By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Frank Sanchez knows the routine.
It’s customary to throw the swimming coach who wins a district championship into the pool soon after the team trophy is presented. Any assistant coaches who happen to be on hand for the trophy presentation usually get wet, too. Never mind if they’re wearing street clothes.
In the case of Sanchez, the swimming coach at Brownsville Veterans Memorial, and Jose Luis Zarate, his assistant, they knew exactly what was coming as the Chargers and Lady Chargers successfully defended their conference titles at Friday’s District 32-5A meet at Brownsville’s Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center.
Also Friday, the District 32-6A meet took place at the Clark Center after the 32-5A meet. The Los Fresnos boys and girls captured team championships in that one. It was the ninth straight district crown for the Falcons and the fifth time to win district out of the last six years for the Lady Falcons. The Hanna girls won it last year.
The Los Fresnos boys triumphed with 169 points compared to 84 for runner-up Hanna and 76 for third-place Rivera.
The Lady Falcons were district champs with 150.5 points. Second-place Harlingen High had 106 points and third-pace Hanna 96.5.
Winners of individual events for the Los Fresnos boys were Luis Osuna (200 and 500 freestyles) and Danny Escamilla (50 and 100 freestyles), while winners for the Lady Falcons included Sarah Villarreal (200 individual medley and 500 freestyle) and Emily Rodriguez (50 freestyle).
In both district meets, the top six individual finishers and relays qualified for regional competition Feb. 2-3.
The Brownsville Veterans swimmers and divers won with decisive point totals, taking the boys team title with 218 points compared to 135 for runner-up Lopez, while the Lady Chargers triumphed in their division with 198 points compared to the second-place Lady Lobos with 96. Porter was third in both divisions with 87 points for the girls and 71 for the boys.
Instead of waiting for the team to toss them into the pool, Sanchez and Zarate jumped in voluntarily, even though they were dressed in street clothes.
“It’s safer that way,” Sanchez said after he came out of the pool soaking wet.
Brownsville Veterans’ superior numbers gave it a clear advantage in scoring the points needed to repeat as champs for the boys and girls.
“I think that everybody on our team was so focused and ready to go that they hit their times for their swims at just the right time for this meet,” Sanchez said. “I was really proud of the ones we put in certain events (to score points) that had never done that event. They did extremely well by scoring in at least the top eight places.
“It definitely helped us as a team,” Sanchez added. “I think that (it) was one of the keys (to victory) for us. Everyone pulled their weight and put in points where we needed them.”
Highlighting the day for Brownsville Veterans were Adrian Fierro and Daniela Santillana, who were named the meet’s outstanding swimmers for the boys and girls, respectively. They each won the 50 and 100 freestyles and each swam on two winning relays. Brownsville Veterans won all six relays.
Fierro set a Brownsville ISD record Friday with his time of 21.58 seconds in the 50 freestyle. That time eclipsed the time of 21.59 set in 2005 set by Lopez’s J. Boone.
“I’m glad to see everyone on our team do well,” Fierro said.
Other double-winners for the Brownsville Veterans boys were Javier Garcia (200 freestyle and 100 backstroke) and Kevin Borsani (200 Individual Medley and 100 butterfly), while a teammate who also won an event was Nicolas Alvarez (1-meter diving).
Besides Santillana, another double-winner for the Lady Chargers was Daniela Chapa (200 individual medley and 500 freestyle). Also winning events for the Lady Chargers were Salma Mena (200 individual medley), Jenna Saldivar (100 butterfly), Leslie Ayala (100 backstroke) and Karen Lua-Rodriguez (100 breastroke).
Individual winners for the Lopez boys were Daniel Gamez (500 freestyle) and Jocsan Camacho (100 breastroke).
Brownsville winners in the 32-6A meet included Hanna’s Nadia Gutierrez (girls 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke), Hanna’s Matthew Lovett (boys 100 backstroke) and Rivera’s Kyle Shea (boys 100 breastroke).