By STEFAN MODRICH | Staff Writer
When February rolls around, the best swimmers in the Rio Grande Valley separate themselves from the field.
Luis Osuna of Los Fresnos and Justin Diaz of Harlingen South set the pace, earning the top seeds during the Region VIII-6A swimming & diving prelims Friday at Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center in Brownsville in their respective events — the 200-yard freestyle (1:48.65) and the 200 individual medley (2:01.32).
Osuna also turned in a 48.49 finish to lead the 100 freestyle field, and Brownsville Hanna’s Quinten Deysel (50.11) finished third behind qualifier James Moore of McAllen High.
Robert Waters swam nearly a half a second faster than his last outing for the Falcons in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.29, but McAllen Memorial’s Cooper Gates edged Waters in a photo finish, clocking in at 22.24. Deysel (22.67) finished fourth.
Weslaco High’s Brock Bloomquist (2:04.17) qualified in the 200 individual medley, and Daryl Wells (51.72) finished first in the 100 fly. Wells (54.67) also won the 100 backstroke, and Diaz (55.39) placed second. Waters (56.94) took third, and Brownsville Hanna’s Matthew Lovett was fourth.
Harlingen South’s Camille Lizada (1:04.68) won the top seed in the 100 fly again, after finishing first in the event at the District 32-6A championship for the Lady Hawks last Friday in Weslaco.
“Today she did great,” Harlingen South coach Hector Castañeda said. “But let’s do that (today). That’s one thing that I told her as well, is, ‘Hey, you know what, I’m glad we got our goal today, you did great, but today doesn’t matter. It’s all about tomorrow now.’”
Lizada improved her time in the 100 fly by more than two seconds, and Castañeda expects her to swim even faster in the regional finals today. She also finished third in the 200 freestyle (2:05.97). Harlingen High’s Mckenna Stock (2:10.89) placed fifth in the 200 freestyle.
South’s Lola Garza (1:14.42) won the 100 breaststroke, and McAllen Memorial’s LiLi Bradford (1:14.78) also qualified.
“We came out with a goal to be seeded where we wanted to be and we’re right there,” Castañeda said. “Everyone dropped time. Now our goal is to make it off to state with several of our swimmers, so we’ll see what happens.”
Harlingen High coach Danny Euresti said competing in the prelims can be nerve-wracking for coaches, who want to make sure they get the most out of their swimmers coming off of district performances while also reserving enough energy to give their all in the final.
“Sometimes you can’t really tell who you’re going up against, because they’ll put the fast swimmers on the outside, said Euresti, whose 15 Cardinals and Lady Cardinals all will compete in today’s finals. “And then (today) you’ll look next to you on either side and everyone will be fast.”
Los Fresnos swim coach Jaime Perez and his Falcons faced some of their toughest competition of the season in McHi, McAllen Memorial, Laredo United and Laredo Alexander, resulting in a slight dropoff with some of his best swimmers’ times and in relay events.
Emily Rodriguez and Reiana Apacible each finished in the top four in the 100 fly in district competition for the Lady Falcons, but Rodriguez slipped from second to fourth and Apacible to ninth. Apacible (1:15.25) finished third in the 100 breaststroke.
“You’ve got to make finals,” Perez said. “You can’t cruise. And then (today), you sell out. That’s what we’ve been looking forward to, leaving it all in the pool.”
Citabria Barrales (2:25.81) qualified for a spot in the regional final in the 200 individual medley, finishing two seconds faster than her district time.
The Lady Falcons finished third in the 200 medley relay (1:59.73) behind Laredo United (1:59.32) and McAllen Memorial (1:57.85). The Lady Hawks (2:01.19) finished fourth.
The Falcons (1:32.25) won the 200 freestyle relay, and Laredo Alexander (1:33.01) placed second.
In the final girls event of the day, Laredo Alexander (4:01.63) won the girls 400 freestyle relay. Harlingen South finished second, (4:06.92), Los Fresnos (4:10.51) took third and Hanna (4:11.31) was fourth.
“Some people have placed better than the slide sheet,” Perez said. “We’ve put ourselves in position to have success (today).”