Though just a sophomore, Abby Myers has been on this stage before.

The Seneca Valley swimmer will tell you, however, that before she can worry about beating her competitors, she must first beat herself.

Myers, who won last year's WPIAL Class AAA girls 100-yard butterfly, is ranked as the top 200 freestylist in District 7 entering the championship meet, to be held Thursday and Friday at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool.

Myers' time in the event is 1 minute, 53.01 seconds.

She finished third in the 100 freestyle as a freshman.

"The 200 is less of a sprint than the 100," said Myers. "It's all about time. If I can drop a few seconds off my time, that would be good."

That goal also pertains to the butterfly event, where Myers is seeded second with a time of 57.31, .37 seconds behind Moon's Zina Grogg.

Myers did not compete in the 200 freestyle at WPIALs last year, but has made up for lost time.

"She's just a sophomore and we were still trying to figure out what her second event should be," said SV coach Tom Donati. "There's two other girls right there (Peters Township's Kaitlin Riesmeyer, 1:55.31 and Bethel Park's Becca Zimmer 1:55.97) and it's not over yet."

Myers also will be swimming the anchor leg on both the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays, which are seeded sixth and fourth, respectively.

She'll be joined in both relays by Makena Lynch, Julie Titley and Angela Panza.

Titley, a junior, has made strides since her WPIAL appearance a year ago.

She is seeded sixth in the 200 freestyle (1:58.18) and seventh in the 500 freestyle (5:19.31).

"Julie is so much stronger this year," said Donati. "And, top to bottom, it's our weight program that's made a big difference. You read about core, core, core. Well, that's what we're talking about.

"Swimming is a mental sport and Julie has a lot of confidence right now," he added.

Panza, another junior, is ranked 10th in the butterfly event with a time of 1:01.39.

Butler sophomores Brianna Keelan and Morgan Morrison are seeded 19th in the 200 freestyle and 100 breaststroke, respectively.

Keelan was the Golden Tornado's top scoring female swimmer this season.

"What's great about those two is that they're both sophomores," Butler coach Dacia Como said, "so, we have them coming back for a couple more years."

Just like Myers, SV's Dan Gutmann has seen a change in events pay off.As a junior last year, Gutmann swam the 100 breaststroke at WPIALs and placed a respectable 10th.Donati switched him to the 100 freestyle this season and Gutmann enters WPIALs ranked fourth with a time of 48.57."The difference between first and eighth place in the 100 free is a tenth of a second," said Gutmann. "My goal is to get my best time and make states.""Having him swim the breaststroke last year, that was a mistake on my part," said Donati. "He's shown me this year that the 100 freestyle is his event."The 50 freestyle is also Gutmann's event, placing fifth as a junior and seeded 10th this time around.SV sophomore Justin Pritchard is seeded ninth in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.56).Butler's boys will be led by senior Erik Bergh, who is seeded 15th in the 200 freestyle at 1:53.86.He was Butler's top scoring male swimmer in 2008-09.A veteran of the WPIAL meet, this will be Bergh's last trip to Trees Pool."I just want to have fun with it and do my best," he said. "I'm hoping to place in the top 10 in the 200 free."The Class AAA event will be held from 3 to 5:30 p.m. both Thursday and Friday.