Mar 16, 2005 By The 3 min read

Two local swimmers will get an early start today when the PIAA 2004-05 Swimming & Diving Championships begin at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium. Uniontown’s Kaitlyn Johnson and Jefferson-Morgan’s Erin Barbetta will swim in the 50 freestyle preliminaries, slated to start at 8:27 a.m. Johnson captured a silver medal nearly two weeks ago at the WPIAL Championships, finishing just two tenths of a second behind Indiana’s Abbey Doran.

Barbetta, meanwhile, finished in eighth place at the District 7 finals, and had to wait to find out if her time was good enough for a PIAA berth. Johnson captured an automatic spot in the PIAA meet with her top-three finish.

Laurel Highlands’ Adam Collins, who won gold and silver medals at the WPIALs, will compete individually today in the 100 butterfly, and Thursday in the 100 backstroke.

Collins captured a gold in the 100 backstroke a week ago when he nipped Freeport’s Brendan McGregor at the finish, and he won a silver in the 100 butterfly, finishing second to Shady Side Academy’s Tyler Scheid.

Connellsville’s Marie Nedley will compete Friday and Saturday, first in the 200 freestyle Friday, then in the 500 freestyle Saturday. Nedley won a gold medal at the WPIAL Championships in the 500 free, and also captured a surprise bronze medal in the 200 free.

The Mustangs will have a pair of relay teams competing, first in the 200 medley relay Thursday morning, then in the 400 freestyle relay Thursday night.

Collins’ gold medal-winning time of 54.15 has him seeded fifth at the state meet in the 100 backstroke. The Laurel Highlands’ junior is also seeded fifth in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.24.

Scheid, the WPIAL gold medallist in the 100 butterfly, is the state’s top seed with a mark of 51.31.

Johnson’s silver-medal winning time of 24.81 at the WPIAL championships has her seeded 11th at the state meet. Barbetta is seeded No. 27 with a time of 25.23.

Nedley is seeded No. 8 in her best event, the 500 free, with a time of 5:06.14. In the 200 free, she grabbed a No. 15 seed with a mark of 1:56.99.

Laurel Highlands’ 200 medley relay squad, which won a gold medal at the WPIALs, is seeded No. 11 with a mark of 1:43.15. Comprising the squad are: Collins, Steve and Chris Hunchuck and Tony Marghella.

The 400 freestyle relay team of Collins, Chris Hunchuck, Alex Mundel and Jimmy Tesauro is seeded 21st with a time of 3:29.13 after winning a bronze at the Distict 7 finals.

Preliminaries of each event will take place in the morning each day, with the finals being contested in the afternoon and evening. Action is slated to take place Wednesday through Saturday.