Chesterton has at least one athlete in all 16 events at the Portage girls track and field regional Tuesday, including freshman Claire Thomas and senior Luciana Raffin in the pole vault

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Chesterton loyalists need not figure out what to do with their spare time at the Portage regional girls track and field meet Tuesday. They won’t have any.
Any Chesterton fan rooting for the school and not just a relative will have someone to cheer for in all 16 events.
Head coach Lindsay Moskalick’s Trojans have at least one entry in the three sprints, three distance runs, two hurdles races, three relays and five field events.
That sort of depth doesn’t come about unless a program has sound instructors who know how to make their athletes improve, athletes enjoying themselves enough that that retention is good from year-to-year, the most experienced athletes sustaining the culture by passing on to younger ones what they learned from the veterans when they were the new kids in town.
All those factors are present in the pole vault, where two Trojans qualified one of the tougher events to learn.
Senior Luciana Raffin is competing in the regional for the third consecutive year. Freshman Claire Thomas joins her, and they both are coached by Luciana’s father, Jim Raffin.
Luciana’s path to her final regional has been slow and steady. She adds a half-foot to her personal record every year: 7 feet, 6 inches as a freshman, 8-0 as a sophomore, 8-6 as a junior and 9 feet this season.
In contrast, Thomas made a huge late-season breakthrough in her first year trying the event. In a pair of April meets vs. DAC schools, Thomas was stuck at 6-6. Then on April 29, she cleared 8 feet, did it again May 6 and then at last week’s sectional set a personal record with an 8-6, the same mark Raffin had at the meet.
How did Thomas come so far, so quickly?
“Coach Raffin,” Thomas said. “He has a lot of good advice and the always knows what I need to do to improve.”
A good teacher is only as good as his pupil is receptive to learning. In Thomas, Jim Raffin has a student eager to get better.
“I’ve wanted to do pole vault since middle school,” Thomas said. “It looked like an interesting thing to try. It looked unique, and I thought it looked like a fun thing to do, and it is fun.”
The first time Thomas tried the event, she said she was “a little scared, but mostly I was excited.” After a few practices, the fear vanished, and the excitement grew every time she went higher.
Luci Raffin is convinced that her protégé can clear 9 feet at the regional.
“I think you can do it,” she told Thomas. “She’s been getting her body over the bar at 9 feet in practice, so she can do it.”
And if Thomas can add a half-foot to her best vault, then surely Raffin, motivated by the last-chance adrenaline that can push seniors to new heights, can get to 9-6, maybe even 10 feet. The best guess as to what it will take to snag the third qualifying spot is 10 feet.
Raffin said she became intrigued with the event at a young age, watching her brothers at track meets when they were coached at Chesterton by the late Clint Brown.
Ben Raffin went on to become Hillsdale College’s first four-time All-American pole vaulter. Each year, he exceeded his seed, saving his best vault for the NCAA Division II championship meet. So, don’t be shocked if Luci also saves her best for last.
Luci summed up what it would take to get to state in two words: “Big improvements.”
Thomas has another three years to make those but based on how quickly she burst onto the scene, she won’t want to wait until her senior year. One refinement at a time.
“Right now, I need to work on pushing my pole when I vault,” Thomas said. “Instead of just running into the bar, I need to keep the bar in front of me.”
Thomas doesn’t limit her improvement-seeking questions to her coach.
“I’ve learned a lot from Luci,” Thomas said. “She gives me a lot of tips when Coach Raffin is busy and it’s really helpful to have a second opinion. I don’t think I would have gotten this far in the season without her.”
When Thomas is the veteran, she’ll be the one dispensing the tips. That’s how it goes in consistently successful high school programs in all sports.
Chesterton has a nice blend of veteran and young athletes. The 20 athletes competing at the regional, listed by class and in alphabetical order:
Seniors (7): Kaylee Dade, Hailey Geiser, Ava Kontos, Aubriana Pulsoni, Liz St. Marie, Autumn Spencer.
Juniors (5): Aubrey Bamber, Kenedi Bradley, Lauren Kroft, Gretta McCrovitz, Lux Mountford.
Sophomores (3): Zoe Komp, Jessica Martin, Harper Russell.
Freshmen (5): Paige Clancy, Hannah Haring, Taylor Kisic, Addison Pack, Claire Thomas.
Bradley is seeded first in all three of her running events: the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4x100 with Kontos, Dade and Pack.
The Trojans other top three seeds: McCrovitz second in 400 meters; Haring, Kisic, Clancy and Wilgocki second in the 4x800; Geiser third in the long jump; Mountford third in the 300 hurdles.