PITTSBURGH — Laura Goettler entered the WPIAL Swimming Championships seeded third in the Class AAA girls 200-yard individual medley.

Don't try to pin the underdog tag on her, however, because it won't stick.

After all, Butler's junior came into Thursday's meet at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool as two-time defending champion in the event and proceeded to add to her impressive resume.

Goettler won the event in one minute, 58.68 seconds, shattering her own WPIAL meet record of 2:01.78, set two years ago.

“I was just looking to go below two minutes,” Goettler said. “I didn't realize the speed I was going until I hit the wall and looked up at the board.”

Goettler's reaction when she saw her time?

“Awestruck,” she said.

North Allegheny's Tori Buerger had the district's top seed time of 2:01.59. Fox Chapel's Zoe Skirboll was second at 2:05.74, followed by Goettler's 2:08.36.

“I saw the seed times and they were in the back of my mind,” Goettler said, “but I wasn't focused on them. I just went out and swam my race.”

And Goettler's race was good enough to win the event in more than a second and a half as Skirboll was runner-up at 2:00.25.

After the initial 50 yards — the backstroke leg — she held a half-second lead on Skirboll. By the end of the backstroke, the former's edge was more than a second better than Buerger. That's when the action turned to the breaststroke, which is Goettler's specialty. Her lead was never threatened after that.

“There were a lot of good breaststrokers out there,” said Butler coach Dave Bocci, “and Skirboll is a great one. But the breaststroke is in Laura's wheelhouse. It was very gratifying to see her do what she did today.”

A recent period of modified practices helped prime Goettler for her record-breaking swim.

“It was a slight drop in what we normally do, but it helped me a lot,” she said.

Though Goettler was one of the top swimmers in the WPIAL as a freshman, she has gotten even stronger.

“She is more disciplined now,” said Bocci. “She knows she has to work even harder if she wants to be faster and she is humbly unaware of how good she can be.”

Boys

Seneca Valley's Owen Blazer was part of two record-breaking efforts.

He first placed third in the 100 butterfly with a school-record time of 49.88, topping his own standard of 50.66. He later teamed with Max Skeen, Daniel Simoes and Kevin Donaldson to take down the school record in the 200 freestyle relay. Their 6th-place time of 1:27.17 edged the previous record of 1:27.39, which Blazer had a hand in setting last year.

“Two of the guys on that relay are freshmen (Simoes and Donaldson),” said Blazer, “but they're great in the freestyle. So we said, 'Let's go for it.'”

As for his time in the butterfly, Blazer is hoping to soon set another standard.

“I felt pretty good out there, but there is still room for improvement,” he said. “That third 25 (yards), I didn't quite get out of that what I wanted. I think I can go 49-low or 48-high.”

Also looking to push himself in an individual event is Butler senior Alex Deemer, who was runner-up in the 200 freestyle. Place-wise, it is Deemer's best finish at WPIALs, but his time of 1:42.4 left a bit to be desired.

“The place is alright, but I'm frustrated with the time,” said Deemer, who was hoping to go 1:39. I went out too fast at the beginning and didn't realize how fast I was going. In the second half, I just died.”

Following are results from the WPIAL Swimming Championships, which began Thursday at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool. The top eight in each event earned a medal. The winner of each event automatically earned a spot at the state meet.Class AAAGirlsButler, Seneca Valley, Mars200 medley relay: 1-Mt. Lebanon 1:43.87, 5-Seneca Valley (Taylor Schoeffel, Edie Sawyer, Julia Listwak, Alyvia Meanor) 1:47.95, 6-Butler (Abbie Griffith, Laura Goettler, Rachel Ledford, Savannah Holt) 1:47.98200 freestyle: 1-Molly Smyers (North Allegheny) 1:51.42200 individual medley: 1-Laura Goettler (B) 1:58.68, 5-Kendall Craig (SV) 2:07.05, 6-Megan Smith (M) 2:08.3150 freestyle: 1-Olivia Livingston (Gateway) 22.78100 butterfly: 1-Trinity Ward (Mt. Lebanon) 54.44, 5-Abbie Griffith (B) 57.83200 freestyle relay: 1-Mt. Lebanon 1:36.83BoysButler, Seneca Valley200 medley relay: 1-North Allegheny 1:31.0, 6-Butler (Alex Deemer, David Bocci, Sam Deemer, Ben Borvendeg) 1:36.93200 freestyle: 1-Jack Wright (North Allegheny) 1:37.48, 2-Alex Deemer (B) 1:42.4, 8-Kevin Donaldson (SV) 1:45.02200 individual medley: 1-Richard Mihm (North Allegheny) 1:48.1550 freestyle: 1-Gavin Mayo (Hempfield) 20.6, 5-Ben Borvendeg (B) 21.56100 butterfly: 1-Kimani Gregory (Penn Hills) 47.94, 3-Owen Blazer (SV) 49.88, 8-Sam Deemer (B) 51.48200 freestyle relay: 1-North Allegheny 1:22.92, 6-Seneca Valley (Owen Blazer, Daniel Simoes, Max Skeen, Kevin Donaldson) 1:27.17Class AAGirlsKnoch, Freeport, North Catholic200 medley relay: 1-Indiana 1:49.07, 2-Freeport (Ariana Clark, Alexis Schrecongost, Madison Moretti, Isabella Parks) 1:51.45, 4-North Catholic (Emma Kunzmann, Julia Kocsis, Brittney Carmazzi, Ainsley Bissett) 1:53.49200 freestyle: 1-Karen Siddoway (Northgate) 1:51.3200 individual medley: 1-Isabel Huang (Quaker Valley) 2:07.34, 5-Alexis Schrecongost (F) 2:13.15, 7-Julia Kocsis (NC) 2:15.4650 freestyle: 1-Heather Gardner (Mt. Pleasant) 23.24100 butterfly: 1-Payton Rayko (Indiana) 57.72, 2-Brittney Carmazzi (NC) 57.78, 5-Julia Kocsis (NC) 59.81200 freestyle relay: 1-Northgate 1:39.0BoysKnoch, Mars, Freeport, North Catholic200 medley relay: 1-Indiana 1:38.36, 4-Knoch (Zach Wilson, Matt Cummings, Michael Phillips, Braden Zukowski) 1:40.9200 freestyle: 1-Andrew Pierre (M) 1:42.19, 7-Aidan Wolf (M) 1:50.21200 individual medley: 1-Robert Spekis (Belle Vernon) 1:57.41, 4-Matt Cummings (K) 1:59.86, 5-Braden Zukowski (K) 2:00.1550 freestyle: 1-Conner McBeth (Neshannock) 21.26100 butterfly: 1-Ian Shahan (Belle Vernon) 49.66200 freestyle relay: 1-Shady Side Academy 1:27.81, 4-Knoch (Zach Wilson, Caden Traggiai, Braden Zukowski, Matt Cummings) 1:30.47