By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Things have come pretty much full circle for Pace coach Selina Gilman as she prepares her swimmers for Friday’s District 32-5A Meet at Brownsville’s Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center.
Gilman is a product of Brownsville youth swimming programs who competed for Hanna under then-coach Monica Rosales before graduating in 2000. She later received her college degree from the University of Texas at Brownsville.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Gilman was swimming laps herself and preparing for district competition. Now she’s close to completing her first season as Pace’s swimming coach, and she’s letting her athletes know what to expect at district.
“It’s exciting because we’re a young team and we’re rebuilding,” Gilman said. “A lot of these kids have come to the program to learn how to swim. We’ve taken the ones who were in the program before and grouped them with the new ones, so it’s been a learning experience for myself as the coach and the kids as well. They’re finding out about the world of competition that is high school swimming.”
The 32-5A meet actually begins at 1 p.m. Thursday with diving competition at Sharyland ISD Aquatic Center. The meet continues at noon Friday at the Clark Aquatic Center with swimming events.
The top six finishers in each event at district advance to the Region VIII-5A Meet on Feb. 5 and 6 at the Corpus Christi ISD Natatorium.
Rosales, now the Clark Center director, said Roma and Sharyland High figure to be among the teams to beat at the district meet, which will include Porter and Pace. The Brownsville 5A teams have no divers this year.
“I think this meet’s going to be a fast meet,” Rosales said. “There are some teams that are very impressive even though they are 5A schools. Roma and Sharyland look strong, and even Edinburg Vela and PSJA Southwest.
“These next few weeks we’ll be finding out who’s the cream of the crop (in the Valley in 5A and 6A),” she added.
The District 32-6A Meet is scheduled to be held Jan. 29 and 30 in Harlingen.
Gilman said the goal for her swimmers Friday is to record their best times so they can have a strong standard to set for themselves next season. She said the group has pulled together and is enjoying what it means to be a team.
“They have spaghetti nights, and they help tutor each other,” Gilman said. “It’s a unity that transfers beyond the pool.”
Some of the swimmers who have a chance to do well for Pace include Victor Reyes, Jose Hernandez, Denis Espinoza, Aldair Soto, Itza Ibarra, Mariana Cardenas and Anelisa Gonzalez.
“We’re up against schools like the Sharylands and Roma, so we know that the competition is fierce,” Gilman said. “The goals that we’ve set for ourselves include dropping times, and of course trying to advance to the regional meet. Some of our swimmers know their times aren’t yet good enough to advance, but they want to achieve their best times now so they’ll have a starting point to build on next season. That’s what our real goals are.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity that I’ve been given to take over this program and to coach a sport that is very near and dear to me,” she added. “I appreciate that.”
Swimmers expected to lead the way for Porter include Jorge Banda, Angel Villanueva, Manuel Avalos, Jerry Limas, Chris Sandoval, Sandy Mendoza, Martha Sanchez, Joleen Carrizales, Bianca Araguz, Fernanda Marin and Susan Ramirez.
“Honestly, our expectations for this meet are very basic,” said Porter coach Roman Ortega, a veteran of 30-plus years at his post. “I want each and every swimmer to make sure we get our best times. If we can do that and get our individual best times, we’ll be content.
“It’s very difficult to try to place (high) with our personnel at this particular time,” Ortega added. “We need to make realistic goals, and our goals are to swim better meet by meet as we stated from the beginning (of the season). It’s a work in progress, and they’re improving quite a bit. We have a lot of dedicated, hard-working kids, so that helps.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.