By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Los Fresnos’ Ivana Besteiro had the experience to make a return trip to Austin. Teammates Andrea Moreno, Kendall House and Sarah Villarreal had the drive to join her.
With a Region VIII 6A win in the 50-yard freestyle (26.04 seconds), Besteiro once again qualified for the UIL state swimming & diving meet that starts today and continues through Saturday. This time around, she won’t be going alone as she was also a part of the 200 freestyle relay team that also qualified (1:44.40).
Other Metro-area swimming & diving competitors joining them in Austin are Hanna’s Maya Imperial (500 freestyle), Stephanie Castillo of Rivera (100 freestyle), Jonathan Ashford of Brownsville Veterans Memorial (100 breaststroke) and Lopez’s Thadey Diaz (1-meter diving).
Besteiro, a senior, is making her second straight trip (and third overall) after also qualifying in two events last year. Moreno, also a senior, returns to state after qualifying in a different event as a freshman, and House, a senior, and Villarreal, a freshman, are enjoying their first trip to the state meet.
“It’s always special,” Los Fresnos coach Albino Cisneros said. “It’s always the goal for any coach, for any swimmer to qualify for state, let alone a relay and an individual. It means a lot. I’m really proud of these girls, they’ve worked really hard all season long and they’ve earned it.”
Besteiro nearly qualified for state in the 200 individual medley, but came in second. Eight minutes later, she swam the 50 freestyle and won to return to Austin.
“She’s tough,” Cisneros said. “I’m sure there aren’t any other state qualifiers that swam back-to-back events.”
Besteiro said she felt more relief than anything on her return trip.
“I’m glad to go back again this year,” she said. “I get to go back with my friends, that makes it a little more exciting. I just tried to do my part for them, I know they wanted it, too.”
With Besteiro already punching her ticket, it helped drive Moreno, House and Villarreal even more. They wanted to join her after coming close last year. Los Fresnos won the 200 relay by more than two seconds over the second-place finisher.
For the trio that makes up the rest of the relay squad, the motivation to advance (or return) to state started well before the season began.
“I miss the feeling of victory,” Moreno said of returning to state after coming close the last two years. “I started going to state my freshman year, so I had to finish my senior year going to state.”
Villarreal said she’s not nervous because she has three seniors to help put her at ease.
“It’s been a goal of mine since I first started swimming,” she said of her start in the pool just a few years ago. “It’s really exciting and it’s really comforting I’m going with these three.”
House gave credit to God for helping her ease her nerves so she could help her relay team in the qualifying race.
“It’s an awesome way to end my senior season,” she said. “Ending it going to state is pretty awesome, I couldn’t have asked for a better season.”
Cisneros reflected on the past, present and the future. The trio of seniors helped Los Fresnos win their first district title as freshmen. Now, the team has won four straight and shows no signs of slowing down.
“This group of seniors means the world to me,” he said. “I know Ivana and Andrea wanted Kendall to be a state qualifier (in her last season). And Sarah gets to a state meet, just like Andrea and Ivana did as freshmen. It’s going to be a learning experience she can take with her throughout her swimming career at Los Fresnos.
“Hopefully one day she’ll help other freshmen qualify for the state meet as well.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.