Roosevelt, West Side cope with losses

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Roosevelt boys track coach Daryl Massie had 30 athletes in January. Now, he says, he's down to 13.

"They just started falling off like flies," Massie said.

Joseph Jones (sprints), William West (400) and Wesley Smith (discus) are three of the top athletes who remain. Jones took second in the 400 at the Andrean Invitational on Saturday, but the Panthers finished sixth out of seven teams.

"This year's just been a rough year," Massie said.

The West Side girls have also had to deal with some unexpected losses. The Cougars only lost one athlete to graduation, but three of their top underclassmen runners from last year did not return. Two of those runners were members of their state runner-up 1,600-relay team.

Still, the Cougars boast two of the top relay teams in the area thanks to returning runners Beatrice Turpin, Nakia Taylor and Darnecia Suggs. Their 400 and 1,600 teams took first at the Andrean Invitational.

Chesterton deep

in distance events

If John Snyder wasn't sure what to expect of his Chesterton boys squad, he got a good indication when the Trojans finished one point shy of second place at the DAC Indoor Championships.

"I think that gave our kids the idea that we could compete with these guys," Snyder said.

The Trojans can compete with anyone in the distance events. Junior David Osborn, who ran a personal- and area-best 9:29.84 last week in the 3,200 meters, is the headliner of the group. But Chesterton has also gotten strong performances from sophomores Thomas Halpin, Andrew Morris and Ryan Cutter.

Not surprisingly, Chesterton boasts the sixth-best 1,600-relay time in the state.

"Our distance group is maybe second to none in the area," Snyder said.

Snyder fully expects Osborn and senior Joe Raffin to get to state. Raffin currently has the fastest 400 time (50.14) in the area.

"His goal is to get sub-50 (seconds)," Snyder said. "I'll be really surprised if he doesn't get that."

Matt Raffin, Joe's younger brother, is Chesterton's top hurdler.

"There are some guys that are better (in the area)," Synder said, "but if he keeps improving, he's going to be right there in the mix."

Matt Raffin is a junior. John Watson, who won the 400 at the Indoor DAC Championships, is a sophomore. And with just two point-scoring seniors graduating, Snyder is already excited about next season.

Northwestern Conference Meet set for Monday, Tuesday

The Northwestern Conference Meet will be staggered across two days and two locations. The field events will begin 4:30 p.m. Monday at West Side. The running events will begin 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Roosevelt.