CHS repeats as regional track champs as Moore, Raffin, Wisniewski, Vaughan set 4x100 school record (41.19), Vaughan wins four titles (long jump, 300 hurdles, two relays), Raffin pops 48.5 split to anchor winning 4x400, Wisniewski competing in four events at state

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Chesterton sprint records fell this spring like raindrops from a Seattle sky, but one stubborn mark stood up to repeated challenges from the Trojans’ crazy fast crew of burners.
Until, that is, Thursday night on the Valparaiso track on a beautiful night for a big meet.
Junior Weston Moore and seniors Louis Raffin, Cal Wisniewski and Nathan Vaughan flew around the track and the three smooth baton exchanges kept the locomotive running seamlessly.
They took down the impressive record of 41.45 in the 4x100 relay, set in 2017 by Darren Corzan, Louie Razo, Braden Corzan and EJ Biokoro, by running a 41.19.
“It was awesome getting another school record tonight,” head coach and sprint coach Bryan Nallenweg said after his team won its second consecutive regional title. “When the guys that I coached broke that record 10 years ago I thought that was one of the more unbreakable records, so to speak, on the board. I said, ‘Are we going to have four guys that fast come through Chesterton at the same time again?’ The answer is yes.”
Based on seeds from the sectional round, Merrillville was projected to win by 20 points and had to settle for runner-up status, 10 points behind the champions.
Chesterton taking down the record was especially gratifying for the sprinters because instead of getting the anticipated 10 points for winning it at the DAC championship, they earned zero, disqualified when the baton fell from Moore’s forward reach to the track, enabling Merrillville to win the meet by a point.
“We’ve been grinding those out since the start of the season,” Raffin said and acknowledged that they have done them even more regularly since the DQ at the DAC meet. “I think those were the best handoffs we’ve had all season. Those were as good as we could get, especially after DAC, I was so relieved.”
Wisniewski called the handoffs “perfect,” adding, “ever since the DAC we’ve been hammering them pretty much every day. We kind of struggled with them this year and once I saw Weston and Louis get a perfect handoff, I knew it was over.”
The three seniors in the shortest relay also ran in the 4x400, joined by freshman phenom Ben Phillips. They set the school record early in the season.
The 4x1 became the fifth school best that has Vaughan’s name next to it. In an early season meet at Valpo, Vaughan broke school records in the long jump, 100 meters and 300 hurdles. Athletes are limited to four events per meet, so picking which four for Vaughan, Raffin and Wisniewski became a puzzle for Nallenweg.
The coach settled on Vaughan competing in the two relays, the long jump and the 300 hurdles, all of which he placed first in at the regional. Vaughan didn’t jump past the preliminary round, correctly figuring his 23-11.25 would be sufficient to win. He made the move to conserve energy, saying, “If somebody beats 23-11, good for them.”
Wisniewski also qualified for four events at state by running the 100 in 10.94 and launching a personal best long jump of 22-2 for sixth place. He didn’t place in the top three at either competition, but gained a spot via beating the state qualifying standards.
Chesterton’s 18 points in the 300 hurdles made it difficult for the Pirates to catch up. Vaughan won it with a 38.28 and Raffin placed second, clocked in 39.15.
Chesterton qualified all three relays for the state meet. The 4x800 relay team of Zarek Sierazy, Will Roberson, Matt Hundt and Spencer Martin placed second, running its best time this season (8:00.35) by 11 seconds and the best since Tuck twins Jackson and Joshua, Bobby Berger and Evan O’Connor ran a 7:55.84 at the 2023 regional.
Distance coach Tom Moeller had the splits, rounding down to the nearest second at 1:57 for Martin, 1:59 for Sierazy, 2:01 for Roberson and 2:02 for Hundt.
“It took all of them,” to be at their best, Moller said, “so that no one person had to do anything Herculean, they just had to do their jobs.”
The state field is loaded in the event, “but getting there is a big deal,” Moeller said.
The other two relay fields are loaded too but the way the Trojans ran not just Thursday but all season, they rank high in the conversation for both events.
“Those guys are going to put themselves in a position to compete for two state titles, in the 4x1 and the 4x4,” Nallenweg said.
Raffin (48.5) and Phillips (49.3) had the fastest splits. The coach found gratification in more than the outstanding-across-the-board performances: “The thing I love about this team, there are so many good individuals and their goal was to get to state on an individual level, but so many of these guys were equally concerned with, ‘Hey coach, are we going to win regionals? How’s it looking?’ It says a lot about the culture, a lot about the team and a lot about them as individuals, that they care about the group on top of just their individual success.”
Chesterton competed in 15 of the 16 events, all but the 110 high hurdles.
The Trojans scored at least one point in 14 events and high jumper Nolan Huley, although he fell just short of scoring a point, cleared 6 feet for the first time. Pole vaulter Bryan Huseman matched his career high with a 12-6 to pick up a point.
The top three finishers in each event advanced as did those who met or bettered predetermined qualifying marks for each event. If that doesn’t fill the field for an event, then the top regional marks receive “callbacks,” and are added.
Thirty of the 99 points came from Trojans who placed fourth: Wisniewski (10.94 in the 100), Phillips (49.6 in the open 400), Martin (4:29.32 in the 1600), Ryan Nix (9:41.77 in the 3200), Colin Kellogg (141-2 in the discus), Carlos Leon (51-5 in the shot put). Tyler Nevious shattered his personal best by more than two feet with a throw of 51.25, quite a feat considering he underwent ACL surgery late in the football season.
“I’m happy I finally did it,” Nevious said. “It only took two years. I finally got over that 50 mark. I’m pretty excited about that.”
He had plenty of company in that regard. Depth played a huge part in the win.
The final team tally: 1. Chesterton 99; 2. Merrillville 89; 3. Crown Point 82; 4. Lake Central 72; 5. Hammond Morton 37.5; 6. LaPorte 33; 7. Lowell 31; 8. Munster 21; 9. Griffith 20; 10. Hanover Central 18; 11 (tie). Illiana Christian, Bowman 13; 13 (tie). North Judson-San Pierre, Portage 12; 15. Andrean 10; 16. Rensselaer Central 9; 17 (tie); 17 (tie). Bishop Noll and Kankakee Valley 7; 19. New Prairie 6.; 20. Valparaiso 5; 21 (tie). Gary West Side 4, Morgan Township, DeMotte Christian 4; 24 (tie). West Central, Hammond Central, Lighthouse 3; 27. Calumet 2.5; 28 (tie). River Forest, Winimac 2.
The state meet is scheduled for Saturday, June 6 at North Central High School in Indianapolis.