NATHANIEL MATA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
City bragging rights will always draw a crowd. That was the case again Wednesday night, during the McAllen ISD Tri-Meet City Championship.
Despite being 38 days away from the 30-6A District meet, Wednesday featured intense moments as McAllen’s three high schools faced off at McAllen Rowe. McAllen High and McAllen Memorial again battled for the boys and girls titles.
McAllen’s girls and McAllen Memorial’s boys claimed the city crowns. McHi’s girls earned 109 points, ahead of Memorial’s 96 points and Rowe’s 86. In boys competition, Memorial’s 136 points topped McAllen’s 129 and Rowe’s 36.
McHi’s boys and Memorial’s girls are both defending regional championships earned during the 2015-16 season.
The city championship meet does not have nearly as much pressure. It is a more casual affair, falling just before the holiday break. Many swimmers competed in their off-events, which made for unpredictable and exciting races.
Memorial coach Timothy Nelson said the meet can serve as a confidence builder and tool for coaches to measure swimmers.
“It’s city championships, so this is a pride meet. It depends on how you view the meet,” Nelson said. “Some people view the meet as doing really well, other people view it as doing different (events). We’re a month away (from district). Sometimes, you need to find out where kids can go.”
He continued, explaining why an intracity meet is valuable to all teams involved in the late-December competition.
“It’s a great opportunity to swim against the city of McAllen, because one of the ways we get better as a whole city is we keep competing against ourselves, and then we go compete against San Antonio, Houston, Dallas,” Nelson said.
Swimmers from all three schools knew that many of their opponents swimming in the lanes next to them Wednesday could be next to them again come district and even regional meets.
Two of Nelson’s top swimmers from the girls squad were on display in a runner-up effort.
“It’s really fun to compete against everybody when you’re all in the same city and kind of on the same team,” junior captain Hannah Bradford said. “This meet is really fun. You get to still be together but compete against each other. I always say, ‘You’re not friends when you’re racing.’ And then as soon as you get out of the water, you’re friends again.”
In the girls 500-yard freestyle race, the lines blurred between friends and competitors. Bradford edged out her standout sophomore teammate, Stacia Benitez, by fourth hundredths of a second to win the race. Bradford finished in 5.49.43, while Benitez came in at 5.49.47.
Benitez stormed onto the scene as a freshman regional gold medal winner in the 100 backstroke a season ago. Benitez and Bradford also captured relay gold in two events in February as part of the team’s 2015-16 run to state.
The underclassman Benitez valued Wednesday’s meet as an opportunity to grow and gauge her progress. She said around this time last year she knew she had a chance to have a special season.
“It pushes me so I can kind of know where I am at regionals,” Benitez said. “I always knew I had it in me. I started training really hard in the summer, and I noticed that I was getting faster. I kind of felt it was going to happen.”
The sophomore was entered in off-events, not swimming her 100 backstroke that won gold last year. The meet still provides a benefit.
“It gives me mental strength,” Benitez said. “On the events that I don’t do as well, I tell myself ‘I can do it.’ When I’m doing my strong events, I already (know) what I can do.”
McAllen ISD City Championships
Wednesday, Dec. 21
At McAllen Rowe High School
Team Results
Girls
1, McAllen High, 109; 2, McAllen Memorial, 96; 3, McAllen Rowe, 86.
Boys
1, McAllen Memorial, 136; 2, McAllen High, 129; 3, McAllen Rowe, 37.
Individual Results
Girls 200 Medley Relay
1, McAllen High A, 2;10.50; 2, McAllen Memorial B, 2:13.22; 3, McAllen Memorial A, 2:13.44; 4, McAllen High B, 2:25.19; 5, McAllen Rowe A, 2:54.70.
Boys 200 Medley Relay
1, McAllen High A, 1:44.48; 2, McAllen Memorial A, 1:57.46; 3, McAllen High B, 1:57.71; 4, McAllen Memorial B, 2:01.87; 5, McAllen Rowe A, 2:09.09.
Girls 200 Free
1, Mariam Estrada, McAllen Rowe, 2:14.68; 2, Lauren Rodriguez, McAllen High, 2:14.95; 3, Ina Te, McAllen Rowe, 2:15.12; 4, Melanie Lizzotte, McAllen High, 2:25.44; 5, Megan Wyna, McAllen Rowe, 2:26.94.
Boys 200 Free
1, Shaine Casas, McAllen High, 1:45.55; 2, Max Sanez, McAllen High, 1:56.44; 3, Joe Williams, McAllen High, 1:57.82; 4, Cooper Gates, McAllen Memorial, 1:58.41; 5, Michael Moore, McAllen High, 2:02.58.
Girls 200 IM
1, Shelby Swanson, McAllen High, 2:21.21; 2, Avia Guerra, McAllen Memorial, 2:31.41; 3, Alanah Moreno, McAllen High, 2:41.49; 4, Allison Garza, McAllen High, 2:47.74; 5, L Hernandez Balleza, McAllen Memorial, 2:48.62.
Boys 200 IM
1, Robert T Anaya, McAllen Memorial, 2:09.56; 2, Thomas Wilkins, McAllen High, 2:17.84; 3, Gwanghoon Park, McAllen High, 2;23.46; 4, Diego Davila, McAllen High, 2:30.39; 5, Quintin Lorenz, McAllen Rowe, 2:43.13.
Girls 50 Free
1, Daniella Santos, McAllen Rowe, 27.23; 2, Stacia A Benitez, McAllen Memorial, 28.03; 3, Shaena Reyes, McAllen Rowe, 29.21; 4, Sofia Gonzalez, McAllen High, 29.30; 5, Tammy Smith, McAllen High, 29.33.
Boys 50 Free
1, Caden Garza, McAllen Memorial, 24.25; 2, Jorge Vasquez, McAllen Memorial, 24.93; 3, Roman Garcia, McAllen Rowe, 24.94; 4, Zachary Moore, McAllen Memorial, 25.51; 5, Noah Mendiola, McAllen Rowe JV, 25.52.
Girls 1 meter Diving
1, Patricia Rocha de Murga, McAllen Memorial, 137.85.
Boys 1 meter Diving
1, Ethan Plummer, McAllen Memorial, 208.25; 2, Quintin Lorenz, McAllen Rowe, 113.45; 3, Gonzalez-Hernandez, McAllen Memorial, 106.95.
Girls 100 Fly
1, Hannah Bradford, McAllen Memorial, 1:07.56; 2, Megan Blevins, McAllen Memorial, 1:11.88; 3, Gabi Pizzano, McAllen High, 1:19.74; 4, Megan Wyna, McAllen Rowe, 1:22.10; 5, Marianna Lam, McAllen Rowe, 1:26.07.
Boys 100 Fly
1, Caden Garza, McAllen Memorial, 1:01.45; 2, Alan Cortez, McAllen Memorial, 1:01.55; 3, Noah Mendiola, McAllen Rowe JV, 1:02.50; 4, Alan Medrano, McAllen Memorial, 1:06.99; 5, Dario Hinojosa, McAllen Rowe, 1:46.65.
Girls 100 Free
1, Lauren Rodriguez, McAllen High, 1:00.97; 2, Shaena Reyes, McAllen Rowe, 1:04.29; 3, Tammy Smith, McAllen High, 1:05.65; 4, Allison Garza, McAllen High, 1:05.85; 5, Margot Crocker, McAllen High, 1:06.23.
Boys 100 Free
1, Max Saenz, McAllen High, 51.02; 2, Ruben Trevino, McAllen Memorial, 53.16; 3, Roman Garcia, McAllen Rowe, 54.30; 4, Kai Reichow, McAllen Memorial, 56.14; 5, Zachary Moore, McAllen Memorial, 58.79.
Girls 500 Free
1, Hannah Bradford, McAllen Memorial, 5:49.43; 2, Stacia Benitez, McAllen Memorial, 5:49.47; 3, Daniella Santos, McAllen Rowe, 5:56.50; 4, Raquel Cueva, McAllen Rowe, 6:53.73; 5, LiLi E Bradford, McAllen Memorial, 7:12.01.
Boys 500 Free
1, James A Richart, McAllen Memorial, 5:26.45; 2, Gwanghoon Park, McAllen High, 5:30.55; 3, Santiago Perera, McAllen High, 5:51.07; 4, Michael Moore, McAllen High, 5:54.64; 5, Alan Medrano, McAllen Memorial, 6:20.09.
Girls 200 Free Relay
1, McAllen Rowe A, 1:49.31; 2, McAllen High A, 1:52.46; 3, McAllen High B, 2:03.45; 4, McAllen Memorial B, 2:05.26; 5, McAllen Memorial A, 2:06.27.
Boys 200 Free Relay
1, McAllen High A, 1:32.65; 2, McAllen Memorial A, 1:37.81; 3, McAllen High B, 1:44.28; 4, McAllen Memorial B, 1:49.59; 5, McAllen Rowe A, 1:52.87.
Girls 100 Back
1, Shelby Swanson, McAllen High, 1:10.02; 2, Ina Te, McAllen Rowe, 1:10.98; 3, Megan Blevins, McAllen Memorial, 1:13.97; 4, Marianna Lam, McAllen Rowe, 1:18.74; 5, L Hernandez Balleza, McAllen Memorial, 1:20.46.
Boys 100 Back
1, Cooper Gates, McAllen Memorial, 1:01.61; 2, Thomas Wilkins, McAllen High, 1;03.59; 3, Richard Rodriguez, McAllen Memorial, 1:03.62; 4, Jorge Vazquez, McAllen Memorial, 1:05.21; 5, Evan Crocker, McAllen High, 1:10.13.
Girls 100 Breast
1, LiLi E Bradford, McAllen Memorial, 1:23.80; 2, Charleen Salazar, McAllen Rowe, 1:29.43; 3, Alanah Moreno, McAllen High, 1:29.89; 4, Avia Guerra, McAllen Memorial, 1:30.36; 5, Tabitha Rowland, McAllen Rowe, 1:34.74.
Boys 100 Breast
1, Robert T Anaya, McAllen Memorial, 1:04.48; 2, Shaine Casas, McAllen High, 1:06.02; 3, Ruben D Trevino, McAllen Memorial, 1:12.93; 4, Jose Mata, McAllen Rowe, 1:13.89; 5, Rocky Trevino, McAllen High, 1:21.79.
Girls 400 Free Relay
1, McAllen High A, 4:08.42; 2, McAllen Memorial A, 4:36.02; 3, McAllen High B, 4:55.20; 4, McAllen Memorial B, 5:10.66; 5, McAllen Rowe A, 5:19.12.
Boys 400 Free Relay
1, McAllen High A, 3:34.79; 2, McAllen Memorial A, 3:52.87; 3, McAllen High B, 3:53.60; 4, McAllen Rowe A, 4:11.66; 5, McAllen Memorial B, 4:14.77.