By EDWARD SEVERN, Staff Writer
BROWNSVILLE — The Region VIII-6A finals will be held today at the Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center.
On Friday, swimmers battled for a lane in the finals.
The top 16 swimmers from the preliminaries will compete in the finals. The top eight will compete for the podium, and the next eight will be competing in the consolation final.
Los Fresnos junior Jada Ashford broke her fifth pool record at the aquatic center. The junior broke the 100-yard butterfly record with a time of 56.21.
“I was looking forward to that one,” she said. “I worked for that one. I was looking at that record for a while.”
Harlingen High sophomore Elise Hernandez’s 500 freestyle time is second in the region.
“I feel really motivated,” she said. “I feel like I can possibly make it to state. I have been getting my momentum back after COVID. I feel really good.”
Los Fresnos diver Evangeline Wrinkle has the second-best diving score in the region. PSJA High’s Natalie Bravo is first.
“I am a little bit anxious because I have to swim (in the) finals (today),” Wrinkle said. “I did the same thing at pre-regionals, and it was tough.”
The boys freestyle races could be extremely competitive. Los Fresnos swimmers Jayden Crews posted the fastest 50 freestyle time in the prelims.
“Happy,” Crews said. “It has been an absolutely long journey. It has been hard, so hard. I was close to my personal best and very close to the school record in the 50. I am more than confident I will get it (today).”
Brownsville Hanna’s Ricardo Rodriguez, Laredo Alexander’s Cris Pena and Warren Villarreal of Edinburg High all were within one second of Crews.
“I am nervous. I did not get a personal record today, but it is just prelims,” Villarreal said. “My season started slow, but I have been working hard. I have to get to state this year.”
Brownsville Hanna’s boys 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams, led by Ricardo Rodriguez and Michael Kowalski, could have a shot at making state today. The boys have the third-best time in the 200 and second-best in the 400.
“Today’s finals are going to be a good one,” Kowalski said. “We are looking forward to the relays because we know we can do good in that. It is going to be close at the end for sure.”