Mars' Gruber has great day in her 1st district meet
PITTSBURGH — Maggie Gruber might have been on pins and needles, but she sure didn't show it.
The Mars freshman phenom said she felt the pressure, but Gruber placed second in the 100-yard butterfly in the first day of the WPIAL Class AA Girls Swimming Championships Thursday at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool.
Her finish of 56.7 seconds guarantees her a spot at the state championships later this month and broke Courtney Shields' previous school record of 57.23.
Gruber was seeded second entering the event.
The only swimmer to top her effort was Greensburg Central Catholic's Andrea Marko, who set a WPIAL meet record with a 55.72.
"I was nervous, like I am in every meet I swim in," said Gruber. "But I felt good the entire way, starting with my dive."
Planets coach Heidi Brandon was all smiles after Gruber's clutch performance.
"It was special to watch," she said. "It's tough to come in to this meet as a freshman, but Maggie trained with Pine-Richland Aquatics the last few years. We practice alongside them, so I had seen her and knew she was going to be good."
Shady Side Academy junior and Penn Township resident Anne Marie Bilott had quite a day as well.
First, she opened the meet by helping the Indians' 200 medley relay team win a district title in 1:50.72.
One of her teammates in the event was Hillary Cummings, a resident of Oakland Township.
"I dropped time on my split, so I'm pretty happy about that," said Bilott.
It's the third WPIAL title overall for Bilott since her freshman year and the first for Cummings.
"We didn't go quite as fast as we had hoped, but our coach (John Landreth) is happy and so are we," Cummings said.
Cummings swam the breaststroke in the second leg of the relay while Bilott was responsible for the third leg, the butterfly.
"One swimmer does not win a relay, obviously," said Landreth. "But Anne Marie put us in position to win. She was spectacular."
Bilott went on to place third in the 200 individual medley and teamed with Penn Township resident Tory Bruch to aid in the Indians' second-place effort in the 200 freestyle relay. Both finishes are worthy of a state-meet berth.
Hoping to make the PIAA event by virtue of a solid time in the girls 200 freestyle is Mars senior
Gabri Pierre, who swam a 1:58.52.
Pierre also was part of the Planets' 200 medley relay squad with Gruber, Corinna Luschini and Phoebe Pierre. The foursome finished in 1:56.03 and in a tie with South Fayette for sixth place."Gabri's swim was beautiful," said Brandon. "This was the first time she broke 2 minutes in that event. And our 200 medley relay team took (3.61) seconds off its best time. We'll keep our fingers crossed."That's because WPIAL Class AA is guaranteed to send only the top four finishers in each event to the state meet. After the other 11 districts have held their respective meets, all of the nonautomatic times across the state will be combined, with the 16 fastest of those earning a trip to PIAAs.Knoch received a 10th-place finish from Kristy Daubner in the 50 freestyle (25.18).In the Class AA boys meet, Knoch's Van McCarren broke Joe Wagner's school record in the 200 freestyle by swimming a 1:55.22, good for 17th place.McCarren, Cody Lehnerd, Cole Blaugher and Josh Tackett had a solid effort in the 200 freestyle relay, placing 13th with a time of 1:36.17.Mars' Jack Muehlheuser was 13th in the 200 individual medley at 2:08.85.
Seneca Valley's Julie Titley placed fourth in the 200 freestyle and Makena Lynch sixth in the 50 freestyle with times of 1:56.64 and 24.58, respectively.Though only the top three in each event are assured of going to the state meet, Raiders coach Jerry Koller is confident those two girls will get there."I think they both have a very good chance, based on last year's times," he said. "Julie was eighth here last year and she made it. She finished fourth today. And in the 50 free, 24.9 (seconds) was good enough last year and Makena beat that."Also hoping to swim another race is the Raiders' 200 freestyle relay squad of Lynch, Titley, Stephanie Ciraula and Madisen Tretter.The foursome's prospects seem to be good after placing sixth (1:41.68).Ciraula was 10th in the 200 freestyle.Butler's 200 medley relay team of Brianna Keelan, Taylor Campbell, Jordan McElhaney and Morgan Morrison placed 12th with a time of 1:59.86.<b>Boys</b>Butler Township's Mark Newell, a sophomore at Central Catholic, was on the Vikings' 200 medley team that placed sixth. He also placed ninth in the 100 butterfly.Both Seneca Valley and Butler had relay teams put forth solid showings.SV's quartet of Tony Geyer, Tyler Piedimonte, Matt Myers and Justin Pritchard was 10th in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:32.18.Butler finished 12th in the 200 medley event (1:43.94). The group featured Travis Myers, Matt Goettler, Brandon Walsh and Alex Bauer.The WPIAL Class AAA and AA Swimming Championships conclude today at Trees Pool.
