PITTSBURGH — Winning a WPIAL title is one thing.

Beating the defending champion in the process is even better.

Seneca Valley's Rose Snyder and Abby Myers did just that Tuesday at the WPIAL Class AAA Swimming Championships at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool.

Snyder, a senior, won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1 minute, 52.7 seconds. She defeated last year's champ, Bethel Park's Becca Zimmer, by .71 seconds.

Myers, who is a freshman, beat Moon's Zina Grogg in the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.39.

"In the first 50 yards I saw that I was winning," Snyder said. "And then (Zimmer) pulled ahead.

"But I usually have a good second half to the 200."

As for Myers, her showing on Tuesday is sure to be the first of many memorable moments for at Trees Pool.

She didn't even record her best time in the butterfly event, swimming seven-tenths of a second slower than her No. 1 seed time of 56.69.

"I was just looking to make the state meet," said Myers. "(Grogg) won last year and she's very good. I figured she would be right there at the end."

"To come in here seeded first, with all that pressure, and to maintain it, it was a great performance," SV coach Tom Donati said of Myers.

Senior Emily Wolfarth qualified for states with a third-place finish in the 200 freestyle (1:54.05).

"Snyder and Wolfarth in the 200 free, it was unbelievable," Donati said. "Nobody deserves it more than those two, as hard as they have worked."

SV's girls 200 freestyle relay team finished second behind Bethel Park, but the Raiders were disqualified.

"It was a false start," Donati said. "That's never happened with a team of mine at WPIALs."

Butler's Jeff Armstrong singled out his 200 freestyle relay team of Morgan Morrison, Jordan McElhaney, Brianna Keelan and Brittany Vogel. The quartet finished the event in 1:44.65.

"We went from 18th to (12th) today," he said of his team's seed time compared to its finish. "That was our most outstanding swim of the day."

Boys

Seneca Valley junior Dan Gutmann is pleased with his fifth-place showing in the 50 freestyle.

Now he must play the waiting game.

Gutmann swam the sprint event in 21.88. With the top three finishers guaranteed a spot at next month's PIAA championships, Gutmann's time must fall within the top 16 nonautomatic times throughout the state.

"I think it will be good enough," he said. "District 7 is the fastest district. We'll just have to cross our fingers."

SV senior Bobby Beahm placed ninth in the 50 freestyle (22.76) and teamed up with Gutmann, Connor White and Justin Pritchard for another ninth-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay (1:32.43).

Butler's top finisher was Jason Clouse, who placed 19th in the 200 freestyle (1:52.86).

Note: The WPIAL Class AAA Championships have been pushed to Thursday due to inclement weather forecast for this morning. ... The events will resume at 10 a.m. Thursday.