By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Swimmers from Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Rivera are going into their holiday break on a more celebratory note after capturing team championships at Friday’s annual city meet at Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center.
The Brownsville Veterans boys and Rivera girls came away with team titles from a field comprised of the city’s six public high schools.
The Brownsville Veterans boys and girls were defending champions.
The Chargers are city meet team champions for the second straight year after amassing 363 points, as runner-up Rivera had 291. Hanna was third with 179.
“I think our boys swam well,” Brownsville Veterans coach Frank Sanchez said. “Our top boys didn’t really have their best times today that they could have had, but that was OK. Some of our other boys, ones who are not usually at the top, had very good times, which was a good showing for them.
“(Boys runner-up) Rivera has a strong team, and actually, everybody swam well,” Sanchez added. “It was back and forth today, and maybe because we had a little more depth, it was something that helped us a lot. The fact of the matter is I think all the teams swam well. I was hoping our girls could win it again, too, but Rivera and Hanna have very strong teams this year, and I was missing just a few girls today.
“Now we’re going on vacation, and we’re getting closer to the District (32-6A) meet (Jan. 29 in Harlingen), so hopefully we’ll be conditioned and ready (to do well) by then.”
Rivera captured the girls team title with 348 points. Hanna was the runner-up with 304 points, and Brownsville Veterans was third with 258.
It marked the second time in four years that Rivera’s girls won the meet. Brownsville Veterans’ girls had won the previous two titles.
“Our girls did really well,” Rivera coach Ryan Shea said. “We’ve been working them really hard and pushing them, and they came together today and had a great meet. Everybody on the team stepped up. It was nice for them.
“It gives us a good boost with district coming up,” Shea added. “We don’t have a meet now until district, so it’s a good thing that we accomplished today and something to lead us into the 32-6A meet. The girls did great, and our boys did a really good job, too, so I’m proud of the whole team.”
Winning individual events for the Rivera girls were Sofia Gonzalez (100 freestyle), Ximena Gonzalez (500 freestyle), Stephanie Castillo (100 backstroke) and Fernandez Rodriguez (100 breaststroke). Also, those four girls swam on the first-place 200 medley relay for Rivera. The Lady Raiders took second in the other two relays.
Hanna’s girls claimed first in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays thanks to the joint efforts of Gloria Orta, Tahliya Martinez, Maya Athena Imperial and Natalia Davila.
Individual winners for the Hanna girls were Davila (200 freestyle and 100 butterfly) and Orta (200 individual medley).
The Brownsville Veterans girls were led by Tonnih Ruiz’s first-place finish in the 50 freestyle.
Meanwhile, for the boys, Jonathan Ashford again was a double-winner for Brownsville Veterans in the 100 freestyle and 100 breaststroke. Teammate Daniel Flores won the 50 freestyle.
Flores and Ashford combined with Juan Sanchez and Angel Mena to win the 200 medley relay for the Chargers.
Adrian Flores was a double-winner for Rivera’s boys in the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle. Also for the Raiders, Ryan Shea placed first in the 100 butterfly. Adrian Flores, Shea, Deven Cardenas and Pablo De Los Santos teamed to win the 400 freestyle relay.
Pace had some winners in the boys division as well. They were Victor Reyes in the 200 freestyle and Jose Hernandez in the 100 backstroke. Those two Pace swimmers, along with Denis Espinoza and Aldair Soto, combined to win the 200 freestyle relay.
The diving competition was not held this year due to a lack of participants.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.