LEWISBURG - Danny Berlitz couldn't have forecast this start to the PIAA Swimming Championships.

The Marian sophomore swam a personal-best 1:52.91 in the 200 IM, a time that would have been good enough for second in the Class 2A race Thursday.But officials determined Berltz, the top seed in the event, did not touch the wall with both hands on his turn during the butterfly, and was disqualified.Wyomissing's Nathan Elzer, who was seeded third, won the race with a time of 1:52.62."It was a good race, best time by two seconds," Berlitz said of his seed time of 1:54.02. "I was just trying to keep up with Nate Elzer. I knew that (Elzer's seed time of 1:54.98) wasn't his fastest; I knew he was going to go faster, so my goal was just to stay with him and just try to beat my time."Had it stood, Berlitz would have improved on last year's fifth-place finish in the event, something he looked to as progress."Overall, it was a good race besides that little fluke," said Berlitz. "Better than last year, which I'm happy about."But I'll just use it as motivation tomorrow and come back, see if I can grab a gold or a top-three medal, work harder and that's it."Berlitz will have plenty to look forward to Friday when action resumes at Bucknell University's Kinney Natatorium. Berlitz is also the top seed in the 500 freestyle (4:35.82)."Tomorrow is just about coming here with the same motivation I came in with today, probably even more, and just ball out, basically," said Berlitz. "Dive in, and just see what I can do. Just go out fast and just basically see what I can do."Marian's Timmy Dando capped his high school career with a strong performance in the 200 freestyle. The senior placed 17th with a time of 1:46.31, an event he was seeded 24th in with a time of 1:47.29."That's my best time ever, so I can't be happier," said Dando. "Coming in, I was hoping for a 1:45, but I have to be happy with it."With Winter Storm Stella forcing the PIAA to move the start of the Class 2A competition back a day, while also eliminating morning preliminary races in favor of timed finals in each event, swimmers were forced to adjust to a new schedule.It worked just fine for Dando."I didn't know what to expect coming in today, not being in the pool for the last two days," said Dando. "But I'm really happy with the result."I got in the water earlier today, (and) I felt pretty good. And then I got in for warm-ups tonight and I felt even better. Maybe I needed the two days of rest."Salisbury's Mahlon Reihman won the 200 freestyle in 1:39.38.In the girls competition, Marian's Katie Kurzinsky placed 26th with a time of 25.06 in the 50 freestyle, which was won by Ellwood City's Taylor Petrak (22.94).While the altered schedule might have helped some swimmers, that wasn't necessarily the case for Kurzinsky, who was seeded 22nd with a time of 24.75."I don't know. I felt good. I think being out of the water and not being able to practice the last few days had an effect," said Kurzinsky, making her third appearance at states.Despite being familiar with the pool, starting the two-day competition with the 50 free, a shorter race, still presented problems for Kurzinsky."The bulkhead here, for the end of the pool, is very difficult to see, especially when you're sprinting, because it's so short, and it's white, so it kind of blends in with the water," she said. "So I've had difficulty with my turn here the past two years. But this time I hit the wall, but I definitely slowed down a bit looking for it to make sure I didn't hit it."So I think that also factored into it. My start felt good, my race felt good, just that bulkhead. But I'm happy with what I did and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."Kurzinsky is seeded 15th in the 100 backstroke, which was held earlier this morning.NOT DONE YET … In addition to Kurzinsky and Berlitz, several other Times News area swimmers were competing today. Tamaqua's Rebecca Kanaskie (23rd in 100 breaststroke); Marian's Angelina Krupko (28th in 100 breaststroke); and Northern Lehigh's Wyatt Delans (26th in 100 breaststroke) were all scheduled for the second day of competition.EARLY TO RISE … Action resumed this morning with the girls 100 freestyle at 10:45. Girls competition was to conclude at 1:15 p.m. following the awards for the 400 freestyle relay. The boys meet will resume at 3:30 p.m. with the 100 freestyle. It will also conclude with the 400 freestyle relay, with awards scheduled for 6 p.m.BOYS TEAM SCORES … Grove City is on top with 122 points. Cathedral Prep is second (106) and Salisbury third (70).GIRLS TEAM SCORES … Villa Maria Academy (District 1) leads the team standings with 106 points. Grove City and Fairview are tied for second with 84 points.