Missing finals is generally considered a bad plan for a high school student.

Some of the girls on West Allegheny's swimming team, however, didn't mind passing on a couple last weekend.

Several members of the school's girls' swimming team competed in Team Pittsburgh's prestigious Christmas Meet Invitational at Pitt's Trees Pool during the weekend, a three-day event that brings some of the region's top swimmers together in a top-level competition.

But West Allegheny has a grueling dual meet schedule built around the Christmas Meet Invitational, so some of its top swimmers skipped finals in the event to rest a bit and better prepare for dual meets and the rest of the high school season.

"We were in a position where if some of them had swum the final, they would have been competing in six days out of seven," said Bob Miller, West Allegheny's head coach. "We thought it was better to give them the break. They swam well, and now they'll be more rested for our meets."

The West Allegheny girls' team promises to be one of the best in the WPIAL this season, so skipping a few finals probably will serve the intended purpose of preparing them for later season events. The girls went 11-2 in the dual-meet season last year and finished fifth overall in Class AA.

With a strong core of seniors back, West Allegheny is poised to make a move up the ladder a bit in 2006-07.

Senior Brianna Mangis, who won the WPIAL championship in the 100-backstroke twice before finishing third last year, is back. She has finished second in the 200-individual medley each of the last two seasons and has gone to the PIAA meet in that event three times.

Kim Schade, another senior, has been a standout in the 50- and 100-freetyles and senior Amy Gonnella narrowly missed qualifying for the state championships in the 100-breaststroke last season. Senior Kaitlin Kaulius is making her mark in the 500-freestyle this season.

"I think, when you look at our team, Brianna and Kim really are the ones who get us going and are our leaders," Miller said.

"They swim the first event, the 200 medley relay, with Brianna in the first leg and Kim in the anchor leg. It seems like if they get off to a good start, the rest of the team really spins off them.

"When they do well, the rest of the team really seems to breathe a sigh of relief. It seems like as they go, the rest of the team goes."

Mangis and Schade usually go pretty well, buoying the team's overall confidence. They have swum well this season in dual meets against Peters Township and Hopewell and in the Christmas Meet Invitational and will be asked to spark the team in dual meets this week against Blackhawk and Indiana.

Miller says history shows they are up to the task.

"Brianna always swims at a high level," Miller said. "She is one of the best and in that way, she is one of our leaders. I don't want to say she's quiet -- she's not. But she leads by example.

"Kim is more vocal. She's more likely to be involved in conversations with the coaches and things like that. She went to states in several events last year, too, and I would expect her to go back this year."

West Allegheny also is looking for big things from a number of other performers, notably sophomore Katie Hough in the 100-butterfly and 200- and 500-freestyles and from a pair of good divers in junior Jaelyn Thurner and sophomore Katie Mirisch. Thurner finished fifth in the WPIAL last season.

"We have good balance in the pool and on the board," Miller said.

Six West Allegheny swimmers already have made WPIAL qualifying times and will compete in the championships in March. Miller said the swimmers must continue to improve on an individual basis, and he is relying on his core of seniors to help bring the underclassmen along.

"I think we have a chance to do some pretty good things this year," he said. "We know that Brianna, Kim, Amy and Kaitlin are really good swimmers for us. We know they are going to do well.

"The key to our success, I think, will be in how our underclassmen do. I think that's what's going to determine our season. In the early season, they look pretty good. But we all have to keep working to try to get better."