Looking 4 More
ADAMS TWP — What will Maggie Gruber do for a swan song? Mars' senior swimmer is hoping for more of the same.
Already with four WPIAL titles to her credit, Gruber, like last year, will enter the WPIAL Class AA Girls Swimming Championships seeded first in both the 100-yard butterfly (55.23 seconds) and 100 backstroke (57.6).
The Virginia Tech recruit has won the district title in both events the last two years and will be in search of a pair of three-peats Thursday and Friday at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool.
Gruber's best time in the events are 53.5 seconds in the butterfly and 54.5 in the backstroke.
“The ultimate goal is to better my times,” she said. “It helps when you have good swimmers next to you to push you.”
Mars coach Heidi Brandon has witnessed firsthand Gruber's rise over the last four seasons.
“The best part is, with all the success she's had, Maggie is still working so hard,” she said. “She's in there fighting because she wants to have a good showing.”
Gruber tries to find time to relax, even with a big meet looming.
“I actually try not to focus too hard, otherwise I get very nervous,” she said. “I just try to spend time with my friends.”
Another swimmer with a pair of titles to defend is Freeport sophomore Bria Otwell, who won the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle last year. She is seeded first and fifth, respectively, in this week's meet.
“I could not be happier with the sophomore season Bria has had,” said Freeport coach Lori Dudek. “She's been marvelous.”
“I feel a lot more pressure this time,” admitted Otwell. “Nobody knew who I was last year. I don't have the element of surprise this time.
“I'm OK with it,” she added, “but it's made me a bit nervous.”
Freeport also has Zoe Pawlak, a freshman seeded second in the 50 freestyle (25.23).
Knoch senior Anna Cunningham has two school records within her sights. She is seeded eighth in the backstroke (1:03.16), just over sixth-tenths of a second away from the Knights' standard. She is ninth in the 100 freestyle (56.49), 1.34 seconds away from that record.
“This is my last WPIAL meet and I want to go out in style,” she said. “I'm not planning to swim in college and I would love to get to the state meet.”
Nothing against second place, but Chris Georgiadis is tired of silver.Mars' junior was runner-up in the 500 freestyle and 200 IM at last year's WPIAL meet. He was also a member of the Planets' 200 medley relay squad that finished second at the WPIAL and PIAA meets.“Honestly, I want to win so bad,” he said. “The 500 (seeded eighth, 5:05.34) is going to be a tough race. I think my best opportunity is in the IM (seeded first, 1:59.32).”Also swimming those two events for the Planets is Tommy Pierre, who is ranked third in the IM and seventh in the 500 freestyle.He swam the 500 and 200 freestyle events at WPIALs last year, placing ninth and 12th, respectively.“I realized I was better in the IM than in the 200, so I switched,” said Pierre. “I've been working on the different strokes throughout the season and have improved.”Knoch's boys are led by senior Ian Lindsey, ranked second in the breaststroke with a time of 1:02.9.As a sophomore, he placed 13th in the event at WPIALs and improved to third place last year.“In 10th grade, I decided that I wanted to go to college,” he said. “Setting goals in swimming helped to balance that out for me. I hope to swim in college and would like to break my own school record in the breaststroke, which right now is 1:01.5.”
