By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The Brownsville ISD Pre-Regional Showcase got off to a strong start Friday, especially for Lopez diver Thadey Diaz.
The two-day event has attracted 29 teams with approximately 600 swimmers and divers to Brownsville’s Margaret M.Clark Aquatic Center.
Swimming finals start at 10 a.m. today. Prelims in swimming events were held Friday.
Finals in 3-meter diving are scheduled for 9 a.m. today.
Friday’s only event with final results was the 1-meter diving.
Diaz, a sophomore and a state qualifier last season, recorded her best score so far this season by placing second in the girls 1-meter diving. Sharyland High’s Sandra Valdez won the event with a 338.20 score, and Diaz came next at 299.85. Corpus Christi King’s Kelley Ward was third with a 292.00 score.
Diaz’s career-best score in the 1-meter event was a 304.35 that got her to state at last February’s Region VIII Meet, also at the ClarkAquaticCenter.
She appears to be on course to top 300 points again during the coming new year.
“It’s just doing the dives over and over again in practice (that is helping me get better),” said Diaz, who won the 1-meter event last weekend at the Harlingen CISD Winter Splash Bash Invitational. “Practice makes perfect, right?
“It gives me more confidence (to do well at this meet),” she added. “You want to be the best, and you always have to work at it. The more, the merrier (with so many competitors here).”
Lopez coach Ray Martinez Jr. said he was proud of his standout diver’s showing. She’s scheduled to compete in the 3-meter diving Saturday.
“This was probably one of her best performances, so she did well,” Martinezsaid. “She’s added two new dives with higher difficulty. She’s working on those dives, and she’s getting better as we go along throughout the year.”
For the boys, McAllen Rowe’s Abraham Rodriguez was the winner of the 1-meter diving with a 350.25 score. Weslaco High’s Adolfo Pacheco was second at 323.20, and La Joya High’s Eddie Barrera was third at 293.70.
Several local swimmers reached today’s finals. The top eight finishers in the prelims Friday qualified for the championship finals, and the next eight finishers were designated for the consolation finals.
Rivera’s Stephanie Castillo and Adrian Flores were among the local competitors reaching the finals.
Castillo was seventh in the 100 backstroke and ninth in the 200 freestyle. Flores finished first in the 200 individual medleyand ninth in the 100 butterfly.
“I guess I could have done better (Friday). I’ll try to do better (today),” Castillo said. “We’ll see how it’s going to be later on at regionals (in February).”
Corpus Christi King’s boys and girls are the defending champions of the Pre-Regional Showcase.