PIAA quartet?
PITTSBURGH — Four events and four spots at the upcoming state swimming championships.
Seneca Valley junior Rose Snyder must wait to see if she can achieve that distinction.
Snyder qualified for the PIAA Class AAA meet in the 200 freestyle and as a member of the Raiders' 200 medley relay team on Thursday.
She began Friday by placing third in the 100 freestyle with a time of 52.68 seconds at the WPIAL championship meet at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool.
Snyder's final shot at qualifying for four events at the state meet came when she swam the anchor leg in the 400 freestyle relay.
While the SV quartet's time of 3:37.07 is good enough to be considered for all-America status, it did not guarantee the team a spot at states because Snyder and her teammates placed fourth.
Only the top three finishers automatically move on to the state championships in Class AAA.
The Raiders will now wait until Wednesday to find out if their time is one of the top 16 nonautomatic finishes across the state. If it is, SV's 400 freestyle relay team will head to the state championships.
And Snyder will have had a perfect district meet — sort of.
"If I get to four events at the state meet, it will be very rewarding," Snyder said. "It proves to me that all of the hard work I've put in has paid off."
Snyder's time in the 100 freestyle broke her personal-record in the event by .32 seconds.
"I was swimming for Tom (Donati) today," Snyder said of the suspended SV swim coach. "My goal was to do well for him, and I think I did that."
Butler senior Molly Evans and SV senior Kelly Connolly each finished second in the 500 freestyle and 100 breaststroke, respectively.
Evans was beaten out by Bethel Park's Becca Zimmer, but will swim both the 500 freestyle and 200 individual medley at states.
Connolly entered the breaststroke event as the No. 1 seed with a school-record time of 1:05.07, but saw Bethel Park's Sarah Dunleavy take the title. Connolly's time was 1:06.32 and she will end her high school career at the state meet later this month at Bucknell University.
Area swimmers who medaled included SV's Emily Wolfarth in the 500 freestyle (sixth, 5:12.22), Butler's Brittany Vogel in the backstroke (eighth, 1:02.16) and Sarah Clouse in the breaststroke (seventh, 1:10.05).
SV's girls placed third in the team standings with 219.5 points, behind Bethel Park and Fox Chapel.
"This is one of the best meets I've seen the girls have here," said SV coach Tom Fletcher. "Except for a couple of events, every kid swam their best times."
The highest finisher on the boys side was Seneca Valley's Dan Gutmann, who medaled with a seventh-place time of 1:02.50 in the 100 breaststroke.
