BUTLER TWP — Beside the pool at Butler High School, 17 laminated sheets displaying already-attained district qualifications stick neatly in rows to a green board.

Right away Wednesday night, the Golden Tornado’s 200-yard girls medley relay quartet — made up of Rachel Smith, Julie DeMeio, Rylee Pflugh, and Abigail Vance — made sure that panel would grow even more crowded.

The group beat out Knoch in that event by a mere five hundreths of second, also hitting the mark that certifies it to participate in the WPIAL meet, which begins on Feb. 29.

Butler’s girls defeated the Knights, 107-67.

“We’ve been working every day of the week,” Pflugh said. “This is what we’ve been working towards all year. ... Some days, we have two (practices) a day. So, you’re tired in the morning and then you have to go back in the afternoon. It’s all worth it when you get to where you are.”

“It’s been a lot of practicing,” Smith added.

The accomplishment — and all of the prior ones — are a product of the process.

“This season, we’ve really re-taught a lot of things,” Golden Tornado coach Troy Kroll said. “We really got down to basics — turns, finishes, just those little things that help races. My staff has really been in lockstep with me on it. Each one of them is saying the same thing, just a different way, so the kids are hearing it all the time every day.

“It’s starting to show up right at the right time.”

It was also evident in four neck-and-neck event finishes among Butler teammates. Butler’s boys, — which are hovering around .500 — won, 89-43.

Emma Pflugh won the 50 freestyle with a time of 26.75. Meghan Reay followed closely behind at 26.99. After staying within a second of Keaton Matteson in the same swim in the boys’ competition, Noah Collins beat Jackson Morgus in a similar manner in the 100 freestyle.

On the girls’ side in that event, Abigail Vance barely edged out Emma Pflugh.

“Yesterday, we’re working on finishes and we have kids out-touching each other, diving for the finish, racing,” Kroll said. “That’s exactly what we want to see out of these guys instead of being very timid about it and just swimming in-between the flags.

“We want them to race the flag zones, we want them to race the turns, we want them to race the finishes. ... We saw it tonight. A lot of those races were just hundreds of a second. Fingernails.”

Kroll echoed the same sentiment as Rylee Pflugh. Results show his program is trending upward.

“The tough days are worth it,” Kroll said. “The days that we’re just ready to be done are worth it. When you get down to achieving your goals, all that pain is worth it. It’s paying off.”

The achievement brings an enthusiasm for new opportunities.

“It’s my junior year and I haven’t gone yet,” DeMeio said. “It’s really exciting. Just with the atmosphere, it’s a really cool thing to be able to do.”

Knights Succeeding

Knoch’s Giona Lavorini won both the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. She ranks third in the state in the latter and has qualified for WPIALs in all but the 50 freestyle.

Adrian Lavorini has met the requirements for each individual event at districts, while Olivia Walewski and Jacob Ruediger have multiple qualifications, as well.

“We’ve been having a really good season,” said first-year Knights coach Allison Clarke, who taught a number of her underclassmen as an eighth-grade science teacher. “A lot of growth, we’re dropping times like crazy. ... We’ve been working really hard in practice, trying a whole bunch of new stuff trying to get us in top shape.”

Boys

Butler 89, Knoch 43

200 medley relay: Butler (Jackson Morgus, Ben Grossman, Keaton Matteson, Noah Collins) 1:44.90

200 freestyle: Sam Miller (B) 2:19.85

200 individual medley: Dash Thieme (B) 2:19.49

50 freestyle: Keaton Matteson (B) 22.83

1-meter diving: Owen Davis (B) 149.65

100 butterfly: Dash Thieme (B) 59.71

100 freestyle: Noah Collins (B) 51.23

500 freestyle: Simon Bianshin (B) 6:01.03

200 freestyle relay: Butler (Keaton Matteson, Ben Grossman, Noah Collins, Tommy Fiechuk) 1:39.61

100 backstroke: Jackson Morgus (B) 59.10

100 breaststroke: Adrian Lavorini (K) 1:04.24

400 freestyle relay: Butler (Jackson Morgus, Sam Miller, Simon Bianchin, Dash Thieme) 4:01.58

Girls

Butler 107, Knoch 67

200 medley relay: Butler (Rachel Smith, Julie DeMeio, Rylee Pflugh, Abigail Vance) 1:58.25

200 freestyle: Julie DeMeio (B) 2:15.75

200 individual medley: Giona Lavorini (K) 2:13.83

50 freestyle: Emma Pflugh (B) 26.75

1-meter diving: Michelle Jacobson (B) 174.20

100 butterfly: Sophia Greene (K) 1:15.19

100 freestyle: Abigail Vance (B) 56.70

500 freestyle: Addison Vance (B) 5:35.28

200 freestyle relay: Butler (Emma Pflugh, Kailyn Kroll, Rylee Pflugh, Meghan Reay) 1:48.09

100 backstroke: Addison Vance (B) 1:04.45

100 breaststroke: Giona Lavorini (K) 1:05.72

400 freestyle relay: Knoch (Sidney Young, Josephine Graper, Kate Murray, Sophia Greene) 4:40.26