Girls Swimming: Chesterton wins 13th consecutive conference title

Updated: January 14, 2012 11:12PM

CHESTERTON — At the conclusion of the Duneland Conference girls swim meet on Saturday, Chesterton’s Kevin Kinel had one last order of business as head coach. So he stepped out of his white New Balance sneakers and mounted the diving board. To the cheers of his athletes —members of the boys’ team wearing sailor hats and the victorious girls still in their swim gear — Kinel forward-flipped into the water.

It’s tradition. One that Chesterton and Kinel have enjoyed for more than a decade. Chesterton won the DAC championship with a resounding 487.5 total points, more than 80 better than runner-up, Crown Point. According to Kinel, this marked the Trojans’ 13th straight conference title.

“Everybody pitched in,” said a wet Kinel. “We knew coming in our edge was our depth.”

Though Chesterton and Crown Point both entered the meet tied for the most participants with 21, the Trojans had the advantage with senior Olivia Kabacinski, who broke her own conference records in the 50-yard freestyle (23.49 seconds) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:04.71) wins. Kabacinski, a former state champion in the 200 free, also anchored the Trojans’ 400-free relay that set a pool and conference record with 3:31.36.

However, it wasn’t simply Kabacinski or Julia Campbell (200 and 500 free titles), Chesterton placed in the top three in 10 of the 11 swimming events.

“We really needed the team to come together,” said senior Maddie Miller who posted a season best in the 200 IM to place second. “It wasn’t just about the top dogs, it was about every single person doing their best.”

Crown Point’s Aly Tetzloff won the 100 butterfly and backstroke and in the diving competition, Khalea El-Naggar from Valparaiso won with a 4.09.95 overall score.

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