By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
There will be 14 teams representing approximately 300 swimmers and divers on hand to compete at the annual Halloween Hysteria meet Friday and Saturday at Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center.
The event, presented by the Rio Grande Valley Swim Coaches Association, marks the first major meet of the school year to take place in Brownsville.
UIL district, regional and state competition is scheduled in early 2015. For the time being, an event such as the Halloween Hysteria meet serves as a way for swimmers and divers to get used to the level of competition they’ll encounter down the road.
“It’s a good time to have the schools come together to get experience (competing against one another),” said Monica Rosales, aquatic director at the ClarkCenter.
“We’ve had some small ones already, but this is our first major meet,” she added.
Rosales said teams competing at the Halloween Hysteria meet will come from across the Rio GrandeValley. The Corpus Christi schools, traditionally strong competitors against the Valley at the regional level, won’t be on hand for this week’s meet, Rosales said.
Things get under way Friday with diving competition. Warmups are scheduled at 10 a.m. with competition to follow at 11 a.m. On Saturday, swimming warmups begin at 8:15 a.m. with competition to start at 10 a.m.
At last year’s Halloween Hysteria meet, McAllen Memorial’s boys won the team title decisively with 493 points. Sharyland High and Hanna finished second and third with 272 and 258 points, respectively.
The girls team title last year went to Sharyland High with 391 points. McAllen Rowe and Los Fresnos were second and third with 313 and 297 points, respectively.
Among the Metro-area swimmers to watch at this week’s meet are Jonathan Ashford of Brownsville Veterans Memorial, Maya Imperial of Hanna, Stephanie Castillo of Rivera, and Los Fresnos’ Danny Euresti, Ivana Besteiro and Andrea Moreno, along with diver Thadey Diaz of Lopez.