Kabacinski top seed in 2 events at state swimming

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Updated: March 12, 2012 8:08AM

INDIANAPOLIS — If Chesterton senior Olivia Kabacinski can swim today as fast as she swam Friday night, she could add another individual state title to her high school scrapbook.

Maybe two.

Kabacinski, who won the 200 freestyle title as a sophomore, was in first place in the 100 free and tied for first place in the 50 free after Friday night’s preliminaries in the IHSAA Girls Swimming State Finals.

“I’m really excited about my seeds for tomorrow,” Kabacinski said. “They’re higher than I thought I would be, so that’s pretty exciting. Hopefully with some things I can still work on, I can hold those places.”

Her time of 50.16 seconds in the 100 was .67 of a second faster than defending state champion Zoe Mattingly of Zionsville, who’s in second place heading into today’s finals.

Kabacinski will have a somewhat familiar foe to contend with in the 50 free. She and Franklin’s Abby Smith, swimming in adjacent lanes in the same heat Friday night, both finished in 23.32 seconds.

Kabacinski may have to find a little more speed to win the 50. While she cut .32 of a second off her seed time, Smith dropped .49 of a second.

“I definitely thought the girls in the next heat (of the 50) would be faster than they were,” Kabacinski said.

“That doesn’t mean that I should count them out for tomorrow. They can easily come back and be right up there with us. I think it’s going to be a great race between me and some other girls.”

Northwest Indiana’s next best bet for a state title could come in the 200 medley relay, where Munster and Crown Point are second and third, respectively, after the prelims.

But standing in their way is Carmel, gunning for a 26th straight team state title and a fourth straight title in the 200 medley relay. Carmel is in first place entering the finals in all three relays.

Chesterton’s 400 free relay team, anchored by Kabacinski, is in second place after Friday night, but almost a second behind Carmel (3:27.92 to 3:28.88).

Among other area swimmers still in contention for a state title is Munster’s Brittany Gilbert, who won a swimoff with LaPorte’s Carly Jackson in the 100 fly.

The win broke the tie for eighth place, putting Gilbert into the championship race and sending Jackson to the consolation finals.