UPPER ST. CLAIR — Seneca Valley's Edie Sawyer won her first WPIAL gold medal Sunday during the Class AAA girls swimming championships at Upper St. Clair High School.

She's more excited about a second.

As in team second.

Sawyer claimed her WPIAL title in the 100-yard breaststroke, swimming the event in 1 minute, 4.20 seconds. Her performance set the pool record and marked a personal-best.“I was able to shave a little time off (her previous best 1:04.68),” Sawyer said.The Raiders finished second as a team with 249 points, finishing ahead of Upper St. Clair's 223. North Allegheny won the meet going away with 425 points.“All these girls have been talking about were coming down here and finishing among the top three,” SV coach Brian Blackwell said. “We knew what North Allegheny had.“Taking second is a great accomplishment, a tremendous team effort by these girls.”Sawyer was the Raiders' lone individual champion. She also swam on SV's 200-medley relay that placed second and the 200-freestyle relay that claimed third.“The best our team finished at WPIAL's was fourth in recent years,” Sawyer said. “We took fourth last year, then maybe three years ago ... It's been a long time since we've finished this high.”Sawyer placed sixth at the WPIAL meet last year and had the best time in the 100 breaststroke coming into the meet.“I guess that meant I was the favorite,” she said. “There's some pressure that comes with that, but I just try to block all that stuff out.”“Edie was very determined coming in here,” Blackwell said.Peri Gaguzis placed second in the 500 freestyle for the Raiders, swimming the event in 5:04.4, more than two seconds faster than her seeded time coming in. She took fifth in the 200 individual medley.She swam a leg on SV's second and third-place relay teams as well.North Allegheny's Molly Smathers edged Gaguzis by 1.37 seconds in the 500 free.“This was my first WPIAL meet,” the sophomore said. “I wanted to establish myself at this level, just place somewhere. I'm thrilled with getting second.“All of our relays swam well. That was critical to our team finish.”SV's Ria Dietz was second in the 100 backstroke and fourth in the 100 butterfly. Kendall Craig was fourth in the 200 IM, eighth in the 100 free.“Our girls were outstanding,” Blackwell said. “They competed hard.”Butler's Abbie Griffith took third place in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. She was seeded sixth in both events.“I am so happy, just ecstatic about this,” Griffith said. “My goal was to hit 56 (seconds) in the backstroke.”She fell short of that, but swam a 57.27 to easily beat her seed time of 58.49. Griffith swam a personal-best 57.13 in the butterfly, beating her seed time of 58.02 there.“It's a different level at this point,” she said. “You have to turn it up a notch.”Mars senior Megan Smith placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke and sixth in the 200 individual medley.

Sawyer