC RECORD); 2. Chesterton (Madisyn Coudriet, Kate Curley, Brittany Boryzch, Julia Campbell), 1:38.72; 3. Valparaiso, 1:44.61; 4. Lake Central, 1:45.32; 5. Michigan City, 1:49.33; 6. Portage, 1:54.72; 7. LaPorte, 1:56.55; 8. Merrillville, 1:59.75.

100 Back -- 1. Aly Tetzloff (CP), 56.97 (DAC RECORD); 2. Shelby Carroll (LC), 58.67; 3. Maddie Miller ©, 1:00.00; 4. Liz Mickiewicz (LC), 1:02.74; 5. Courtney O’Keefe ©, 1:02.93; 6. Mary Miller ©, 1:03.33; 7. Tatiana Lazic (LC), 1:06.53; 8. Ryan Thomas (V), 1:07.08.

100 Breast -- 1. Olivia Kabacinski ©, 1:04.71 (DAC RECORD); 2. Hannah Raspopovich (CP), 1:06.26; 3. Alex St. Amour (CP), 1:09.11; 4. Alaina Willis (LC), 1:10.12; 5. Allison McAloon ©, 1:10.35; 6. Sierra King (P), 1:10.70; 7. Mae Bass ©, 1:11.34; 8. Jill Tharp (LC), 1:11.86.

400 Free Relay -- 1. Chesterton (Kate Curley, Julia Campbell, Maddie Miller, Olivia Kabacinski), 3:31.36 (DAC RECORD); 2. Lake Central, 3:40.54; 3. Crown Point, 3:47.02; 4. Valparaiso, 3:48.86; 5. Portage, 4:00.06; 6. LaPorte, 4:02.92; 7. Merrillville, 4:11.32; 8. Michigan City, 4:17.48.

Posted 1/16/2012