Three top-five relay finishes, a third and a fourth for Brenley Bonez and a team seventh-place finish highlight Chesterton’s state swim and dive championships experience at IU Natatorium

Three top-five relay finishes, a third and a fourth for Brenley Bonez and a team seventh-place finish highlight Chesterton’s state swim and dive championships experience at IU Natatorium

Clockwise from left front: Freshmen Brynn Law and Reese Kellstrom, junior Adalyn Laughner and sophomore Brenly Bonez. (Amy Lutterman/photo)

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com
Chesterton athletes made trips to the medal stand after half of the 12 events and finished seventh at the state swim and dive meet at the IU Natatorium on the campus of IU Indianapolis on Saturday.
The Trojans placed fifth in all three relay races and won medals in three individual events during what was a particularly successful day for sophomore Brenley Bonez.
Chesterton athletic director and IHSAA board member Jeff Hamstra reached up and hung four medals around Bonez’s neck and three around junior Adalyn Laughner’s.
Carmel was the only school other than Chesterton to have top-five finishes in all three relay races.
“Very proud of them,” Chesterton head coach Jenni Kellstrom said after the meet. “They had a phenomenal day yesterday to set us up nicely for today. Top five in all three relays and our goal was top eight, so we more than achieved that. We had said our goal was to be top five and we weren’t that far out. It was a solid finish.”
Bonez placed third in the 100-yard breaststroke and fourth in the 50 freestyle, improving by one place and with better times compared to her performances at state last year. She also won fifth-place medals in the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay. Laughner swam in the same two relay races, won a seventh-place medal in the 100 backstroke and earned 14th-place points in the 200 individual medley.
For their work in the relays, freshman Brynn Law and seniors Peyton Ostertag and Tegan Werner took home two medals apiece and freshmen Reese Kellstrom and MaKenzie Soto each took home one, the first of many no doubt. Also, Law earned 11th-place points in the 100 free and Werner finished 15th in the 50 free.
Chesterton has a smaller enrollment than the schools that took the top six places, including Carmel, which won its 40th consecutive girls state title with 326.5 points and has an enrollment of about 5,100 students. Fort Wayne Carroll and Fishers tied for second with 227 points. The rest of the top 10: 4. Zionsville 201, 5. Penn 157, 6. Hamilton Southeastern 141, 7. Chesterton 138, 8. Valparaiso 122, 9. Center Grove 76, 10. Munster 73.
“Incredible teams here, beautiful competition,” Coach Kellstrom said. “Second place was nipping on the tail of Carmel for a while. It’s nice to see things level out a little bit.”
The Chesterton girls achieved their first back-to-back top-10 finishes since Hall of Fame coach Kevin Kinel retired from his 40-year career after a 17th consecutive top-10 finish in 2019. The Trojans finished eighth last season.