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http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...5/sports/s1.txt

Pabon's eighth earns medal


INDIANAPOLIS - Michigan City junior Nick Pabon didn't repeat his two-second time drop from Friday, but he still swam to an eighth-place medal in the 100-yard breaststroke at the state meet.

“This was a fantastic way for us to end the season,” City coach Dan Jenkins said. “I think he felt the pressure this afternoon, where as yesterday he had nothing to lose.”

Chesterton, meanwhile, swam to a third-place team finish with 193 points. Hamilton Southeastern won the meet with 262 and North Central (Indianapolis) had 235.

Freshmen Kyle Whitaker led the Trojans with three state titles. He won the 100-yard butterfly (50.16 seconds), the 200 individual medley (1:49.43) and also combined with Albert Miller, Adam Theiling and Bill Bass to win the last event of the night, the 400 freestyle relay (3:08.63).

Whitaker matched his sister Talor's two individual state titles from the girls state meet. Talor, a senior, won both the 100 and 200 freestyle events.


“I look up to her a lot,” the younger Whitaker said. “It's just great to repeat what she did.”

While the Chesterton boys won their first relay in school history, Pabon made history for Michigan City by becoming the first to finish in the top eight since the consolidation.

He finished the breaststroke with a time of 1:41, almost a second off his time from the preliminaries (59.53).

“It's been really great,” Pabon said. “Just coming here was a great honor.”


The breaststroke was the second to the last event of the meet, so Pabon spent most of the day waiting and watching, which may have psyched him out.

“I was a little sore from yesterday, and I was a little too excited maybe,” he said.

Whitaker's first state title came in the 200 individual medley over the defending champion, Michael Christy of North Central. Whitaker was down by almost a body length with 75 yards to go, but made up for it and more in the freestyle leg.

In the 100 butterfly, Whitaker was seeded first, but another strong finish gave him his second first place medal of the day.

“When it comes down to it like that, I put my money on (Whitaker),” Kinel said. “He swims with so much heart, and you can't coach that.”

Whitaker's only second place finish came in the first event of the day. He joined Miller, Theiling and Thomas Darnell in the 200 medley, and were just 13 hundredths of a second away from beating Hamilton Southeastern.

The Trojans were also right in the competition in the 200 freestyle relay. Miller, Gregory Franzen, Theiling, Bass took fourth, but were within a second of the winner.

“We really thought we had a chance to win all three relays,” Kinel said.

Bass, a sophomore, finished fourth in the 500 freestyle (4:39.92) and 14th in the 200 freestyle (1:44.59). Both Miller (100 backstroke, 52.61) and Darnell (50 freestyle, 21.25) finished fifth in their respective races.

With everyone who won a first place medal back next year, Chesterton could be stronger than ever, while City is hoping to bring a larger group to state next winter by qualifying a relay.

Contact sports writer Peter Daining at pdaining@thenewsdispatch.com or 874-7211, Ext. 447.

[Roger Kaputnik]

It takes dedication and effort way beyond the average to achieve at this level. Congrats to the swimmers!