Change is good.

At least that's the case for Seneca Valley's Makena Lynch.

The junior spent the first two years of her high school swimming career competing in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events.

In January, she was moved to sprint events: the 50 and 100 freestyles.

She had qualified for the WPIAL Class AAA Swimming Championships in her freshman and sophomore seasons, but was never seeded as high as fourth going into the event.

That's where Lynch finds herself in the 100 freestyle with a time of 55.04 seconds for the district meet Thursday and Friday at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool.

She's seeded fifth in the 50 freestyle (25.02).

"Coming into this season, I had no idea I'd end up swimming two new events," said Lynch. "But it was something both Coach (Jerry) Koller and I agreed I should try around midseason.

"At first, it was a big difference. But it ended up not being as hard as I thought it would be."

Koller is pleased with the progress Lynch has made in her new role.

"She's adjusted really well to it," he said. "She's got a nice burst in the water. If she hasn't surprised people by now, she's about to at WPIALs."

Lynch also is a member of the Raiders' 400 freestyle relay team with Julie Titley, Stephanie Ciraula and Katie Miller.

The group is seeded second at 3:42.57, behind only Latrobe (3:38.07).

"For that relay team, a state berth is the ultimate goal," said Koller. "The place doesn't matter, as long as its in the top three, which would guarantee us a spot at states.

"To get that, we probably need to swim in between a 3:37 and 3:38."

Like Lynch, Titley also is seeded high in a pair of individual events: third in both the 200 freestyle (1:58.21) and 500 freestyle (5:17.12).

"This season, we've mixed in rest in between some of our practices and I've adapted well to that," said Titley. "I usually seem to do better in the 500, but I'm just hoping to do my best in both events and see where that gets me."

"Julie is a pure racer," said Koller. "She wants to win every event she swims in. You can't teach that; it has to be innate."

Ciraula, a junior, is seeded seventh in the 500 freestyle (5:19.49) and 10th in the 200 freestyle (2:01.61).

Taylor Campbell entered the season with a bit more confidence than most freshmen."I was planning on making the WPIAL meet this year in the breaststroke," she said. "My best time on my YMCA team from last year would have been good enough to get me there."Campbell is seeded 15th in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:12.9.Her arrival to the Tornado's varsity team came just when Butler needed a new swimmer in the breaststroke."We had to have somebody swim the individual breaststroke and also for the medley relay," said Butler coach Dacia Como. "We knew it was one of Taylor's specialties.""I just want to improve my time," said Campbell, who will swim on Butler's 200 medley relay team with Brianna Keelan, Jordan McElhaney and Morgan Morrison.

As his seedings suggest, Mark Newell has high hopes entering the WPIAL meet.The Central Catholic sophomore and resident of Butler Township is ranked eighth in the 100 butterfly (53.87) and fourth in the 500 freestyle (4:52.25)."My main focus is to score points for my team, but I am hoping to place third in one, if not both, of my individual events," said Newell, who helped the Vikings place third in the WPIAL in 2009.Newell also will swim a leg of the No. 6 400 freestyle relay team and will man the butterfly leg of the 200 medley quartet, which is seeded fifth.

Like many swimmers, Justin Pritchard is hoping Trees Pool is a springboard to something even bigger.A junior making his third appearance at the district meet, Pritchard will swim the 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke. He is seeded 10th in the latter with a time of 1:04.05, but he claims it's not his best event."The 50 is my best and I really want to get to states in it," said Pritchard, who is slated 16th at 23.19. "I figure, if I can swim a 21.85, that should get me to where I need to be.""I swear that kid has grown two or three inches since I started working with him," said Koller, who is in his first season at SV. "He's a dark horse, but has worked really hard. He is confident it will pay off for him."

Matt Goettler is a relative newcomer to competitive swimming, but that hasn't stopped him from getting noticed as he enters the district meet ranked eighth in the 100 breaststroke at 1:03.75."I made the WPIAL meet last year in all three relays, but this will be my first trip individually," the sophomore said. "I think the pressure is going to be different. It's just going to be me out there in that event.""Matt is built for swimming," said Como. "Being just his second year, he's still getting into it and he has that excitement for the sport."Goettler also is scheduled to swim on the Tornado's 200 medley relay team, which is seeded 11th with a time of 1:46.31.The foursome includes Travis Myers, Brandon Walsh and Alex Bauer.