Not all moves are for the better, but the one Makena Lynch made was a stroke of genius.

Two years ago, Lynch was a sophomore swimming distance freestyle events for Seneca Valley.

Last year, Jerry Koller took over as the Raiders' head coach and urged Lynch to switch events.

“I saw her potential to be a great sprinter,” said Koller. “People think swimming up and down once or twice in your lane is easy, but the right technique has to be there.”

Apparently, Lynch has it down pat.

After making the move to the 50 and 100 freestyle events in January 2010, she went on to qualify for the state meet in both events as a junior.

Now making her fourth trip to the WPIAL finals, Lynch is seeded second in both events.

The Class AAA championships will be held Thursday and Friday at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool.

“Coach Koller is really a good sprint coach,” said Lynch. “It took me just a few weeks to get comfortable with the move last season.”

Lynch, Stephanie Ciraula, Alicia Zilka and Katie Miller will swim the 400 freestyle relay. The foursome is seeded third.

Freshman Carley Belsterling is ranked fifth in the 100 breaststroke.

“She put up her seed time (1 minute, 10.41 seconds) in the last meet of the season against Butler,” said Koller. “She is very competitive and has done a fantastic job.”

Butler GirlsThe 200 medley relay team is seeded 13th, but Golden Tornado coach Sarah Clouse said she believes the foursome is capable of more.The team includes Emily Bruce (backstroke), Taylor Campbell (breaststroke), Jordan McElhaney (butterfly) and Brianna Keelan (freestyle). Its seed time is 1:58.86.“The girls in that relay are so versatile. The hardest thing was deciding who would be swimming what stroke,” said Clouse. “We switched it around basically every other meet this season, but it's set now.“The girls have been working so hard and I'm hoping we can move up a few spots,” she added.Class AAA Seneca Valley BoysAnother swimmer making a fourth appearance at WPIALs will be the Raiders' Justin Pritchard, who will swim the 50 freestyle (ranked ninth) and 100 breaststroke (seventh).“I've been swimming since the sixth grade and those have always been my two events,” said Pritchard. “I'm looking to medal (top eight), but I'd really like to get to states.”“If I told him to run through a wall because it would make him better, he'd do it,” said Koller. “He's made a big improvement.”

Butler BoysJunior Travis Myers is seeded 14th in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.29.“He dropped his time three seconds at an invite a few weeks ago,” said Clouse.“A lot of our boys have been dropping a ton of time,” she added. “Most of them did not start swimming until they got to high school.”The top three finishers in each event, including relays, will earn an automatic berth in the state championship meet.