After his dominating performance at the WPIAL Class AAA swimming championships last week, junior Ryan Smrekar knew he was headed to states in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events.

He took first in the 50 and second in the 100, which automatically earned him a spot in the PIAA championships from March 12 to 15 at Bucknell University.

On Monday, Smrekar and his teammates found out that a second Knights swimmer will make the trip.

Freshman Jordan Van Winkle's seventh place finish in the 100-yard freestyle at WPIALs earned her a spot at states as she posted one of the top times in Pennsylvania at 53.83.

"She dropped time. After she battled illness and a sore shoulder, she still dropped time," coach Barb Augustin said of her WPIAL performance. "She was seeded eighth and dropped a second off her best time, so it was pretty good."

Van Winkle also nearly qualified for states in the 200 free but missed the timing standard by 0.07 seconds.

"I'm really happy with how I finished and how I did," she said. "It's really nice to know that the pressure is off now."

Fellow freshman Jessica Smrekar also narrowly missed a state meet appearance after coming up 0.26 seconds short in the 100 back, in which she placed eighth at WPIALs with a time of 1:01.89.

"Ryan motivates me to do better," the younger Smrekar said of her brother. "Seeing him do really well makes me want to get up there (to states) too."

Ryan Smrekar nearly pulled off the double gold medal on the second day of WPIAL competition, but Mt. Lebanon's Sho Sugimoto edged him in the 100 free by 0.22 seconds.

Smrekar posted a time of 47.78, which will earn him the 10th seed at WPIALs. His 50 time of 21.19 is the third best in Pennsylvania.

"I think I swam pretty good," he said. "I was disappointed not to be in first, but second is still good."

Despite his individual success, the junior sprinter was happier about the performance of the boys 400-yard freestyle relay of freshman Zach Ligus, junior Logan Dorminey, sophomore Matt Patterson and himself, which took seventh place (3:20.70) and dropped more than five seconds from its seed time at WPIALs.

"They were rested. They were pumped. Knocking five seconds off is unbelievable," boys coach Neil Rushnock said. "They practiced well, and they were so excited. It was unbelievable."

The relay was slotted in the second fastest heat, which put the Norwin group in the middle lanes. Ligus got the group started strong, and Dorminey kept the unit in front. Patterson extended Norwin's lead, and Smrekar iced it in the anchor leg.

"I was just thinking to push myself as hard as I could go and just give it all I had," Dorminey said.

Patterson added, "I was hoping to get far enough because I knew Ryan could hold everybody off."

The relay's finish helped the Norwin boys finish 11th as a team with 92 points. North Allegheny won the team title with 348 points.

The Norwin girls finished 12th as a team with 57 points. Bethel Park won the girls title with 462 points.

For a complete list of results from the WPIAL championships, visit www.wpial.org.