BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — For the first two years of their existence, the PSJA ISD swim teams have focused on the future.
During Friday’s District 31-6A swim meet at the Pharr Aquatic Center, the future arrived.
As the PSJA North Lady Raiders ascended the podium to collect their first district championship trophy, it marked the second time in as many weeks a PSJA team sat atop the team standings in district competition — the PSJA Southwest boys team won the 32-5A meet the week prior.
Making the Lady Raiders’ first-place run more impressive is the team’s underwhelming roster size. Though North features just nine swimmers and one diver, the team maximized points whenever possible, especially in the relays where it won two golds and a silver.
Individually, Yeye Rodriguez won the girls 100-yard fly with a time of 1 minute, 09.49 seconds, and Julia Worley placed first in the 100 breaststroke in 1:20.00. Carolina Carillo won the girls one-meter diving on Thursday.
“This just shows how hard we work and how together we are,” Rodriguez said.
The top six finishers in individual events and relays automatically qualify for the Class 6A Region VIII regional swim meet next week in Brownsville. At regionals, only the first place finishers automatically advance to the state meet in Austin.
Edinburg High’s Alison Tacderas was named the Female Athlete of the Meet. She placed first in the girls 100 free (58.62) and 50 free (26.62). The Lady Bobcats finished second in the team standings.
In the boys competition, the Weslaco High Panthers took home the first-place trophy thanks to a mix of established talent and the emergence of freshman swimmers. Daryl Wells was named the Male Athlete of the Meet. Wells participated in several relays in addition to winning gold in the boys 100 fly in 55.35.
“I knew it was going to be close between us and Edinburg High,” Weslaco interim coach Alexandra Trevino said. “We don’t quite have the numbers that they do. But I knew that if we swam to our strengths and swam our hearts out, which we did, we could put ourselves in a good position.”
A duo of freshman topped the podium for the Panthers in Nicholas Cano and Brock Bloomquist. Cano won the 200 free in 2:12.31, while Bloomquist won a pair of gold medals for his efforts in the 200 IM (2:20.76) and the 100 free (56.68).
“I was really nervous at the beginning of my races,” Bloomquist said. “But my brother told me to just go out there and do it for fun. So, that’s what I did. The nerves went away afterwards.”
The Edinburg High boys, just like their female counterparts, placed second in the team standings.