Rose blossoms
PITTSBURGH — Rose Snyder wasn't a big fan of swimming the 200-yard freestyle back in December.
She is now.
The Seneca Valley sophomore finished third in the event with a time of 1 minute, 55.93 seconds Thursday in the WPIAL Class AAA championships at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool.
The performance earned Snyder a spot in the state championships in an event she didn't pick up until this season.
"At first, I didn't like that I was swimming the 200 (instead of the 50 freestyle)," she said. "But as the year went on, I realized that it was my best event."
Snyder entered the meet seeded third at 1:58.51.
"For her to automatically qualify for states in an event she didn't even swim last year, it's great," said SV coach Tom Donati. "She's dropped eight seconds since the beginning of the season."
Snyder also swam the freestyle leg on the Raiders' 200 medley relay team, which placed second in 1:49.48 to earn a trip to states. The quartet also includes Lauren Bezier, Kelly Connolly and Elyse Dobrick.
"We won the medley relay last year, but lost (Mandie Huffman and Stacie Safritt) from that team," said Donati. "Everybody said we'd be down this year, but we were in the hunt until the end."
Connolly and Dobrick also made the state meet individually, finishing third in the 50 freestyle and third in the 100 butterfly, respectively.
Butler's Molly Evans broke her own school record in the 200 individual medley, swimming a time of 2:11.45 and finishing fourth. Her previous mark was 2:12.
Evans also was on the Golden Tornado's 200 medley relay team that finished sixth (1:53.40). That group also featured Brittany Vogel, Sarah Clouse and Jessica Vernon.
In Class AAA boys action, Seneca Valley's Chris Baker finished a solid fourth in the 200 IM (1:59.93) and fifth in the 100 butterfly (53.36).
Butler's Matt Galante was fifth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:46.84.
Freeport coach Gregg McQueen believed his 200 freestyle girls relay team had what it takes to make the state championships.Those swimmers proved him right.The Yellowjackets' quartet of Andrea McQueen, Gail Erickson, Katy Screen and Lauren Palko placed third in the event after swimming a time of 1:42.09 behind Oakland Catholic and Shady Side Academy.With the top four spots in Class AA guaranteed a spot at Bucknell University later this month, Gregg McQueen will see the foursome swim another day."It was a super performance," he said. "The girls have taken five seconds off their time in the event."Palko also made the PIAA cut in the 50 freestyle with a fourth-place time of 25.09 seconds.Mars' Jeff Gavin also finished fourth in his event, the 200 freestyle at 1:46.42."I came in shooting for 1:46," said the junior, who placed fifth in the event last season. "Now, I want to come out and swim strong in the 500 freestyle (today)."The WPIAL Class AAA and AA swimming championships continue today at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool.
