The last three years sometimes seem like a blur to Freeport senior Andrea McQueen.

McQueen then was a freshman making her first appearance at the WPIAL Class AA swimming championships.

She placed second and fourth in the 100-yard freestyle and breaststroke, respectively, earning a spot at the state meet in both events.

She also helped the Yellowjackets' 200 medley relay team earn a trip to states with a fourth-place finish.

She continued to improve, making it to states in both individual events her sophomore season.

As a junior, she became the WPIAL champion in the 100 freestyle.

McQueen now is set for her final appearance at the WPIAL Class AA title meet Tuesday and Wednesday at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool.

"The last three years went by really fast," said McQueen, who will continue swimming at Pitt following graduation.

"Being that this is my last year, I've been thinking back to my freshman season a lot," McQueen added. "Everything was so new for me then."

McQueen might be the defending champion in the 100 freestyle, but she will be seeded fourth with a time of 54.4 seconds.

She will team up with Gail Erickson, Keil Erickson and Katy Screen to swim the 200 medley relay.

Keil and Gail Erickson, Maddie Pertras and McQueen will swim the 200 freestyle.

Pertras, Jamie Boyle, Brittany Korbeck and Keil Erickson will compete in the 400 freestyle relay.

"They're all hard workers," said Freeport coach Gregg McQueen of his WPIAL qualifiers. "The 400 relay team didn't qualify until the next-to-last meet of the season against Deer Lakes. That was good to see."

Knoch's Rachel Tano might have surprised a few people with her third-place finish in the breaststroke event last season.

But they won't be caught off guard if the junior has another strong finish this year.

Tano's seed time is 1:10.81.

"I don't think that my experience is going to help me," Tano said. "The WPIAL meet is a fair game for everybody. It just comes down to who works the hardest."

"Rachel's got a good shot to be number one in the breaststroke," said Knoch coach Stephanie Karwoski. "She's older and stronger this year."

Tano is one of a handful of Knoch girls going to the event.

The list also includes Jillian Vogus, Jessica Gross, Nicolette Krause, Hannah Zibert, Jolene Kunkel, Paula Pivaronas and Kristy Daubner.

Mars' 200 medley relay squad is seeded second behind Shady Side Academy.

The Planets will count on Rachel Szymkowiak (backstroke), Chloe Pierre (breaststroke), Courtney Shields (butterfly) and Gabri Pierre (freestyle) to finish in the top four, which would send the team to the state meet.

"Swimming relays is a lot of fun," said Szymkowiak. "If you win, you're the fastest four girls in the whole district."

Szymkowiak placed fourth and went to states last year in the 200 individual medley.

This year, she'll try to do the same in the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke.

She set her personal-record time of 59.64 in the butterfly during a meet against Oakland Catholic earlier this season.

"At a meet like WPIALs, you're always looking to get your personal-best time," she said.

Other girls swimming for Mars include Genna Smialek, Corinna Luschini, Stephanie Karavlan, Lauren Laughlin and Hailea Robick.

Doug Vogus has made an impression on Knoch coach Stephanie Karwoski over the last few years."Doug is the leader on the team," Karwoski said. "He always gives 100 percent and you never hear a complaint out of him. He's a coach's dream."On top of that, he'll soon be a four-year veteran of the WPIAL title meet.Vogus qualified in the 100 backstroke, 100 butterfly and 200 IM this year.He also is eligible to swim on the Knights' 200 freestyle and medley relay teams.Other Knights headed to Trees Pool include Matt Mahan, Josh Tackett, Dylan Beck and Van McCarren.Last season, Freeport didn't have a boys swimming team.Gregg McQueen is pleased that's not the case this year.The Yellowjackets had four male swimmers this season. Two of them, freshmen Josh Carion (200 IM, 100 freestyle) and Ryan Sweeny (200 and 500 freestyles), earned a trip to WPIALs."It's a good foundation for the future," said McQueen. "Hopefully, this is the start of something good."Mars' lone representative on the boys side will be junior Phil Pacey, who will swim the 100 backstroke (1:04.88) and 200 IM (1:18.08).The WPIAL Class AA Championships begin at 3 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday's events will include the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle relay. All other events will be contested Wednesday.