Metro-area swimmers compete at state meet
By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
Four swimmers, one diver and one relay team from the Metro area competed in the University Interscholastic League swimming & diving meet preliminary races in Austin.
Los Fresnos brought two entries in the meet, led by Ivana Besteiro. Besteiro shaved .29 seconds off her entry time with her 16th-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle (25.75).
The Lady Falcons’ 200 freestyle relay team of Besteiro, Andrea Moreno, Kendall House and Sarah Villarreal also finished 16th (1:48.28).
“They did all right. We’re kind of hoping for our personal-best time, which is the most you can hope for when you’re up here, going against these fast kids,” Los Fresnos coach Albino Cisneros. “We went slow today, so hopefully we can make that up (today) and get better results.”
Cisneros said Besteiro’s goal for the final is to swim a 24.99, and he’s looking for the 200 freestyle relay to break Los Fresnos’ school record in that event.
Rivera’s Stephanie Castillo finished 16th in the 100 free (57.06). Rivera coach Ryan Shea said Castillo had some issues with her suit, which prevented her from properly warming up and putting up a better time Friday.
“Overall she had a good time, but not what she had at regionals,” Shea said.
Maya Athena Imperial finished 16th in the 500 free prelims (5:28.68).
Hanna coach Samuel Perez said she had a bit of a head cold before the race but still was only off a couple of seconds on one of her splits.
“It’s a different pool. The wall, water feels different,” Perez said. “She swam well, and she was well rested. Let’s see what we can do (today).”
Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s Jonathan Ashford finished 16th in the 100 breaststroke prelims (1:01.70).
Frank Sanchez, Brownsville Veterans’ coach, said Ashford didn’t quite get in a rhythm, and a missed turn early in his race threw him off.
“Well he didn’t have his best swim today, he had a little bit of a slow start and didn’t have good turns,” Sanchez said. “Hopefully (today) he’ll have a better swim,”
Sophomore Thadey Diaz of Lopez is in 15th place after eight dives with a score of 191.90.
“She’ll have three dives (today) and those are her best dives, a higher degree of difficulty,” Lopez coach Ray Martinez said. “So hopefully that will bump her up.”
Martinez said Diaz finished less than eight points from her target goal of 200 points after her first eight dives.
“She did her best, and that’s all I can ask for,” he said. “She had one bad dive out of eight, which isn’t great, but if you’re going to have a bad dive, make it one.”
Joshua McKinney covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @joshuabvherald.