Swimmers aim to end year on high note at state meet
Though she has six WPIAL titles and four state titles under her belt, Mars senior Maggie Gruber doesn't spend time reflecting on her past accomplishments.
Her focus is adding to them.
Gruber's last action as a high school swimmer will come Wednesday and Thursday at the PIAA Class AA Championships, to be held at Bucknell University in Lewisburg.
She is seeded first in the girls 100-yard butterfly and the 100 backstroke and is the defending champion in both events.
Her seed time of 53.88 seconds in the butterfly is 2.69 seconds ahead of the No. 2 seed, York Suburban's Erin Merkle.
“At the state meet, everybody is so hyped up to swim well,” said Gruber. “I know that I'll be as nervous as ever, but I will just try to calm myself down. I would like to go 52 (seconds) in the fly and 53 in the backstroke.”
Gruber will also swim a leg of the 200 medley relay (seeded 13th) and the 200 freestyle relay (12th). Her teammates in both will be Caroline Pacey, Nicole Parrish and Torrey Shields.
“That group already has the school record in the 200 free relay, but they are just over a second shy of the record in the 200 medley,” said Mars coach Heidi Brandon. “The girls want to get it so bad.”
• Freeport's Bria Otwell is seeded high in the 200 individual medley (fourth) and the 500 freestyle (fifth).
“She didn't have her best times in those events last year at states,” said Freeport assistant coach Nikki Heasley. “She's working to change that this time. I know she'd love to go under five minutes in the 500.”
Class AA BoysChris Georgiadis earned his first WPIAL title in the 200 IM last month and the Planets' junior would like to add a gold medal at states.His time in the event at districts was 1:57.34 and it has him seeded second at the PIAA meet, 1.8 seconds behind Lancaster Catholic's Everett Albert.“At states, it's more about where you place,” said Georgiadis. “You know if you place high, it's going to be a good time. I'm swimming to win.”Georgiadis, Tommy Pierre, Reed McDonough and Francis Folz will team up in the 400 freestyle relay (seeded sixth), fresh off a WPIAL title and school record time of 3:17.56.• Knoch has two individual swimmers ranked in the top eight. Ian Lindsey is fifth in the breaststroke and Austin Wittmer is eighth in the 100 freestyle.“It is exciting when your kids are seeded high,” said Knights coach Rick Hassler. “We're trying to get both of them to the finals or the consolation finals. We've been working on little stuff in practice, things like kicking off the wall.”
Class AAA GirlsThe WPIAL Championship meet did not go as planned for Butler senior Stephanie O'Toole.The good news is that her one chance to make up for it will come on an even bigger stage.O'Toole placed second in the 100 butterfly at WPIALs with a time of 56.65, two-tenths of a second slower than her No. 1 seed time. She is seeded eighth in the event at the state meet.“She's had some great workouts lately and I think we'll see a better job from her this time,” said Butler coach Dave Bocci. “She is more driven now than I've seen her all year.”“I'm doing everything I can to have a strong swim at states,” O'Toole said.She will also swim the first leg of Butler's 200 medley relay squad, which placed eighth at WPIALs at 1:49.38. Her teammates include Taylor Campbell, Jillian McElhaney and Kati Herr.“It's been a long time since Butler's girls qualified a relay team for states, if ever,” said Bocci. “But I felt this one had a chance. I set that as a goal for the girls earlier this year. We beat Bethel Park out for the last spot.”• Seneca Valley senior Kate Miller will be swimming three events — 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle and a leg of the 400 freestyle relay. Kaitlyn Burkett, Madisen Tretter and Kassi Grumski will join her after helping SV place seventh at WPIALs.“It's going to be a lot more fun with my teammates there,” Miller said. “Everybody is excited to see if we can drop some time (from 3:34.86).”“As the anchor, Kate had a great split time in the 400 relay at WPIALs,” said SV coach Brian Blackwell. “The other girls were confident she could hold down that relay for us.”
Class AAA BoysButler junior Levi Cetti is seeded ninth in the diving competition after placing third at the district meet (461.15). He placed 16th in the state as a sophomore.The PIAA Class AAA Championships will be held Friday and Saturday.
