On the right Paige
Paige Mulle's 22nd-place finish in Tuesday's Chesterton Sectional pushed Portage over the top after the teams stood tied at 45 through their first five runners. "Paige struggled a little bit the middle part of the season," coach Chuck Heimberg said. "Today should give her a lot of her confidence back. She's a very, very talented kid. It's nice to see her have a great race, probably her best race in a month and a half, and have her be the decisive factor in us winning." -- Jim Peters

Fortney a bright spot
Valparaiso's rarely had its best seven on the starting line this season doe to various issues, but has managed to hold its own thanks to the development of runners like freshman Tiffany Fortney, who finished seventh in Tuesday's Chesterton Sectional. "She just keeps getting better and better," coach Karen DeVries said. "Every race, I'll ask her what her goal is to make sure she's right on track, and she always is. She has that game plan going into a race." Fortney's helped pick up the slack for the likes of Lauren Bigger, who's been slowed by injuries this season. "Lauren's a solid runner," DeVries said. "She has lots of talent. We haven't really seen that talent this year, but I hope even after today she realizes, hey, I can at least help." -- Jim Peters

Speed racer
David Osborn pushed the early pace in Tuesday's Chesterton Sectional as part of his preparation for the state meet on Oct. 31. "The whole point is just to simulate what it's going to be like at state," the Chesterton senior said. "I was able to go out fast and I maintained it as well as I could, staying smooth and comfortable. I kind of dropped off the third K, but I was able to keep it pretty consistent throughout the race." Osborn targeted a time of 3:00 for the first 1,000 meters and he came through the mark in 2:58. "We're just kind of planning out his races, taking bits and pieces of what we think the state meet's going to be like, and implementing them within races from here on out," coach Tim Ray said. "We said, go out hard and see how it feels. We didn't care what everybody else did, we just wanted to try to be at 3 (minutes) for the first K, and getting accustomed to doing that." -- Jim Peters

Heimberg sees room for improvement
Portage won Tuesday's sectional, but girls coach Chuck Heimberg doesn't think the Indians have maxxed out by any stretch. "We've got to run our last 1,000 meters better," Heimberg said. "With 1,000 to go, we still had four girls in front of Valpo's second. They did a tremendous job, just like at the DAC, running strong the last 1,000 meters. If we get ourselves to that point Saturday, the following Saturday, finishing off a race a little better, we'll be in a little better shape." On a good day, Heimberg thinks the Indians can contend for the regional and semistate titles and finish in the top 10 at state. "We are every bit as good as everybody else in our area as far as having a shot, along with Crown Point, Lake Central and Valpo," he said. "We hope this puts us over the hump of having the confidence that, yeah, we can do that." -- Jim Peters

Morris' day to shine
Chesterton junior Andrew Morris has missed most of the season due to injury, running just one race. He was healthy for Tuesday's Chesterton Sectional and he made the most of it, finishing seventh. "It was wonderful for him to get back and get a taste of what everybody else has been getting," coach Tim Ray said. Ray was also pleased for junior Manny Orlich, who placed 12th. "Manny was one of those little kids as a freshman and today he's all-sectional," Ray said. "He had an unbelievable summer, so that's nice to see. You're happy to see those kids who kind of just do what's right, do the things you ask them, get the recognition they deserve." -- Jim Peters