LEWISBURG — After a relatively easy 100 butterfly victory Friday — which she set the state record twice — Mars' Maggie Gruber was looking for a challenge.

She got one on Saturday.

In the second day of the PIAA Class AA Swimming Championships, Gruber held off hard-charging efforts by Marie Georger of Mercyhurst Prep and Sarah Hitchens of Villa Maria Academy to claim the 100 backstroke with a time of 54.54 seconds.

The gold medal was her second of the weekend — she claimed the 100 butterfly on Friday — and fourth state title in three years for Gruber.

“Coming into the race, I knew it was going to be a close race with Marie and Sarah,” Gruber said. “I didn't know what to expect. I figured whatever happens, happens.

“My 100 fly is completely different from my 100 back. It didn't matter in the 100 fly, but in the 100 back, I just wanted the best time I could get,” Gruber added.

“Those were the top-three girls in the top-three heats (to reach the finals),” Mars coach Heidi Brandon said, “so I got a good chance to see how they performed in the preliminaries.

“I had an idea how it would play out. Maggie needed the lead after the first 50 meters to win it and that's how it played out. With her turns, no one was going to beat her.

“The other two girls had the race of their lives. I think all three did,” Brandon added.

Gruber had a preliminary time of 54.89 to move into the “A” final, but while Brandon was watching from above, Gruber was concerned about what she was doing under the water.

“I tried to focus on my underwaters and not to pay attention to the competition,” said Gruber. “I had no idea if I won. I had to look.

“This shows that my hard work paid off. I've been working on my backstroke all year. I'm really happy about it.”

This season, Gruber made it a sweep of WPIAL and PIAA titles in both of the events.

Both state titles helped Gruber to being named the MVP of the championships, her state record time keying the tiebreaker with Mifflinburg's Adrianna Grabski, who won the 50 and 100 free events.

“They did not include relay events,” Brandon said. “They weighted wins on how you ranked nationally ... her fly time is so high nationally.”

“Words just can't describe that,” Gruber said. “I'm really happy.”

In her three seasons at Mars, Gruber has four WPIAL titles (two 100 fly, two 100 back) and four state crowns (three fly, one back) and last week qualified for the U.S. Olympic Time Trials — which will be held in July — in those two events.

Three other athletes took part in Saturday's portion of the meet.

n Freeport freshman Bria Otwell captured her second medal of the weekend when she finished seventh in the 500 free with a time of 5:08.38. She recorded a 5:01.58 in the preliminaries to move on to the finals.

Otwell placed fifth Friday in the 200 IM with a time of 2:08.20.

n Slippery Rock sophomore Katie Antal just missed out on a medal in the 100 breast, placing ninth with a time of 1:07.57, which led the next eight in the “B” final

Her preliminary time of 1:08.11 was just short of getting her into the “A” final.

n Slippery Rock senior Kelsey Reott finished 12th in the 100 back with a time of 1:00.37 after recording a preliminary time of 59.95.