Members of Bishop Chatard High School's 3,200-meter relay team had a meeting at breakfast shortly after the 2005 boys track state finals to discuss their goals for this season.

Three of this year's four relay members competed in the regional last year, placing fourth, but the relay team failed to be one of the top three to advance to the state meet.

That didn't temper their expectations for this year, however.

"All winter, we had this goal in mind: to win the state title and set the record," said junior Andrew Poore, who ran the relay last year with Seth Ball and Todd Leone, both of whom were seniors this year.

"Whenever we didn't want to wake up and run, we just thought about that state title. It was just a very long-term goal that we had. Everything we've done was focused on that goal."

The objectives were realized at Saturday's boys track state finals at Indiana University.

The quartet, which included senior newcomer Chris Dietrick, set a state record with a winning time of 7 minutes, 41.56 seconds, narrowly eclipsing the mark of 7:41.7 set by Carmel in 2004.

The time was more than 25 seconds faster than Chatard's 2005 regional effort.

"It's been the goal all year long," said Chatard coach Dan Kinghorn. "They've worked so hard for it. They finally came through at the end. With everything they put into it and sacrificed, it was pretty satisfying."

Poore said some of the sacrifices included waking early on cold winter mornings to run together; eating healthy to keep their bodies in top form; and passing on social activities in favor of rest.

The three seniors also skipped graduation ceremonies this year in favor of competing in the May 25 regional at North Central.

Poore, who lives in Washington Township, wanted to make sure he did his part in the relay to not let his senior teammates down.

"Those three boys have really elevated our track team to a completely new level in their four years at Chatard," Poore said. "I personally wanted to do everything possible to get (the win and record) and make sure they went out on top.

"I thought it was very fitting that we won that race. They deserved it. It was something I was very proud to be a part of."

All four relay team members also ran individual events. Leone and Dietrick took fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 800-meter run. Ball was 20th in the 1,600 and Poore placed fifth in the 3,200.

The unranked Trojans were the highest-placing north suburban-area team at the state meet, finishing fourth in the team scoring.

Chatard cracked the Top 20 coaches polls just once during the regular season.

Top-ranked Warren Central won the team title Saturday with 74 points. Second-ranked Fort Wayne Northrop (45) was second, and No. 4 Ben Davis (42) took third. The Trojans finished with 26 points.

Ninth-ranked Lawrence North placed seventh and Pendleton Heights was 10th. No. 5 Carmel and No. 8 North Central tied for 11th.

"It's very difficult to do well around here for us, being so small," Kinghorn said. "We have these quality guys, but in a dual meet (the opposing teams) have so much more depth. They kill us.

"When we get to bigger meets, we're able to compete a little bit better. It feels good that we're able to compete on that stage with these bigger schools."

The dreams that began at breakfast one year ago culminated with dinner Saturday night. Poore said a limousine arrived at the conclusion of the state meet to take the Trojans and their coaches out for a steak dinner.

"It was a great night overall," Kinghorn said.