PITTSBURGH — Winning the 100-yard butterfly didn't seem to be much of a problem for Maggie Gruber Thursday morning.

Making the awards stand to accept her first-place medal was a different story.

Gruber won the event with ease, swimming in a time of 53.88 seconds. The effort broke her own WPIAL Class AA girls record of 54.63 set in 2011 and was nearly five seconds better than runner-up Sabrina Bowman from Saint Joseph High School.

Following the race, Mars' senior was in the far end at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool, trying to stay loose for her leg of the upcoming 200 freestyle relay when medals for the butterfly were being handed out.

“They told me the (butterfly) awards would be held after the relay,” Gruber said with a smile. She left the water and sprinted to the awards stand, just in time to be recognized.

It is the fifth time in her decorated high school career she has earned a district championship, including the last three butterfly titles.

“I wasn't tapered or rested coming into (Thursday),” she said. “I just wanted to execute my turns and finish well.

“It's great to win this event three straight times,” added Gruber. “It's always great to get up there and get a first-place medal.”

Gruber also helped Mars place third in both the 200 medley relay (1:52.35) and 200 freestyle relay (1:41.37). Her teammates in both events were Caroline Pacey, Nicole Parrish and Torrey Shields. The quartet will swim both events at the state meet later this month.

Freeport's Bria Otwell successfully defended her title in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:08.54, just one-tenth of a second ahead of South Fayette senior Mary Rosati.

“I didn't feel that well before the race,” she said. “My body felt tight and I was not happy with my backstroke. But I am happy with the end result.”

Following the medal presentation, Otwell and Rosati posed for several pictures.

“We've been to Eastern Zone competitions together over the last few years,” Otwell said of their swim club accomplishments. “She's a good friend of mine.”

Otwell's teammate, Freeport freshman Zoe Pawlak, earned a spot at the state meet by tying for third in the 50 freestyle.

Knoch's foursome of Anna Cunningham, Katie Jones, Madison Whalen and Abby Jones earned a medal by placing sixth in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:43.21.

Class AAA

Butler's Stephanie O'Toole missed out on a district title in the butterfly event by nine-tenths of a second as North Allegheny's Kayla Churman took first place with a finish of 56.56.

The silver medal does guarantee O'Toole a berth at the PIAA Championships.

“Hopefully, that second-place finish will give her the fuel to give everything she has toward the state meet,” said Butler coach Dave Bocci.

Two Butler relay teams that included O'Toole received medals after placing eighth. They also featured Taylor Campbell, Jillian McElhaney and Kati Herr.

Kate Miller picked a good time to give her top effort in the 200 freestyle, placing sixth with a personal-best time of 1:53.76.

She placed 13th in the event last year.

“I was more relaxed at this meet,” said Miller, a senior at Seneca Valley. “I've been training hard this year and it paid off.”

“She was fast at the start, it was just an awesome race,” SV coach Brian Blackwell said of Miller. “Usually, the top six from the WPIAL make the state meet. It's going to be close.”

Note: Class AA will automatically send its top four girl finishers in each event to the state meet. In Class AAA, that number is three. Swimmers who finished outside those guaranteed spots will need to have their time fall within the 16 fastest non-automatic times across the state.