By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Hanna’s swimmers were encouraged by their participation at last weekend’s Texas Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association meet in Corpus Christi.
The Golden Eagles took four boys and four girls to the meet at the Corpus Christi ISD Natatorium. A number of other Rio Grande Valley teams also had athletes at the event. There are eight or nine TISCA meets in Texas each school year, Hanna coach Sam Perez said.
TISCA meets provide a fairly accurate gauge for swimmers and divers to see how they might rank compared to their competitors around the region and state. A TISCA/pre-regional meet is scheduled for Dec. 12 and 13 at Brownsville’s Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center.
At Corpus Christi, the Hanna girls received strong showings from Maya Imperial in the 200 and 500 freestyles and Natalia Davila in the 100 and 200 freestyles. Both are juniors. Those two also swam with Gloria Orta and Tahliya Martinez on Hanna’s 400 freestyle relay.
Imperial, a past state qualifier in the 500 freestyle, and Davila made it to the B finals in their individual events.
“We were really happy with their times, and we’re looking forward to a good season,” Perez said. “It really motivates them to see the times of the other girls (and know they can compete with them). It’s really motivating to step up to the competition (like that).
“TISCA meets are kind of like a prequel to state (in February), if you will,” Perez added. “You get an idea of where you stand against everyone else. It’s not often that other schools (around Texas) come together like that (for a state-level competition).”
Martinez, also a junior, said competing at a TISCA event helps her focus on improving her times.
“I think my season is going really well,” said Martinez, who started swimming as a child. “I’m dropping a couple of seconds and things like that (in my events).
“Swimming (competitively) is sometimes really hard, but it’s also fun,” she added. “The outcome is good most of the time.”
NEW FACILITY: The recently opened Harlingen CISD Aquatic Center is set to hold what is believed to be its first major meet Dec. 4 and 5. It’s called the Harlingen CISD Winter Splash Bash Invitational.
The brand new $7.8 million facility, which was recently inaugurated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, is located next to Boggus Stadium.
The Winter Splash Bash Invitational is expected to attract a field of 14 teams along with host schools Harlingen High and Harlingen South. Brownsville and Los Fresnos teams are entered.
Sandra Flinn, a former swimmer at Texas A&M and a coach for more than 25 years, is the new facility’s aquatic coordinator.
The coach for Harlingen South is Rene Flores. He is assisted by Hector Castaneda. Harlingen High is coached by Danny Euresti, and he is assisted by Yvonne Moran.
Construction on the facility began in July 2013. It was expected to open in time to be the host site for the District 32-6A meet late last January. However, the facility wasn’t quite ready for use at that time and the 32-6A meet again was held at Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center in Brownsville, so the weekend of Dec. 4 and 5 figures to be the first major event staged at the new aquatic center.
The 2016 32-6A meet is scheduled to be held Jan. 29 and 30 at the Harlingen CISD Aquatic Center. A predistrict meet, which should attract most if not all of the 32-6A teams, is scheduled at the same site Jan. 8 and 9.
UPCOMING: The upcoming swimming & diving meets include the Harlingen CISD Winter Splash Bash Invitational on Dec. 4 and 5; Santa’s On His Way Meet on Dec. 4 and 5 at Roma; PSJA Tri-City Holiday Hustle Class 5A Invitational on Dec. 11 and 12; Pre-Regional Meet on Dec. 11 and 12 at Clark and the Brownsville City Meet on Dec. 18 at Clark.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.