ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial girls and the Hanna boys enter the holiday break in a much more festive mood after capturing team titles at Friday’s annual city meet for high school swimmers and divers.
The most eventful race of the day at Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center came in the final event, the boys 400 freestyle relay. Going into the final event, the Hanna boys led in the team standings by only one point, 277-276, over Brownsville Veterans.
The Golden Eagles’ relay of Matthew Lovett, Ricardo Rodriguez, Michael Kowalski and Jose Santos won the event in decisive fashion by approximately 20 seconds to lock up the boys team title. Rivera was second in the relay and Brownsville Veterans third.
“It was an amazing experience (to see us win that relay),” said Hanna’s Rodriguez, a freshman transfer from McAllen. “We weren’t really expecting to do all that well because of the fast swimmers we lost (to graduation from last year and some of our current top swimmers were missing from this meet). We knew the freshmen had to step up, so it was just a great experience to come together, be a family and win the meet.”
Added teammate Kowalski, also a freshman, “The last relay was the most anticipated event, and all of us were super nervous. We told ourselves, ‘OK, it’s now or never.’ Jose Santos, our senior, told us we had to win it because this was his last city meet. It felt so nice to win. It made a big impact for Hanna.”
Collecting double points for the relay victory, Hanna’s boys, who won two of three relays, finished with a total of 309 points to outdistance second-place Brownsville Veterans with 300 points. Lopez’s boys were third with 208 points.
Brownsville Veterans captured the girls team championship by a somewhat more comfortable margin with 261 points compared to second-place Rivera’s 249. Lopez’s girls took third place with 178 points.
The defending team champions were the Hanna girls and the Brownsville Veterans boys.
Six teams were in the city meet this year. Neither Pace nor St. Joseph Academy participated in Friday’s competition.
Hanna coach Sam Perez and his athletes were all smiles when the meet ended and the Eagles were atop the boys team standings.
“We were missing some of our swimmers today, but these guys pulled it out,” Perez said. “I’m really excited for them and for what we can do at district and regionals (in late January and early February). That’s what we’re looking for.
“Brownsville has so much talent,” Perez added. “There are a lot of great swimmers. Veterans was right in there all the way today, and so was Rivera, plus the other schools. We had a great time today, but going down to the last relay (for the boys) was nerve-wracking.
“I had freshmen filling in on that 400 freestyle relay for two swimmers who were missing, so I’m really happy for these boys.”
Brownsville Veterans coach Frank Sanchez said the team win for his girls and second-place showing for his boys will be a boost as his athletes continue to prepare for the District 32-5A meet Jan. 25-26 at the Clark Center.
“I think our people swam a lot with their heart today and with determination,” Sanchez said. “As far as conditioning goes, we still have a lot of work to do, but we got the points when we needed them. We did well. Like I said earlier, it was going to come down to the relays, and it did.
“It was very competitive today,” Sanchez added. “My hat is off to all the schools. Everybody swam pretty well.
“This was absolutely a good preparation for our district meet. We got to see today where we stand, and hopefully it will light a fire in them that they can do better at district.”
Individual event winners for the Lady Chargers were Daniela Santillana (50 and 100 freestyles) and Daniela Chapa (500 freestyle). The Lady Chargers also won two of three relays.
“We did really good today, and I think we can drop our times a lot for district,” said Chapa, a sophomore who also finished second in the 200 individual medley and swam on both of the Lady Chargers’ winning relays. “I think it will help us a lot for regionals, too. We just need to keep working hard.”
For the Brownsville Veterans boys, the individual event winners were Kevin Borsani (200 individual medley), Javier Garcia (100 backstroke) and Nico Alvarez (1-meter diving). The Chargers also won a relay.
Hanna’s boys were led by Lovett, a junior who won the 50 and 100 freestyles, plus he swam on two first-place relays.
“I’m really proud of myself and my team today,” Lovett said. “This (showing) pushes us very much to do better than we usually do. It’s a sign that we’re on the right track. We just need to keep following this path and we’ll make it big (come the district and regional meets). For a little team from Brownsville, getting gold and improving our times really makes us feel that we can do so much more than we’re doing already.”
For the Hanna girls, Nadia Gutierrez won the 200 freestyle.
Individual event winners for Rivera were Alejandro Avalos (boys 200 and 500 freestyles), Korinna Errizuriz (girls 100 butterfly), Kyle Shea (boys 100 butterfly) and Azul Martinez (girls 100 backstroke). Also, Rivera’s girls won the first event of the meet, the 200 medley relay.
Valley Christian’s Frida Salazar was a double-winner in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke.
Lopez’s Jocsan Camacho finished first in the boys 100 breaststroke.