LEWISBURG — Anne Marie Bilott has been through all this before, so this year, she wasn't going to worry about it.

Bilott, of Penn Township, qualified for four events in this year's PIAA Class AA Swimming and Diving Championships, just as she did a year ago.

Bilott, a Shady Side Academy junior, placed eighth in the 100 breaststroke finals on Saturday at Bucknell University, giving her four top-10 performances for the weekend.

She was seeded 11th in the 100 breast and placed sixth in the preliminaries with a time of 1:08.26 to punch her ticket to the championship heat.

"I had never been in three events in one day," said Bilott, who took part in two relays. "But, I thought I handled it well ... I did not have any stress on me at all.

"I realized if I swam more relaxed, I could do better and whatever happens, happens," Bilott added.

"Anne Marie was very comfortable this year, more so than last year, and more comfortable than her freshman year," said Shady Side Academy coach John Landreth. "Experience was the difference."

On Friday, Bilott placed fifth in the 200 IM (2:09.02) while the 200 free relay was sixth (1:40.87) and the 200 medley relay was 10th (1:51.41).

She was joined in the 200 free relay with Penn Township's Tory Bruch and the 200 medley relay with Hillary Cummings of Oakland Township.

"The medley relay, we thought we could do better, but individually, I came down in that event," Bilott said. "The 200 IM I was very pleased I dropped two seconds from my WPIAL to state time and I was pleased with my 50 free in the relay as well.

"I think I finished well," Bilott added.

Landreth agreed.

"I thought her IM was outstanding. Fifth place is pretty darn good. I believe she was fifth last year, but a half-second faster this year.

"The medley relay was 10th, but her leg was instrumental ... I believe she had the second-fastest split in the meet. I'm sure she was not happy with her performance in the 100 breast. She thought she'd be faster, but eighth in the state is a darn nice accomplishment," Landreth added.

After earning a first-place tie on Friday in the 100 butterfly, Mars freshman Maggie Gruber earned a sixth-place finish in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.99.

As a team, Shady Side Academy finished 10th with 77 points — behind first-place Oakland Catholic's total of 187 — with Bilott having a hand in 45 points.

"My teammates have done a lot," said Bilott. "We make each other laugh, keep each other occupied. It was a lot of fun."

Said Landreth, "Anne Marie and Hillary have been a staple in that relay for three years. It was neat to watch. They grew up swimming together.

"Tory's a new addition as a senior captain and performed outstandingly. The sixth-place finish in the 400 relay was an amazing job. Still, a top 16 effort in the 400 free relay is a great effort," Landreth added.

Saturday's top placewinner, however, was Mars' Maggie Gruber, who finished sixth in the 100 back with a time of 57.99.

This coming off Friday's championship performance in the 100 butterfly, where she tied Nazareth's Victoria Gillespie for top honors, the Planets' first state champion.

Gruber entered the state meet in the 100 back as the No. 6 seed and also placed sixth in the preliminaries with a time of 58.52.

Gruber earned all of Mars' 31.5 team points, which was good enough for a tie for 24th place.

Bruch was also a member of the Indians' 14th-place 400 free relay squad, which was clocked at 3:42.46 in the consolation final. The team had placed 16th in the prelims with a time of 3:44.20. She was joined by Courtney Collins, Alexis Concordia and Destin Goff.

Gruber's teammate, Gabri Pierre, finished 27th in the 500 free preliminaries with a time of 5:26.47 but did not advance.

Boys Class AAIn the consolation final heat, Mars' Jack Muehlheuser placed 12th in the 100 back with a time of 54.87 after placing 12th in the prelims with a time of 54.69.In the 100 breaststroke, Grove City's Chris Gregg also reached the consolation final by placing 14th in the prelims with a time of 1:01.39, but in the finals, he finished in 11th place with a time of 1:00.84.