PITTSBURGH — Molly Evans was well aware of the disturbing fact that many swimmers peak in high school and never reach the same speed and consistency at the college level.

Evans is not one of them.

Instead, the Butler High graduate and Carnegie Mellon University sophomore has gotten faster — much faster.

"Some swimmers get slower. I knew that," Evans said. "I think a lot of that has to do with the team you go to. I was lucky to come here and have a coach like Matt (Kinney). He doesn't just care about you as a swimmer. He cares about you as a student and as a person."

With stiff competition at meets and at practice, Evans has blossomed into a high-level swimmer.

She has 13 school records —nine individual and four on relay teams — and has earned all-American honors in each of her first two seasons.

Even Evans has been surprised by her feats.

"I knew coming into college I could definitely improve, but I didn't expect this," said Evans, whose highest finish in the WPIAL meet was second in the 500 freestyle and highest finish at the state meet was 11th in the same event. "My goal was to make it to the nationals, but I never thought I would make it to the finals."

But that's what Evans did as a freshman at the NCAA Championships in the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke.

Evans placed second in the 200 and fourth in the 100. She also won the consolation finals in the 500 freestyle to earn three all-American honors.

She followed that up this year with another all-American honor in the 500.

Still, after her big splash as a freshman, Evans was a bit disappointed with her sophomore campaign.

"This year was maybe not as good as I would have hoped, but it was still pretty good," she said.

Evans has cut nine seconds off her 500 freestyle time since high school and five seconds off her 200 backstroke.

She thinks she can get even faster.

A large part of her speed boost has been her training regime, both with the team and individually.

Even this summer, as she works full-time as a lab technician as part of her biology major at CMU, she still finds time to swim two hours in the morning before her shift.

"I've really increased my level of fitness," Evans said. "Going from your senior year in high school to your freshman year in college, it's a big leap. At Butler, we pretty much did the same kinds of workouts, but here it is longer and more intense. Everyone here is so good and so fast, you have to work hard to keep up."

Evans said she doesn't get caught up in individual accomplishments or records.

"It's nice being part of the relay records," she said.

Evans wants desperately to help the 800 freestyle relay qualify for nationals next season.

Last year the team finished 10th, one spot away from making it to the national meet. This year, the relay fell less than a half-second from qualifying.

"In the 800, a half-second is basically nothing," Evans said. "To get that close and not make it — it's tough."

Only one member of that record-setting relay graduated.

"I'm really trying to focus this summer on getting stronger," Evans said. "I'm just focusing on that now. Obviously, my goal is to get back to nationals next season. I really feel like we can get that relay there, too. We have some good freshmen coming in and we can raise the bar even higher."