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Dundee-Crown’s Champa seeks more success

Dundee-Crown senior Colleen Champa doesn’t like to be told she can’t do something.

Champa missed her entire freshman season and half of her sophomore season while battling a hip injury. She was told she could no longer do the breaststroke — one of her key events. That also, theoretically, would put the kibosh on the 200 IM, which includes the breaststroke.

Well, she sure showed them.

Champa completed her comeback last season by qualifying for state in the breaststroke and the IM and has her sights set on doing the same again this season.

“I most definitely have a lot of motivation,” she said. “Doctors told me I couldn’t swim the breaststroke or the IM. Breaststroke involves a lot of rotation and hip movement. In all the events you need a lot of rotation and that comes from the hips. Being told I couldn’t, made me want to do it even more.”

Champa marvels at the progress she has made in just two short years.

“I couldn’t even swim as a freshman because of my hip injury,” she said. “Going from not even being able to swim to becoming a state qualifier … I’ve come a long way.”

Champa wants to take her success to even higher levels. She trained almost daily over the summer with her Palatine Park District club team.

“During the summer we had doubles every day except Wednesdays,” she said. “I was in the water a lot over the summer. My breaststroke has definitely improved. I’ve been practicing that for a half a year and I have definitely gotten stronger.”

The breaststroke event, in particular, has forced Champa to dig even deeper every time she steps into a competitive pool.

“There is definitely a lot of competition in the breaststroke,” she said. “Swimming against those other girls, pushes me to do better. I have to stay focused and do the best I can every time I swim it.”

Champa can’t explain where her fondness for the breaststroke came from, but she’s quick on the draw in outlining what she needs to do in that event to be successful.

“The pullouts are definitely the most important part,” she stated. “Every time you push off the wall, you pull out down. You also have to the stroke count for every 25 (meters). You have to know the number you have to hit per length.”

Being able to mold the different strokes into one event makes the IM attractive to Champa. She would like to see her IM time drop to around 2:05 this year (she also would love to break 1:05 in the breaststroke).

“It’s a fun event,” said Champa of the 200 IM. “You get to swim all of them. But you have to be a decent swimmer in all the strokes to be a good IM’er. You have to treat every 50 (meters) as a sprint. You go out and start off strong every 50. You have to be consistent.”

Champa, who is taking one honor’s class and a pair of advanced placement classes at D.C., has her eye squarely on a final trip to the state finals.

“I have a lot of motivation to get back there and hopefully improve there,” said Champa, who wants to swim in college (she has a couple of recruitment trips scheduled) and is thinking about studying exercise science and Spanish at the next level.

Dundee-Crown coach Laura Wayman knows all about Champa’s talents in the pool. But Wayman can’t stop talking about her senior standout’s leadership abilities.

“It’s her attitude,” Wayman said. “That girl will come to practice with a positive attitude every day not only for herself but for everybody on this team. Talent comes second. Her attitude allows her to showcase all of her talented ways. That’s what you look for in a swimmer and Colleen has that down pat.”

In addition to Champa, Wayman also welcomed back junior Ashley Skoog, who competes in the backstroke, breaststroke and relays. Champa’s and Skoog’s younger sisters are newcomers to the team and figure to make an impact for the Chargers. Emily Champa will swim distance events and the relays, while Rachel Skoog likely will swim in the IM, the 50 free and relays.

“All four of those girls are extremely strong swimmers,” Wayman said. “I’m very lucky to be able to coach four girls like that. Because of their talent, we’ll be able to mix them up and put them in different events.”

Sophomore Samantha Sanchez also has turned heads with her improvement. She’s recovering from leukemia, which Wayman reported is now in remission.

“Samantha is an amazing, amazing girl,” Wayman said. “She’s excited to be with the team. The way she has improved the last three weeks is remarkable.”

With a mix of veterans and newcomers, Wayman noted the team has the potential to take another step forward this year.

“Overall, we have the chance to have a stronger team,” she said.

Elsewhere in the Fox Valley Conference, the Crystal Lake District 155 co-op team (which features swimmers from South, Central and Prairie Ridge), won the FVC title and the FVC junior varsity invite last year.

Coach Lindsay Mernitz returns Prairie Ridge 50 free state qualifier Marisa Barton, along with schoolmate Courtney Lefevre and South’s Nikayla Dahl. Prairie Ridge’s Reghan Boldt and Central’s Chase Shepley are key newcomers to the group. Jess Schwendau and Amanda Neville will also play key roles.

“We have a great base of swimmers,” Mernitz said. “We have been working very hard so far this season. We have a strong group of girls. We have good sprinters and have not lost a lot of depth. We hope to be conference champs again and also hope to have several state qualifiers this year.”

Jacobs has a new coach in Michael Slowik. He inherits a Golden Eagles squad that finished in the upper half of the conference last year and returns the likes junior twin sisters Brittany (breaststroke, IM, free relays) and Courtney (200, 500, free relays) Podczerwinski.

Senior captain Tatiana Reinbrecht swims the butterfly and will also help out in other events.

Key newcomers to the team include freshman Nicole Sanchez, who was 4 seconds off state time in the 200 (2:02) in the team’s first meet of the season. Sanchez also will swim the butterfly and will be a key component in the medley and 200 relays.

Sophomores Keeley Quinlan, Natalie Cash and Jenny Ogoban will also help.

“These girls have a bright future and are going to be the backbone of this team for awhile,” said Slowik, speaking about the sophomore class.

A deep roster also will be on the Golden Eagles’ side.

“What is going to make us strong this season is the depth of quality swimmers we have in just about every event,” Slowik said. “We should be able to compete to win every event in the dual meets.”

Team bonding has been a major presence as well in the early going.

“The strong team chemistry these girls have already built makes for one heck of a support system for each other,” Slowik said. “Whenever I create a hard set, they really encourage each other to push through it. That is only going to make them stronger.”

Being new to the FVC, Slowik can’t offer an assessment of the league makeup, but he certainly knows what is in the Golden Eagles’ pool.

“Just seeing what my girls are capable of, I see no reason why we can’t compete for the conference championship,” he said.

Cary-Grove was third in the FVC a year ago. Senior Lauren Curtis won the FVC 200 title and took fourth in the 100, while senior Molly English was third in the 500 and eighth in the breaststroke. Sophomore Danielle Dalbke took third in the 100 and seventh in the 50, while sophomore Hannah Weber was sixth in the butterfly and eighth in the 50.

The Trojans also return two key relays. The 200 relay team of English, Dalbke, Courtney Mega and Curtis took second in the FVC, while the 400 team (same swimmers) also earned a runner-up finish.

Freshman Melissa Rose will swim the breaststroke.

“We’re multifaceted. We no longer have a weak event,” Cary-Grove coach Scott Lattyak said. “It’s all a matter of how we play our cards.”

Curtis continues to be a standout in the 200.

“Lauren Curtis has dominated the 200,” Lattyak said. “She is extremely motivated and has high goals to achieve state-qualifying times this season.”

Lattyak noted freshman Rose would be seeded first in the conference in the breaststroke based on last year’s times. English has been a consistent presence in the freestyle events, while Dalbke is a rising talent in the backstroke and freestyle events.

Lattyak also is excited about the medley relay team’s prospects.

“In the past, the team has struggled with the medley,” he said. “Now it is something we can potentially consider as a winning relay at conference and as a state qualifier. This team has set high goals for this season.”

Huntley is coming off its first season in the FVC in 2010.

“We really had some great swims (last year),” Huntley coach Megan Wheeler said. “Many of the girls had personal-best swims, but overall it was a great experience for the girls.”

Junior Natalie Rodriguez (backstroke, 200) and sophomore Ali Cazel (200 IM, butterfly, 100) enjoyed strong 2010 campaigns for the Red Raiders.

“Both girls had nice swims at both conference and sectionals,” Wheeler said. “I’m hoping to see them finish higher up at conference this year.”

Freshman Emily Ferguson will contribute in the 100 and butterfly events.

“Our strength is the fact we are a relatively young team that lost only one senior last year,” Wheeler said. “Last year was our first year having a swim team, so it truly was a learning experience for the swimmers. Having experienced a full season with the various ups and downs, the girls now have a sense of what they want and are working toward accomplishing it as a team. We are going to be a strong team this year. The focus will be on continuing to improve and build the program. We are a young group, but the girls are working hard and have serious goals they wish to accomplish this season.”

Upstate Eight Conference: Elgin returns to the league lineup and will operate with only Maroon swimmers this year. There are no Larkin girls on the team.

Juniors Maggie Lehman (breaststroke, freestyle events) and Kathleen McCaffery (freestyle events) are key returnees for new coach Nancy Kalush. Freshmen newcomers Brittany Picardi (backstroke, freestyle events) and Kristina Miller (IM) will help the Maroons as well.

“We’re working on building back up a strong program,” Kalush said. “We are a young team with no graduating seniors and many girls new to competitive swimming who are eager to swim and improve. I would like the newcomers to competitive swimming to legally learn all four strokes as well as compete in the final conference meet. I would like the varsity squad to become stronger and compete with our other U-46 schools at conference and sectionals.”

Bartlett finished eighth in the UEC last year and returns a host of swimmers, including Dana Cichon (IM, butterfly), Rachel Lee (freestyle events, butterfly), Lauren Olsen (freestyle events), Hannah Schmitz (backstroke) and Kerstin Ford (breaststroke).

Freshman Rachel Tomazin is a newcomer that will contribute to the Hawks’ lineup.

“We graduated a small number last year, so this team has spent a lot of time together,” Bartlett coach Carl Metzke said. “This has allowed them to figure out how to push each other to get the best out of the team. We are looking to better our conference and sectional finish from last year. We will have fun along the way.”

The varsity is comprised of solely Bartlett swimmers this year (no Streamwood competitors).

South Elgin returns senior Hannah Rueger (50 and 100) and junior Carly Mette (100 and backstroke).

Freshmen Morgan Reeves (breaststroke, 50, 100) and Rachel Degrane (diving, 500) are key newcomers to the team.

“We graduated six seniors and this year we have nine freshmen,” South Elgin coach Denise Bourgoin said. “The youth of our team is going to carry us over the next couple of years. We have a lot of girls who have never swam before, but are learning very quickly. The overall attitude on the team is positive and that is going to help us as we move forward through the season.”

Bourgoin is excited about Degrane competing in diving.

“We have one of our freshman competing in diving,” she said. “This is going to help us build our program so in the future we can become larger and stand up to our top competitors in conference.”

Bourgoin is excited to see Rueger compete in her senior season.

“Hannah is making a final push to make it to state in the 50 free,” Bourgoin said. “She knows what she has to do. It’s just a matter of doing it now. I have every confidence she can make it to state.”