Posted: Nov. 9, 2009

Brookfield Academy junior Kelsey Hojan-Clark has advanced to the Division 2 girls State Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday at the University of Wisconsin- Madison's natatorium.

Hojan-Clark qualified for state Saturday in the 200-yard freestyle in 1 minute, 53.04 seconds and the 500 free (5:00.46), breaking both pool records at Plymouth.

Hojan-Clark will defend the titles she earned last year in the 200 and 500 freestyles. She enters the meet with the fastest qualifying times in each of those events, which make her a clear favorite in both events.

Being the favorite does not bother Hojan-Clark, who is making her third trip to the state meet.

"I put pressure on myself in every race," she said. "I race against myself and try to beat my personal time. If I do my best and win the race, then that is just a bonus.

"Having been here before does give me that confidence boost. I'm just happy to have gotten here. I just want to have more great times and have fun with it."

Her performance helped Brookfield Academy place ninth out of 14 teams at the Plymouth Sectional.

Junior Grace Paquelet placed ninth in the 200 free (2:08.58) and 10th in the 500 free (5:41.92).

Junior Colleen Doyle placed 11th in the 100 breaststroke (1:17.16) and 13th in the 100 free (1:00.69) and junior Rebecca David was 24th in the 100 breaststroke (1:37.23) and 34th in the 100 free (1:14.93).

Sophomores Nicole Bray, Paige Pichler and Maddy Profio also performed well.

Notable swims came from Bray's 200 free (19th, 2:29.62), Pichler's 100 back (20th, 1:17.78) and Profio's 100 breast (22nd, 1:35.94).

Hojan-Clark honored - The talented Blue Knights' swimmer recently was named by the USA Swimming organization to the 2009 USA Swimming Scholastic All-America Team.

"It was an honor," she said.