LaPorte senior Mike Fout

LaPorte senior Mike Fout made his long-awaited season debut Tuesday in a triangular meet against Lake Central and Valparaiso, winning the 1600-meter run in a comfortable 4:24.

Fout, defending state champ in the boys 3200-meter run and the reigning national high school cross country champ, missed the first six meets of this season as he recovered from a suspected stress fracture suffered in March. He is still hoping to break Hammond High product Rudy Chapa's 23-year-old state-meet record in the 3,200 -- the oldest state mark in the record books.

"We didn't decide to try it until Tuesday afternoon," said Slicer coach Tim Beres. "The main thing is, Mike just wanted to get a race in and see how it felt. He didn't push it real hard, but he said he felt pretty good."