The girls swim team came into the DAC meet with a 25 year win streak. Although all streaks must end, nobody wants to be known as the team that let it end. Facing a strong Valpo lineup, and having huge expectations to keep the streak alive, the team was under lots of pressure to perform well. With lots of young swimmers in varsity spots, it would be compelling to see how they would perform at a bigger meet such as the DAC. However, regardless of age or experience, the Trojans rose to the occasion and won the meet, with many Trojans setting personal records. The team has now won DAC 26 times in a row. They had great performances across the board, many personal bests, and won enough team points in every event to get past runner-up Valpo. The final team scores put the Trojans at 516 and the Vikings at 485. The team also set a few team records, with freshman Brenley Bonez setting the 100m Breaststroke record (1:02.27), and the relay team of Bonez, sophomore Adalyn Laughner, junior Tegan Werner, and junior Peyton Ostertag in the 200 Medley (1:43.93).
Chesterton took first in four events. Bonez took the blue ribbon in the 50 free, and Laughner won the 100 free and the 100 back. Chesterton also won the 400 free relay, beating the second place Vikings by nearly two seconds. Notably, Chesterton placed first (Laughner), third (freshman Kennedy Draves), and fourth (freshman Alyssa Scalf) in the 100 backstroke. The Trojans got 51 points from that one event. They also were able to get 43 points in the 500 free.
However, despite those performances, the Vikings were able to finish first in five events. When looking at just the top three in the results of each event, the Vikings slightly outperformed the Trojans, but the Chesterton lineup dug deep and found team points wherever they could.
“Brenley Bonez is always so fun to watch. Kennedy Draves and Alyssa Scalf really showed up in the 100 back. Our distance girls, in the 500, did really well. Everyone contributed to the team score. [Junior] Natalie Pieters dropped time, and that was big. Tegan [Werner] did everything she needed to for the team score. She had a great leg for the medley relay,” junior Lux Mountford said.
Mountford helped the team pick up team points in several spots, including the 100 and 200 free, where she set new personal records during the meet. After the big day, in which so much could be celebrated for everyone’s personal achievements, the focus was on the team score. Following setting a new Chesterton record, Bonez highlighted where the focus was.
“Everyone did really well, it wasn’t so much individual as much as the team. It was a great day for everyone,” Bonez remarked.
With the number of personal records or season bests at the meet, it’s clear the Trojans have been training right and are peaking at the perfect time. The only thing left is the postseason, where they will face Valpo again at Sectionals. They will face off again at Hobart on Thursday, February 6 at 5:30 for the preliminary races and the finals on Friday, February 8. On Saturday, diving will begin at nine in the morning and the finals races will begin at one.
“I think our relays will all come in first at sectionals. I think it will be relatively the same as DAC. Maybe some more [time] drops,” Mountford said.
The Trojans will depend on every event to hold up at sectionals, especially the relays, in order to build up a team score to defeat the Vikings again.