By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Upper Rio Grande Valley teams enjoyed strong showings Saturday at the Fall Festival Swimming & Diving Meet at Brownsville’s Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center.
The two-day event attracted more than 650 swimmers representing 33 teams.
McAllen High captured the boys team championship with 325 points. Sharyland High and PSJA Southwest came next with 214 and 198.5 points, respectively.
Roma took home the girls team title with 224 points, while Sharyland High was second with 198.5 points and McAllen Memorial was third with 194.
Bulldogs coach Jared Kaminski said his team is coming along nicely, particularly his boys, who have captured three or four championships at Valley meets so far this year.
With district and regional competition still a couple of months away, Kaminski said this weekend’s meet allowed the McHi swimmers to experiment a little bit by competing in some different events to test their abilities. It’s something teams will do at this time of the season to break up the routine.
“Today was good,” Kaminski said. “It was kind of a different meet for us. We swam a lot of ‘off’ events, trying to get times and see where our swimmers are at, plus get them away from their comfort zone a little bit.
“It was a good meet with some solid swims,” the McHi coach added. “We still have a lot to work on such as turns, starts and things like that, but, overall, the effort was there and the times reflected that, so I thought it was a good meet for us.”
The Bulldogs were especially strong in the relays, capturing a pair of first places. They won the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay. Swimming on those relays for the Bulldogs were Max Saenz, Thomas Wilkins, Errol Lizzotte, Shaine Casas and Jorge Garza Rodriguez. Also, Casas was an individual winner for the Bulldogs in the 500 freestyle.
The Roma girls won two of the three relays as well, placing first in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. Swimmers on those relays for Roma were Yamilet Ramirez, Isabella Gonzalez, Jocelyn Martinez, Briseida Saldana and Robin Castillo.
In addition for Roma, Martinez was a double-winner in the 200 and 500 freestyles, and Gonzalez won the 200 individual medley.
Also in the girls division, Hanna was fourth (184 points), McHi fifth (174.5), Rivera sixth (173.5), St. Joseph Academy seventh (161) and Los Fresnos eighth (158).
Rivera won the girls 200 medley relay with swimmers Stephanie Castillo, Fernanda Rodriguez, Ximena Gonzalez and Sofia Gonzalez. Castillo was a double-winner in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.
McAllen Memorial came in fourth in the boys standings with 197 points, while Los Fresnos (103), Brownsville Veterans Memorial (161), Roma (161) and St. Joseph Academy (160.5) completed the top eight.
Double-winners for the boys included Brownsville Veterans’ Jonathan Ashford in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke, and SJA’s Adrian Fierro in the 50 and 100 freestyles.
Also at the meet, other individual winners included SJA’s Luis Davila (boys 200 freestyle), Los Fresnos’ Ivana Besteiro (girls 50 freestyle), Mission High’s Sandra Valdez (girls 1-meter diving), PSJA North’s Ruell Cuellar (boys 1-meter diving), SJA’s Jessie Hainley (girls 100 freestyle), PSJA Southwest’s Joshua Velazquez (boys 100 backstroke), Harlingen South’s Aransas Haley (girls 100 breaststroke) and First Baptist School’s Victor Carreon (boys 100 butterfly).
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.