PITTSBURGH — Maggie Gruber knows she didn't have her best swim Thursday.

As it turned out, she didn't need it to defend her title in the WPIAL Class AA girls 100-yard butterfly.

The junior turned in a time of 55 seconds in the event, besting Shady Side Academy's Emily Jaffe by more than four seconds at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool.

Last season, Gruber captured the title with a WPIAL Class AA record time of 54.63. She missed breaking her own record by .38 of a second Thursday.

“I wanted to do better, but I'm not tapered,” Gruber said of the process in which a swimmer will ease yardage in practice to allow the body to recover prior to an important meet.

“We were looking for more today, but she still walks out of here with a WPIAL title,” said Mars coach Heidi Brandon.

Gruber now has three WPIAL titles to her credit. She also won the backstroke as a sophomore.

“When I'm up on that block, I just try to clear my head,” she said. “If I let the pressure get to me, I'd end up doing really bad.”

Gruber wasn't the only Butler County swimmer to grab gold on Thursday.

Freeport freshman Bria Otwell placed first in the Class AA 200 individual medley with a time of 2:07.02.

Otwell entered the race seeded second, 1.71 seconds behind West Allegheny senior Ashley Niznik.

“We were neck and neck,” said Otwell. “But on the last leg (freestyle), I could see that I had moved ahead of her and I was excited about that.”

Otwell ended up finishing 1.34 seconds in front of Niznik.

“I wanted to at least get my best time, but I really wanted to win today,” added Otwell.

“She said she was a bit nervous, but you'd never be able to tell,” said Freeport coach Lori Dudek. “She was cool and very focused.”

Mars' 200 medley relay finished third, which guaranteed it a spot at the state championships later this month.

The Planets' quartet included Gruber, Caroline Pacey, Nicole Parrish and Torrey Shields and it managed a time of 1:53.18.

“We were hoping to take a second off our seed time (1:55.18),” said Brandon. “Taking off two was really good.”

“I didn't know what to expect out of the medley relay,” said Gruber, “but I'm glad we made states.”

Shields, who swam the event's freestyle leg, added, “The competition was really tough out there.”

It was, but the Planets came through to extend the relay squad's season.

“All four of the girls had their best splits,” added Brandon.

Knoch's girls were led by the 200 freestyle relay, which placed 14th.

n In Class AAA girls action, Seneca Valley's Madisen Tretter, Kaitlyn Burkett, Alicia Zilka and Kate Miller teamed up in the 200 freestyle relay and shaved off 4.38 seconds from its seed time, good for 10th place.

“The girls did well, they swam their best,” said Raiders' coach Brian Blackwell. “There was a lot of good competition.”

In the same event, Butler took over a second off its time to place 23rd.

Following are results from the WPIAL Swimming Championships. Butler County swimmers who automatically qualified for the PIAA meet appear in bold.<B>Class AAAGirls </B>200 medley relay: 1-North Allegheny 1:44.99; 14(tie)-Seneca Valley (Sarah Ritchie, Carly Belsterling, Jacklyn Curtz, Holly Sauer) 1:56.22; 23-Butler (Emily Bruce, Taylor Campbell, Macie Pennington, Kati Herr) 2:00.45200 freestyle: 1-Shannon Haberman (Oakland Catholic) 1:52.26; 13-Kate Miller (SV) 1:57.2; 32-Alicia Zilka (SV) 2:03.77; 38-Macie Pennington (B) 2:07.83200 individual medley: 1-Kristen Murslack (Pine-Richland) 2:03.75; 34-Carly Belsterling (SV) 2:19.58; 35-Taylor Campbell (B) 2:20.0550 freestyle: 1-Alyssa Ruffing (Franklin Regional) 23.36; 27-Kaitlyn Burkett (SV) 25.51100 butterfly: 1-Natalie Johnsen (Upper St. Clair) 56.26; 19-Madisen Tretter (SV) 1:00.79; 30-Jacklyn Curtz (SV) 1:03.91200 freestyle relay: 1-North Allegheny 1:35.01; 10-Seneca Valley (Madisen Tretter, Kaitlyn Burkett, Alicia Zilka, Kate Miller) 1:40.81; 23-Butler (Kati Herr, Amelia Rashid, Harlee Evans, Emily Bruce) 1:47.21<B>Boys </B>200 medley relay: 1-North Allegheny 1:34.19; 12-Butler (Travis Myers, Dante Cicco, Levi Leyland, Cole Chamberlain) 1:45.39; 20-Seneca Valley (Matyas Katzer, Dan Barnes, Ryan Cwik, Mitch Schall) 1:50.3200 freestyle: 1-Lucas Bureau (Latrobe) 1:40.23; 24-Mike Rhein (SV) 1:50.09; 27-Brandon Nicklas (SV) 1:51.15200 individual medley: 1-Matt Buerger (North Allegheny) 1:53.12; 15-Nick Wargo (SV) 2:07.0450 freestyle: 1-Erik Brinkhoff (Bethel Park) 21.17; 11-Travis Myers (B) 22.63; 12-Matt Myers (SV) 22.68; 13-Mike Palaski (SV) 22.82100 butterfly: 1-Andrew Rich (Peters Township) 48.97; 9-Ryan Cwik (SV) 55.23200 freestyle relay: 1-Upper St. Clair 1:25.23; 11-Seneca Valley (Mike Palaski, Mike Rhein, Nick Wargo, Matt Myers) 1:30.83; 24-Butler (Hunter Dimmick, Cole Chamberlain, Dante Cicco, Levi Leyland) 1:35.95<B>Class AAGirls </B>200 medley relay: 1-West Allegheny 1:50.35; 3-Mars (Maggie Gruber, Caroline Pacey, Nicole Parrish, Torrey Shields) 1:53.18; 10-Freeport (Bria Otwell, Kylie Lucas, Megan Sweeny, Rebecca Dudek) 2:00.98; 18-Knoch (Katie Jones, Jenny Allen, Hannah Shoemaker, Maranda Tano) 2:06.33200 freestyle: 1-Braelyn Tracy (Elizabeth Forward) 1:53.3; 16-Caroline Pacey (M) 2:05.14; 17-Rebecca Dudek (F) 2:05.91; 25-Amanda Alikhani (M) 2:07.95; 26-Madison Whalen (K) 2:08.12200 individual medley: 1-Bria Otwell (F) 2:07.02; 18-Jessica Ott (M) 2:25.97; 24-Nicole Parrish (M) 2:29.5450 freestyle: 1-Maddie Bartrug (South Fayette) 24.77; 14-Torrey Shields (M) 26.07100 butterfly: 1-Maggie Gruber (M) 55.0; 20-Madison Whalen (K) 1:04.54; 21-Nicole Parrish (M) 1:05.41200 freestyle relay: 1-South Fayette 1:39.9; 13-Mars (Hannah Webb, Nicole Parrish, Phoebe Pierre, Amanda Alikhani) 1:47.52; 14-Knoch (Katie Jones, Hannah Shoemaker, Madison Whalen, Anna Cunningham) 1:47.87<B>Boys </B>200 medley relay: 1-Indiana 1:39.28; 2-Mars (Jack Muehlheuser, Thomas Pierre, Chris Georgiadis, Reed McDonough) 1:39.68; 7-Knoch (Chadd Cummings, Ian Lindsey, Nathan Walls, Austin Wittmer) 1:44.9200 freestyle: 1-Alex Szakelyhidi (Riverside) 1:45.29; 3-Francis Folz (M) 1:48.47; 12-Thomas Pierre (M) 1:51.18; 13-Reed McDonough (M) 1:51.24; 18-Austin Wittmer (K) 1:54.96200 individual medley: 1-Bobby Francis (Quaker Valley) 1:55.14; 2-Chris Georgiadis (M) 1:58.99; 4-Jack Muehlheuser (M) 2:02.06; 12-Ian Lindsey (K) 2:09.550 freestyle: 1-Cameron Clerici (Beaver) 21.48; 22-Matt Wilson (K) 23.58100 butterfly: 1-Brad Kolesar (West Mifflin) 52.1; 13-Chadd Cummings (K) 56.99; 17-Nathan Walls (K) 58.08; 24-Jacob Shoemaker (K) 59.53; 26(tie)-Matt Wilson (K) 1:00.01200 freestyle relay: 1-Shady Side Academy 1:29.03; 18-Knoch (Matt Wilson, Mike Kasunic, Joe Hutchinson, Jacob Shoemaker) 1:38.85