Kristen Shickora came within an eyelash of qualifying for the finals in the women's 100 backstroke at the 2011 ConocoPhillips USA National Swimming Championships on Wednesday at Stanford University's Avery Aquatic Center.

Shickora, a Marian High School graduate and current University of Georgia star, needed to finish in the top 10 to make the championship final. She finished in 11th place with a time of 1:02.28, just one hundredth of a second behind the 10th place finisher.Shickora, who was part of a field of 210 swimmers in the event, rebounded from the disappointment to finish first in the 'B" final with a time of 1:01.34. That left her in 11th place overall, although her time in the finals was the seventh best.This was the second time the last three years that Shickora has failed to qualify for the championship finals of a major USA swimming competition by just hundredths of a second. In 2008, at the United States Olympic Swim Trials, Shickora finished just one place out of a spot in the finals when she was edged by eight hundredths of a second in the semifinals.The 2011 ConocoPhillips USA National Swimming Championships will continue the next two days.On Thursday, Panther Valley High School graduate and current Indiana University standout Allysa Vavra and Northwestern High School senior Madison Burns will both take part in the 400 IM. Prelims for that event are in the 12 noon session. Vavra is the 21st seed while Burns is seeded 91st. There are 151 swimmers who qualified for the event. Finals in that 400 IM will take place in the 9 p.m. session on Thursday.Shickora will also be in action on Friday in the 200 backstroke. She is seeded 38th out of 206 qualifiers in the event. The 200 back prelims are in the 12 noon session on Friday. The finals in the event are in the 9 p.m. session on Friday.