Years from now, when she looks back on her prep sports career, Auburn senior Shawna Jordan will have a lot to be proud about.

Not only did Jordan make a successful switch to diving after an elbow injury curtailed her promising gymnastics career, but she also found a way to excel at her new sport.

Two years ago, Jordan earned a first place as a sophomore at the state 3A swimming and diving championships.

After finishing a disappointing third at the 4A meet this past season, Jordan capped her career with a second state title at this year’s 4A championships.

“I missed two of my dives last year,” she said. “I didn’t totally miss them, but they were not good. Ever since state last year, I didn’t want to be in that situation again, so I worked hard during the off season.”

Jordan used her time at the pool with her club team, the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Dive team, as a springboard to mount a campaign to grab the title this season.

“I normally train two hours a night and I try to do three to four nights a week,” Jordan said. “It’s a big commitment but it’s definitely worth it.”

“My biggest goal was just to win state,” she continued. “That was always in the back of my mind. Going to practice every day, whether it was a good practice or a bad practice, I just made sure I got what I needed. For a bad practice, I just tried to leave it behind me and get on with it.”

Jordan said she was hampered again this year, as in other seasons, by the lack of diving competition in the South Puget Sound League 4A North.

“It wasn’t until after prelims at state that I realized I should be here,” she said. “There isn’t a lot of competition for me until state, so it’s kind of hard until state to know what to expect from the other girls because I don’t see them.”

Among those divers is Jordan’s friend and rival, Anna Steiner from Lake Washington. Last season Steiner, who also dives for PNW, edged out Jordan, taking second at the 4A meet.

This season it was Jordan’s turn, as she put together a 422.80 finals score.

“Me and her are definitely very competitive,” she said. “It’s kind of funny, because we’re really good friends, until it comes to high school season. We both have a competitive side, so you’ll see that at practice. We just try to do our own thing. But it’s really fun.”

Jordan credits her coach James Southerland’s emphasis on consistency for her performance this season.

“It’s like my coach says, you can’t go in there and expect to be perfect,” she said. “If you miss a dive and you get upset about it, it can affect your diving. You want to hit every dive, but you just have to let it go and move on to the next dive. It’s really a competition of who can hit the most dives. Not who’s perfect.

“I was actually hoping for a little bit higher score,” Jordan added. “My coach and I were hoping to go for the state record, which is 450. So I was hoping to get up there a little higher. But 422 is a really good score. You have to be really on to get up to that. So I was really happy.”

Jordan, who has applied for All-American status for her senior year, said ending her career on top was a relief.

“I was happy it was done,” she said. “That was my high school career, and I was happy I ended it on a high note.”

Now Jordan is trying to whittle down her college choices, although she said she’s hoping to attend the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. She’s also looking at Stanford University and California Poly-San Louis Obispo, Calif., both of which have diving programs.

“If I don’t end up diving in college I’ll probably go to Oregon State, which doesn’t have a diving program,” she said.

Until then Jordan will take it easy while cheering on the Trojans for the Auburn cheer squad.

“They want me to be a flyer, but I don’t want to risk injury before college,” she said. “I don’t want to fall or be dropped. I’m pretty much sticking to the cutesy, dancing stuff. I’ll probably do some flips, just not using my hands. It’s going to be nice not having that constant pressure, just going out there and having fun.”

However, years from now, Jordan said it would be her accomplishments at the pool that she will remember.

“I think two state championships will stick out,” she said. “That and that I was able to find another sport after gymnastics. That I was able to do so well at diving while being so new to it.”

CLASS 4A STATE SWIM MEET RESULTS

Team scores — 1, Skyline, 234; 2, Garfield, 176; 3, Jefferson, 140; 4, Issaquah, 131; 5, Beamer, 126; 6, Kentlake, 117; 7, Jackson, 116; 8, Shorewood, 103; 9, Newport 100; 10, Gig Harbor, 91; 11, (tie) Ballard and Eastlake, 90; 13, Marysville-Pilchuck, 79; 14, South Kitsap, 53; 15, (tie) Stadium and Kamiak, 50; 17, (tie) Kentridge and Bothell, 42; 19, Olympia, 40; 20, Edmonds-Woodway, 38; 21, Inglemoor, 37; 22, Roosevelt, 32; 23, Redmond, 31; 24, Decatur, 30; 25, Kent Meridian, 26; 26, Lake Washington, 25; 27, Eisenhower, 23; 28, Auburn, 20; 29, Kentwood, 19; 30, Federal Way, 18; 31, (tie) Southridge and Mountain View, 15; 33, (tie) Wenatchee, Cascade (Everett) and Lake Stevens, 14; 36, Kelso, 11; 37, Central Kitsap, 7; 38, (tie) Richland and Tahoma, 6; 40, (tie) Shelton and Moses Lake, 5; 42, (tie) Snohomish and Walla Walla; 44, (tie) Mount Tahoma and Stanwood, 1.

FINALS

200 medley relay — 1, Garfield (Fiona Majeau, Jordan Hanna, Louisa Dunwiddie, Maddy Morgan), 1:49.54; 2, Issaquah (Stacy Maier, Kayla Flaten, Marit Borth, Helen Liu), 1:49.79; 3, Beamer (Michelle Rah, Rachel Kim, Kelly Erickson, Lesley Elijah), 1:51.79; 4, Jackson (Alana Pazevic, Courtney McDermott, Karla Bensen, Kaitlin Taylor), 1:53.61.

200 free — 1, Andie Taylor, Skyline, 1:46.55; 2, Fiona Majeau, Garfield, 1:49.71; 3, Dana Michaels, Shorewood, 1:50.80; 4, Ashley Jay, Edmonds-Woodway, 1:52.93.

200 IM — 1, Katie Kinnear, Eastlake, 2:02.53; 2, Rachel Kim, Beamer, 2:05.12; 3, Hannah Taylor, Marysville-Pilchuck, 2:06.13; 4, Maddy Morgan, Garfield, 2:06.40.

50 free — 1, Amber Cratsenberg, Jefferson, 23.87; 2, Helen Liu, Issaquah, 24.26; 3, Louise Moores, Kamiak, 24.50; 4, Anne Kenney, Roosevelt, 24.67.

Diving — 1, Shawna Jordan, Auburn, 422.80; 2, Anna Steiner, Lake Washington, 384.45, Sarah Clark, Marysville-Pilchuck, 345.80; 4, Caitlin Chambers, Garfield, 336.30.

100 fly — 1, Katie Kinnear, Eastlake, 53.10; 2, Annemarie Thayer, Ballard, 55.39; 3, Alana Pazevic, Jackson, 56.20; 4, Meghan O’Keefe, Skyline, 57.95.

100 free — 1, Amber Cratsenberg, Jefferson, 51.57; 2, Felicity Cann, Stadium, 52.50; 3, Kayla Flaten, Issaquah, 52.80; 4, Peggy Liang, Mountain View, 53.31.

500 free — Andie Taylor, Skyline, 4:45.47; 2, Fiona Majeau, Garfield, 4:51.86; 3, Dana Michaels, Shorewood, 4:57.66; 4, Katie Jo Burkland, Ballard, 5:00.05.

200 free relay — 1, Skyline (Nina Zook, Meghan O’Keefe, Maria Volodkevich, Andie Taylor), 1:38.71; 2, Eastlake (Katie Kinnear, Laurel Schy, Becca Fabian, Kara Beauchamp), 1:39.98; 3, Beamer (Kelly Erickson, Michelle Rah, Lesley Elijah, Rachel Kim), 1:40.89; 4, Jefferson (Savannah Coe, Michelle Hogan, Bailey Warrior, Amber Cratsenberg), 1:41.73.

100 back — Annemarie Thayer, Ballard, 54.07; 2, Alana Pazevic, Jackson, 54.94; 3, Rachel Kim, Beamer, 56.88; 4, Chelsea Bailey, Kentlake, 57.27.

100 breast — 1, Maria Volodkevich, Skyline, 1:04.25; 2, Heather Harper, Redmond, 1:04.27; 3, Jordan Hanna, Garfield, 1:04.96; 4, Maddy Morgan, Garfield, 1:05.06.

400 free relay — 1, Skyline (Nina Zook, Meghan O’Keefe, Maria Volodkevich, Andie Taylor), 3:33.85; 2, Garfield (Maddy Morgan, Louisa Dunwiddie, Jordan Hanna, Fiona Majeau), 3:36.93; 3, Issaquah (Stacy Maier, Molly Herman, Helen Liu, Kayla Flaten), 3:37.40; 4, Shorewood (Annika Stenfjord, Anni Hecker, Laurin Williams, Dana Michaels), 3:38.19.