Earlier this month, The News-Gazette capped off junior Lisa Boyce's spectacular debut season as a high school competitor by naming her the area's Swimmer of the Year. If she swims again for Uni next season, she will be one of the favorites to win a state title. If she doesn't return, then that means she will have qualified for USA Swimming's national junior team. Either way, the future is glowing for this phenomenal student-athlete.

The high school girls swimming season has been over for more than a week, but the awards keep coming for standout Lisa Boyce. On Wednesday, the 14-year-old junior was named The News-Gazette's Swimmer of the Year. Not that the paper had a difficult decision to make. Boyce dominated the area swim scene this fall in her first season competing for Uni. She was undefeated in her individual events during the regular season (20-0) and won both her individual events at sectionals.

Lisa Boyce won a fifth-place medal in the 100-yard backstroke at Saturday's IHSA state championship finals, turning in the best performance by any swimmer from Champaign-Urbana. The junior also placed 11th in the 100 freestyle. In all, Boyce earned 12 points, enough for Uni to finish in a four-way tie for 27th place.

Junior Lisa Boyce placed fourth out of 38 swimmers in the 100-yard backstroke at the IHSA girls swimming state prelims Friday. By placing in the top six, she qualified for today's finals. Check inside for more about the state prelims, including details on Boyce in the 100 freestyle and Milee Nelson in the 500 free.

Junior Lisa Boyce and freshman Milee Nelson broke a 14-year drought last weekend for Uni girls swimming when they qualified for the IHSA state meet. Boyce won the 100-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke, while Nelson took the 500 free. They will compete in Friday's state prelims and hope to advance to Saturday's championship finals.

Junior Lisa Boyce and freshman Milee Nelson became the first Uni female swimmers to qualify for the IHSA state meet in 14 years thanks to their victories in Saturday's IHSA sectional at Centennial. Boyce won the 100 free and 100 back, while Nelson won the 500 free. The Uni girls had a strong meet overall, placing fifth.

[Nov. 15 update: Lisa Boyce and Milee Nelson advanced to the IHSA state finals with sectional victories today, and the Uni girls placed fifth overall.] Uni High girls swimming has shown great improvement this year, propelled by junior Lisa Boyce and freshman Milee Nelson. With sectionals only a day away, the team can already savor a season to remember.

In their final meet before the start of the IHSA postseason, the Uni varsity finished third out of eight teams Saturday at the Normal U-High Invitational. Junior Lisa Boyce and freshman Milee Nelson combined for three first-place finishes. In the 100 backstroke, Boyce set a pool record, breaking the mark set the night before by a University of Illinois swimmer against Illinois State. Uni will compete in the IHSA sectionals 1 p.m. Saturday at Centennial.

Despite the absence of several key swimmers, the Killer Whales placed second at the O'Fallon Invitational on Saturday, ahead of Marion High School. Due to sickness and previous engagements, the Killer Whales competed with just 11 swimmers, which allowed Uni to participate in only two relays. But freshman Milee Nelson came through big with one first-place and one runner-up performance to her credit.

The Uni girls swim team placed third at the Twin City Meet on Tuesday, ahead of Urbana High School. Junior Lisa Boyce won the 100-yard backstroke and 100 freestyle, giving her 18 first places in 18 individual events this season. Milee Nelson took the 500 free, and the 400 free relay team of Boyce, Nelson, Sian Best, and Maritza Mestre won as well.

Junior Lisa Boyce has joined 2008 Uni graduate Michelle Mehnert among the ranks of USA Swimming's Scholastic All-Americans. This is Boyce's first year on the Scholastic All-America Team and Mehnert's third. Boyce was also honored recently at Illinois Swimming's annual banquet for the state's top swimmers.

The Uni girls swim team barely lost a dual meet with Urbana on Wednesday, providing further evidence of how far the team has come since junior Lisa Boyce and freshman Milee Nelson joined the Killer Whales. Last year, without Boyce and Nelson, Uni lost to the Tigers by 77 points; this year that margin was cut to just 12 points.

On Wednesday both the Uni and Urbana girls swim teams will celebrate Senior Night with their annual Make a Difference Meet. You can come out and cheer on Uni's senior trio of Deborah Ladd, Natsuki Nakamura, and Lor Sligar while also helping out a good cause, Crisis Nursery. Read on for more details.