In recent years, the WPIAL Class AA track championships took place at South Side Beaver in Hookstown, about a 45-minute drive from Pittsburgh.

Today, the finals will be at Baldwin High School as the WPIAL combines its Class AAA and AA track championships for the first time.

That means Brentwood High School standout Maggie Wissler could, if she wanted, hang out at home most of the afternoon before jogging over to Baldwin Stadium.

The championships are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. with time trials in running events and field events. Running finals won't start until between 4:30 and 5 p.m.

There's no reason for Wissler to be at the stadium when things get going. She will compete in the 800-meter run and run a leg on Brentwood's 1,600-meter relay team, which are both run toward the end of the meet.

Wissler lives about a mile from Baldwin Stadium. There was a time when she would jog to the stadium for workouts.

"No, she's going over with the team. We have a coaches meeting at 12:30," Brentwood coach Mike Cramer said. "She likes to stick to a routine, so she'll be there early."

Wissler is the favorite to win the Class AA 800 today. Her time of 2 minutes, 16 seconds makes her the top-seed ahead of South Park's Haley Pisarcik, who has run a 2:18.7. But Wissler, the defending WPIAL champion in the 800, should be fresh for the race. Pisarcik and Hannah Lash of Greensburg Central Catholic, the No.3 seed, will compete in the 1,600 earlier in the day.

As for a time, Wissler is shooting to better her previous best in the 800, which is 2:16. She would also like to take a crack at the WPIAL Class AA meet record of 2:15.57 set by Deer Lakes' Kerry McKinney in 2001.

"She probably would have run under 2:16 at the [Baldwin] invitational but she got boxed in at the beginning," Cramer said. "There's no question she's capable of getting the record."

The fact Baldwin's track is fast and there should be a nice contingent of Brentwood fans at the meet, which wasn't necessarily the case at South Side Beaver, should help.

She has run the 400 in 1:01.8 this season, which is 11th best in the WPIAL in Class AA this season, and has run decent times in the 1,600, but the 800 is her race.

"It's my favorite, no question," she said after placing third behind Seneca Valley's Erin Lopresti and Hopewell's Elise Farris, two of the top three seeded runners in the Class AAA 800, at the Baldwin Invitational.

"When I was a freshman, I sort of did everything to see what I was best at. I was good at the mile and I was good at the 400. The 800 is a perfect combination of the sprinting and endurance."

Wissler has the endurance from running cross country. She finished eighth at the WPIAL Class AA championships at Cooper's Lake Campground in the fall and was 54th at the PIAA meet in Hershey, Pa.

Her speed comes from running the 400, which is a one-lap sprint around the track.

"I try to go out quickly in the first lap and then try to hang on," Wissler said when asked about her strategy for the 800. "Having speed from the 400 helps."

"She just runs with such determination every race," Cramer said. "When she gets to the final 200 in the 800, it's an all out sprint. If it's a close race, I like her chances."

Pisarcik has been Wissler's main competition most of the season. Wissler edged her in setting a meet record of 2:18.13 at the Jaguar Invitational at Thomas Jefferson. That's why Wissler enjoyed going against Class AAA runners at the Baldwin Invitational.

"It's good to run against people who are close to your time," she said. "The competition makes you better."

One thing Wissler doesn't have to worry about is college. She is heading to Radford University in Virginia and will run cross country and track. She plans to major in fashion design.