URBANA — After leading the Uni High Killer Whales to an impressive fifth-place finish at sectionals, newcomers junior Lisa Boyce and freshman Milee Nelson are getting ready for the last step of the journey: the IHSA state meet this weekend at Evanston Township High School.

Boyce, who won the Champaign Centennial sectional title in the 100-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke, and Nelson, who won the title in the 500 freestyle, are the first Uni female swimmers to advance to state since Megan Flynn and Christine Keller accomplished that feat in 1994.

Keller, then a freshman, went on to finish eighth in the 50 free and fourth in the 100 back, while Flynn, a senior, finished seventh in the 200 free and fourth in the 500 free.

The last Uni swimmer to advance to state was Adam Reynolds, who qualified for the boys meet in February 1998. A senior, he finished third in the 200 free (1:43.49) and fifth in the 500 free (4:45.07).

Boyce and Nelson were sent off today with a lunchtime pep rally on the first-floor of Uni.

Nelson qualified for state after winning the 500 at sectionals in 5 minutes, 25.70 seconds, almost four seconds faster than her previous best (5:29.28).

Milee Nelson competes at last Saturday's sectional. Gargoyle photo by Revathi Maturi (click to enlarge)

Her time places her 36th out of 38 qualifiers. Nelson is 0.44 seconds ahead of 37th-place sophomore Maureen Quinn from Oak Park-River Forest and 1.23 seconds behind 35th-place sophomore Sage Haggard from Alton.

Adrienne Bicek, a senior from Downers Grove North, is ranked first with a time of 4:55.63.

Nelson was hesitant about discussing her performance at sectionals.

“It was good,” she said.

Boyce, however, had plenty to say about both sectionals and state. An experienced national-level swimmer for the Champaign County YMCA Heat but in her first year of competing for Uni, she talked about how she's getting ready for the two-day state meet.

“I try to eat healthier, get more sleep, and rest up,” said Boyce, who is a USA Swimming Scholastic All-American. “I’m 14, so I don’t really have a lot of pressure going into state. I feel like if you’re a senior and you’re 18 years old you have [pressure] to win. I get to race against 18-year-olds, and I’m probably the youngest junior … definitely the youngest junior. I’m probably around the same age as some of the freshmen. I’m pretty excited. It should be fun.”

Boyce’s performance at sectionals in the 100 free (52.19 seconds) places her at No. 5 in the meet ranking, 0.01 seconds ahead of No. 7 junior Maddy Urban from New Trier and 0.05 seconds behind senior Francesca Finucane from Palos Hills Stagg.

Monica Drake, a senior from Bloomington, is ranked first with a time of 51.51 seconds.

Boyce was not as pleased, however, with her 16th-place rank in the 100 backstroke. Her time of 58.71 seconds at sectionals was 1.07 seconds slower than her personal best time of 57.64 seconds. But she expects that to change this weekend.

“I’m in the fastest heat in the outside lane … outside smoke!” commented Boyce. “I think I might be able to sneak up on some of the Chicago-area girls.”

After a week of tapering, lots of rest, and a season’s worth of work, Boyce goes into the meet with high goals.

“I want to make top six in state,” said Boyce. “Time-wise, I want to be around or under 51 [seconds] in the 100 freestyle and around 56 in the 100 backstroke.”

The state meet also gives Boyce a chance to catch up with many of her friends from club swimming who will be competing as well.

The state prelims begin Friday at 9 a.m. for divers. For swimmers, the prelims will start at 3:30 p.m. Only the top six swimmers per event will move on to the next day’s championship finals while the next six will qualify for the consolation finals.

Saturday's competition will begin at 1 p.m.

Said teammate Sian Best: “It’s just cool to see Uni swimming get to that level.”

Lisa Boyce in action at last weekend's sectional meet. Gargoyle photo by Revathi Maturi (click to enlarge)

UNI STATE QUALIFIERS at Champaign Centennial Sectional

100-Yard Freestyle

• LISA BOYCE
• 1st place
• 52.19 seconds
• 5th-fastest time among all state qualifiers in Saturday's 16 sectionals
• Automatic State Qualifying Time: 53.99

500-Yard Freestyle

• MILEE NELSON
• 1st place
• 5 minutes, 25.70 seconds
• 36th-fastest time among all state qualifiers in Saturday's 16 sectionals
• Automatic State Qualifying Time: 5:13.93

100-Yard Backstroke

• LISA BOYCE
• 1st place
• 58.71 seconds
• 16th-fastest time among all state qualifiers in Saturday's 16 sectionals
• Automatic State Qualifying Time: 1:00.59

Schedule of events for Saturday's Championship Finals

• 200-Yard Medley Relay
• 200-Yard Freestyle
• 200-Yard Individual Medley
• 50-Yard Freestyle
• Diving
• 15-Minute Break
• 100-Yard Butterfly
• 100-Yard Freestyle
• 500-Yard Freestyle
• 15-Minute Break
• 200-Yard Freestyle Relay
• 100-Yard Backstroke
• 100-Yard Breaststroke
• 400-Yard Freestyle Relay

The consolation finals will be swum immediately prior to the championship finals in each event.