Chesterton HS Wins the IHSAA State Championships; 6 New State Records and 1 New National HS Record

After friday night prelims at the IUPUI Natatorium, Chesterton looked to be the favorite to win the 2014 Indiana High School State Championship with Blake Pieroni (Indiana University Commit) and Aaron Whitaker (University of Michigan Commit) leading the charge. Penn High School and Avon High School both looked very competitive as well, and were set up to be in a tight race for second, with several individual swims and multiple relay swims in finals.

Last night, Chesterton HS broke the National Public HS Relay Record in the 400 freestyle relay in prelims, posting a 2:59.36. 

200 Medley Relay – Finals

After breaking the state record in prelims by almost two seconds, the Chesterton HS boys lowered the state record again by more than a second, touching the wall with a time of 1:29.64. That also broke the Saline High School National High School Record of 1:30.01 set in Michigan in 2013. Aaron Whitaker led off with a 21.90, followed by Jack Waller (25.12), Blake Pieroni (21.61), and Gary Kostbade (21.01). Bloomington South HS added a second place finish, posting a 1:32.71, and Avon HS finished third with a 1:33.22.

West Lafayette HS won the B-final with a 1:35.71.

200 Freestyle – Finals

Parks Jones from Avon HS and Ethan Whitaker from Chesterton HS had a great race throughout the whole 200 freestyle, exchanging the lead several times during the race. Parks Jones pulled away on the last 50 to earn 1st place for Avon, touching the wall with a time of 1:37.11, just .09 off of the state record. Ethan Whitaker posted the second fastest time with a 1:38.10, followed by Franklin Community’s Adam Destrampe at 1:39.62.

Center Grove’s HS’s Daniel O’Brien won the B-final with a time of 1:41.02.

200 IM – Finals 

Blake Pieroni from Chesterton HS pulled away from the field to win the 200 IM with a time of 1:46.83. Finishing in second was Columbus North HS’s Cody Taylor, who touched at 1:48.35, and in third was Jon Stoller from Northridge HS at 1:49.60. Also under 1:50 was Brandon Colonis from West Lafayette with a time of 1:49.87.

Lawrence North HS’s Adam Noens won the B-final with a time of 1:50.98.

50 Freestyle – Finals

It looked like it was going to be Mate Kovacs from Penn HS the whole way but at the touch, Zionsville’s Kyle DeCoursey used his size to get his hand on the wall first for the win with a 20.59. Touching second was Kovacs at 20.65, and in third was Jerrersonville’s T Martin with a time of 20.75.

Hamilton Southeastern HS’s Mark Whitaker won the B-final with a 21.34.

100 butterfly – Finals

Aaron Whitaker from Chesterton HS broke his state record from friday’s prelims with a time of 46.31. Daniel O’Brien from Center Grove HS finished second with a 49.26, followed by Gabriel Swardson from Fort Wayne Snider HS at 49.39, and Penn’s Bowen Anderson with a 49.49.

Hamilton Southeastern HS’s Seth Johnson won the B-final with a 50.35.

100 Freestyle – Finals

Blake Pieroni won his second event of the day with a 43.81 in the 100 freestyle. Zionsville’s Kyle DuCoursey snagged a second place finish with a 44.74, and T Martin from Jeffersonville earned a 3rd place finish with a time of 45.60.

Lake Central’s Connor Homans wins the B-final with a time of 46.71

500 Freestyle – Finals

Penn HS picked up their first victory of the meet with a 4:25.01 from Bowen Anderson. Avon’s Parks Jones, the winner of the 200 freestyle, finished second at 4:29.11, and Chesterton’s Ethan Whitaker finished third with a 4:29.47.

Carmel HS’s Reilly Garman won the B-final with a 4:34.08.

200 Freestyle Relay – Finals 

Using the momentum gained by Bowen Anderson’s victory in the 500 freestyle, Penn HS won the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:24.65. Mate Kovacs led off with a 20.74, followed by Bowen Anderson (20.69), Hudson Bursch (21.49), and Adam Wait (21.73). There was a tie for second place between Columbus North HS and Evansville Reitz Memorial HS at 1:25.05.

Franklin Community HS won the B-final with a 1:27.00.

100 Backstroke – Finals 

Aaron Whitaker is on fire this weekend! The Swimmer from Chesterton lowered his state record from prelims to 47.06 for the win. There was a tie for second between Munster HS’s Wilson Beckman and Lawrence North’s Adam Noens. Beckman and Noens had a rock-paper-scissors battle on the podium to decide who got to wear the medal on the podium. Both will have a medal to take home by the end of the week. Finishing in fourth was Joseph Young at 50.00 from Hamilton Southeastern.

Hamilton Southeastern’s Noah Brenner won the B-final with a 52.10.

100 Breaststroke – Finals

Cody Taylor re-breaks his state record from prelims with a 54.24 to win the 100 breaststroke. Christian Lorenz touched second for Avon with a 54.88, followed by Ian Finnerty from Bloomington South HS with a 55.16.

West Lafayette HS’s Brandon Colonis won the B-final with a 56.60.

400 Freestyle Relay – Finals 

After breaking the National Public High School record last night, Chesterton came back strong in finals, winning the event with 3:01.65. Blake Pieroni led off with a 43.91, followed by Ethan Whitaker (45.44), Patrick Curley (48.20), and Aaron Whitaker (44.08). Columbus North HS finished second with a 3:07.27, and Avon HS finished third with a 3:07.27.

Hamilton Southeastern won the B-final with a 3:09.63. Hamilton Southeastern owned the B finals, winning four of them throughout the day!!

You can view live results here, and a hard copy of the final results will be added when they are posted.

Throughout the duration of the meet, three different swimmers broke individual state records. Blake Pieroni broke the 100 freestyle state record, Aaron Whitaker broke the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly state records, and Cody Taylor broke the 100 breaststroke state record. All three athletes had phenomenal performances this weekend, but Aaron Whitaker really stands out as the swimmer of the meet. Aside from his individual swims, Whitaker was also a member of both state record setting medley relays (200 medley & 400 freestyle, splitting 21.90 in the 50 backstroke and 44.03 as the anchor of the 400 freestyle relay. The 400 freestyle relay not only broke the state record, it also broke the National Public High School Record from 2012.

Men – Team Rankings – Through Event 11

1. Chesterton 200 2. Avon 166
3. Penn 157 4. Columbus North 99
5. Carmel 98 6. Northridge 93
7. Hamilton Southeastern 91 7. Bloomington South 91
9. Carroll (Fort Wayne) 80 10. Zionsville 77
11. West Lafayette 66 12. Munster 64.5
13. Homestead 62 14. Evansville Reitz Memorial 59
15. Franklin Community 57 16. Castle 50
17. Jeffersonville 49 18. Valparaiso 38
18. South Bend Saint Joseph 38 20. Center Grove 37
21. Westfield 33 22. North Central (Indpls.) 28
23. Fishers 26 24. Lawrence North 25.5
25. Indian Creek 20 26. Floyd Central 19
27. Western 18 28. Park Tudor 16
28. Fort Wayne Snider 16 28. Lake Central 16
31. Pendleton Heights 14 32. Portage 13
33. Greencastle 12 33. Harrison (West Lafayette) 12
35. Noblesville 11 36. Crown Point 10
36. Warsaw Community 10 36. Bloomington North 10
39. Martinsville 7 40. Warren Central 6
41. Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory 5 42. Highland 4
42. Elkhart Central 4 44. Greenfield-Central 3
45. Batesville 2 46. Terre Haute South Vigo 1
46. Brownsburg 1