Girls swimming senior class makes mark on the Chesterton program in more ways than winning races and filling the stands with smiling faces

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Third-year Chesterton head swim coach Jenni Kellstrom couldn’t say enough good things about a group of three seniors who arrived at Chesterton when Kellstrom was an assistant coach and did so much to get her head coaching career off to such a strong start.
They meant so much to Kellstrom that she had to stop to regain her composure when discussing what the Class of 2026 swimmers have done for the program.
“Our group of seniors are just really special,” Kellstrom said. “They set the tone from the day that they walked in as freshmen. They never stopped leading. They never stopped believing in the program. They never stopped being incredible teammates.”
Lux Mountford, Peyton Ostertag and Tegan Werner have been varsity swimmers since their freshman seasons.
Werner, headed to Tufts University in Boston to swim next season, swam at state all four years. Mountford, who also runs track, swam at the ultimate meet her first three seasons and was an alternate this season, after barely missing a callback in two events. Ostertag was an alternate as a freshman and swam at state her final three years.
“They’re going to be very missed,” Kellstrom said. “They have guided this program for four years and all the kids coming up are going to continue that tradition.”
Natalie Pieters began high school at La Lumiere and then transferred to Chesterton to fortify the class. She came close to receiving a callback to compete in the state field in the 500 freestyle but fell just short.
Ostertag had mixed emotions, proud of her two fifth-place medals in the two freestyle relays but sad that her Chesterton career ended.
“This was my favorite year by far. I just love the team, and the culture’s so good,” Ostertag said. “We’re all really great friends and they’re all so supportive and just pushing me to be a better swimmer. It’s so fun to do it with each other, pushing each other through all the practices and even during the meets.”
Ostertag will swim for Hope College in Michigan next season.
“I’m proud of myself for how far I’ve come in all four years. Freshman year I was an alternate at state and then (this year) I’m swimming four events at state,” Ostertag said. “The coaches have done nothing but help me improve. My team has pushed me to be such a better swimmer and person. I’m really happy, but really sad it’s done.”
Werner earned a pair of fifth-place relay medals and scored points for the team with a 15th-place finish in the 50 free.
Ostertag and Werner joined junior Adalyn Laughner and sophomore Brenley Bonez on the 400 relay team that over the past two seasons flirted with but never broke the school record of 3:26.07 owned by Vanessa Krause, Jaclyn Klimczak, LaurynKallay and Kelly Craig, set in 2016. The closest they came was at this season’s sectional when they swam a 3:26.16.
Signed to swim at Tufts University in Boston next season, Werner seemed to enjoy her high school time in the pool more each season.
“I’m really happy with how this season went,” Werner said. “I mean, obviously we would have liked to get the record, but there is always something else that you would have wanted, but I’m really happy with how everything turned out. I’m happy with the whole season.”
Werner also expressed gratitude to a group of about 10 swimmers and divers from the boys team who came to watch them compete Saturday.
“That was nice of them,” she said.