Girls swimming state meet / Fox Valley

Injury troubles in her freshman and sophomore years kept Dundee-Crown’s Colleen Champa from competing in high school swimming.

On Friday at Evanston Township High School, she seemed bent on making up for lost time.

Champa turned in a personal-best time in the 100-yard breaststroke in the girls swimming state meet preliminaries, and her effort was good enough to land her in today’s consolation finals, which begin at 1 p.m.

Not bad especially considering at one point, doctors told her she might never be able to swim the breaststroke again.

“It’s just a really great feeling to be here,” said Champa, who completed her 1:06.33 in fifth heat of prelims, then anxiously watched as the times from the final heat came in. “This makes all the work so worth it.”

In the 200 IM, her other event Friday, Champa finished 24th. But she wasn’t intimidated by the noisy, crowded conditions.

“I think it’s a great setting for a meet,” said Champa’s coach, Laura Wayman. “It’s an exciting atmosphere. You’ve got a packed house, you get to perform in front of people who really appreciate swimming, your family and friends. It’s wonderful.”

Jacobs senior Kristin Horney concluded her high school career with a pair of good performances. She was 14th in the 50 free (24.64) and was 33rd in the 100 (54.43).

In a meet delayed twice by balky timing pads and other assorted timing issues, Glenbrook South sophomore Olivia Smoliga might have provided the meet’s most dramatic moment.

The top-seeded swimmer in the 50 free, Smoliga slipped on her start, with her rear foot sliding almost completely off the back of the starting block. Despite the awful start, she finished in 23.61, putting her in the No. 2 slot for finals.

Later, in the 100 backstroke, she set a state record with a time of 53.90.