Realignment moves LaPorte and Valparaiso out of Chesterton’s football sectional and replaces them with Hammond Morton and Munster for next two years

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com
The two-year IHSAA sectional realignments, approved Tuesday by the organizations’ Executive Committee, has Hammond Morton and Munster replacing LaPorte and Valparaiso in 5A Sectional 9 in football.
Michigan City and Chesterton remain sectional mates.
On paper, that’s not a bad trade for Chesterton and City, but football is played on either grass or artificial turf, not on paper.
Last season, Hammond Central went 0-10, and was outscored 419-64. The school is 18-33 in five years as a program.
Munster went 4-7 last season and last won a sectional in 1996, the fifth 4A sectional title in school history. Chesterton faced the Mustangs every season from 2011 through 2019 and went 8-1.
Michigan City won its fourth 5A sectional in school history last season. The Wolves have won the past four regular season games vs. Chesterton but the Trojans went 2-0 in sectional play against City during that stretch.
Classifications are based on enrollments and a “tournament success factor.” The latter bumped DeCatur Central, which has the 41st largest enrollment, from 5A to 6A.
Chesterton checked in at No. 36 in the state with 1,911 students. Fellow DAC members Valparaiso (2,097, 26th) and Merrillville (2,081, 29th) moved from 5A to 6A. Crown Point (3,035, 15th), Lake Central (2,841, 17th) and Portage (2,042, 32nd) remained in 6A. LaPorte (1,690, 48th) remains in the 4A classification and joins Concord, Goshen and South Bend Adams in Sectional 4.
In 6A, Crown Point is in Sectional 1 with West Lafayette Harrison, Lake Central and Merrillville. Portage and Valpo join Elkhart and Penn is Sectional 2.
Assignments also were announced for boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer and girls volleyball and Chesterton’s sectionals all remained the same. The baseball and softball realignment committees will meet during the summer.