Butler junior Laura Goettler swims in the 200-yard freestyle against Seneca Valley at Butler High School Thursday night. Goettler broke her own pool record in the breaststroke.

BUTLER TWP — Owen Blazer and Laura Goettler want to accomplish a lot in the remainder of the high school swimming season.

The efforts the juniors turned in Thursday night are good indicators that they are primed to do just that.

A star for Seneca Valley's boys and Butler's girls, respectively, both broke a Butler pool record in the final dual meet of the season.

Blazer took down the 100-yard backstroke standard with a time of 52.48 seconds while Goettler swam 1:03.46 in the breaststroke.

Blazer topped the record of Butler's Josh Barthlow, who swam 52.89 in 2003. The former said he looks at the pool record in every venue he competes in.

“It definitely feels good to get a record, especially when it comes in a meet where there's good competition,” he said. “My coach (Brian Blackwell) was originally going to have me swim the butterfly tonight, but switched me to the backstroke before the meet.”

It proved to be a wise decision. Blazer is no stranger to success in the backstroke.

He previously set a pool record in the event at both Fox Chapel and Seneca Valley and placed second at WPIALs and seventh at the state meet last year. He also owns SV's school record in the backstroke at 50.14.

“He's focused on getting faster every year,” said Blackwell. “He's got a shot at two first-place finishes at WPIALs.”

Blazer will certainly be competing in the backstroke at the district meet and will also swim either the 200 individual medley or butterfly.

Goettler had already snapped the pool record in the breaststroke this season at North Allegheny and Pine-Richland. She came very close several times to toppling her home pool's standard (1:04.64), which she set last year.

“My goal (in the regular season) was to go 1:03, so it was good to get it tonight,” said Goettler. “Now I want to go under a minute at WPIALs.”

Goettler, who along with her teammates, has endured a rigorous training schedule this season, which included a trip to Florida in December.

Butler will slack off on the amount of practice time between now and the WPIAL meet, which begins Feb. 28.

“I'm pretty run-down,” Goettler said. “I can't wait for the rest.”

Butler coach Dave Bocci is interested in what Goettler's breaststroke time means moving forward.

“I told her that if she was unable to get to 1:03 in the regular season, the chances were not good that she'd be able to go under a minute because that's a big number,” he said. “This was the first in-season 1:03 she's had and she definitely has a chance to do something special.”

Also looking to reap the benefits of difficult practices — and the coming period of rest — is Butler sophomore David Bocci, who won the breaststroke against Seneca Valley.

Last year, he placed 13th in the IM and fifth in the 500 freestyle at districts. The latter effort was good enough for a berth to the state meet.

“David has grown so much since last year,” Coach Bocci said. “He's gained 20 pounds of muscle and grew about three inches. With rest, I believe he can do very well.”

“This season has been a lot harder than last year,” David Bocci said. “We usually get a break in December, but kept going hard the whole way through.”

The younger Bocci has his sights set on specific times for the district meet.

“I want to go 4:42 in the 500 and 1:54 in the IM,” he said. “I believe I can do both.”

<b>Girls</b>Seneca Valley 114, Butler 72200 medley relay: 1-Butler (Abbie Griffith, Laura Goettler, Rachel Ledford, Savannah Holt) 1:53.41200 freestyle: 1-Laura Goettler (B) 1:55.07200 individual medley: 1-Kendall Craig (SV) 2:15.3250 freestyle: 1-Edie Sawyer (SV) 26.481-meter diving: 1-Rylie Smith (SV) 233.5100 butterfly: 1-Gianna Petrella (SV) 1:00.3100 freestyle: 1-Alyvia Meanor (SV) 55.85500 freestyle: 1-Delaney Molinero (SV) 5:30.48200 freestyle relay: 1-Butler (Laura Goettler, Savannah Holt, Abbie Griffith, Rachel Ledford) 1:41.83100 backstroke: 1-Abbie Griffith (B) 1:02.06100 breaststroke: 1-Laura Goettler (B) 1:03.46400 freestyle relay: 1-Seneca Valley (Alyvia Meanor, Kendall Craig, Sarah Stevens, Annabel Morrisard) 3:51.4<b>Boys</b>Seneca Valley 106, Butler 80200 medley relay: 1-Seneca Valley (Jonathan Simoes, Daniel Simoes, Owen Blazer, Max Skeen) 1:40.13200 freestyle: 1-Kevin Donaldson (SV) 1:51.2200 individual medley: 1-Owen Blazer (SV) 1:58.7350 freestyle: 1-Ben Borvendeg (B) 22.471-meter diving: 1-Matt Laslavic (SV) 226.8100 butterfly: 1-Sam Deemer (B) 53.79100 freestyle: 1-Ben Borvendeg (B) 49.97500 freestyle: 1-Alex Deemer (B) 4:51.74200 freestyle relay: 1-Butler (Ben Borvendeg, David Bocci, Sam Deemer, Alex Deemer) 1:30.71100 backstroke: 1-Owen Blazer (SV) 52.48100 breaststroke: 1-David Bocci (B) 1:05.69400 freestyle relay: 1-Seneca Valley (Owen Blazer, Kevin Donaldson, Max Bredl, Daniel Simoes) 3:26.72

Seneca Valley junior Owen Blazer swims in the 200-yard individual medley against Butler Thursday night. Blazer broke the Butler High School pool record in the 100 backstroke.