Allison Van Kley leads Chesterton girls to sixth place among 22 teams at New Prairie Invitational

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

The New Prairie Invitational affords cross country teams a midseason look at what the competition might look like against a field that closely resembles that of the regional that takes place on the same course on Oct. 25.
The top five teams from the regional advance to the state meet. The Chesterton girls placed sixth at the invitational Saturday, but their footsteps heard by competitors grow louder by the week as the pack in which they run grows tighter.
Senior Allison Van Kley became the fourth different runner to achieve the Trojans’ highest finish, four 5K races into the season.
Her track season wiped out by an injury, Van Kley has gotten back on track already and has run the two best 5K times of her life in the past two meets. She placed 21st in the race and ran a 20:09.8.
In order of the races, others who have led the pack: Sophomores Paige Clancy and Hannah Haring and senior Aubrey Bamber.
For those who haven’t run New Prairie’s course, Agony Hill, which starts midway through the race, can post up in a runner’s head. Van Kley has run for the varsity since she was a freshman and had no such troubles Saturday.
“I like this course,” Van Kley said. “It’s a fun course to run on.”
As for Agony Hill, she embraces the challenge.
“Agony Hill, I would just say to keep your head up when you’re running up it and after that’s when the race begins,” Van Kley said. “That’s when you have to take deep breaths and then lock in for the second half of the race.”
Van Kley let neither the hour lightning delay nor the mid-race upward spike in heat and humidity throw her off stride. She explained why she is off to a strong start to the season.
“I haven’t been as nervous for my races because in past years I would kind of spiral before my races and let my nerves get out of control and this year, I’ve learned things to help me deal with my nerves,” she said. “I think that’s a big reason I’ve been performing well. There are different methods to help with anxiety, breathing and other things. I’ve had a long journey, so I’m glad my senior year I’m finally able to get control of it.”
Van Kley’s time was two minutes faster than last year at the same meet and 10 seconds faster than on the course at regionals, when runners are in top shape.
“I hope I break 20 next time,” Van Kley said.
There is reason to believe that if she does, she won’t be alone on the team in doing so.
Clancy finished 24th in 20:15.3, followed by Bamber (20:35.5, 34th), junior Natascha Lepinasse (20:42.5, 40th) and senior Lauren Kroft (20:49.3, 42nd). Freshman Evie Fortney (21:08.0), Haring (21:18.0) and sophomore Natalie White (21:48.9) also ran the varsity race. Lexi Jaworski took fifth in the reserve race, clocked in 21:59.4.
Macey Thompson won the race in 18:01.4 and led Lake Central to a second-place finish behind Penn. Valparaiso was third, Munster fourth and Morgan Township fifth with 151 points. Chesterton was just five points behind Morgan Township, finishing sixth in the 22-team field. Crown Point was seventh with 208 points.
Last season, Chesterton finished eighth at the New Prairie Invitational and moved up a spot to seventh at the regional. Moving up one spot again for the regional would land the Trojans the fifth and final qualifying spot for the state meet in Terre Haute.