BY NATHANIEL MATA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
The calendar shows a new year, but for high school swimming the season is winding down. The district, regional and state meets are looming.
This weekend in McAllen, at the MISD Natatorium, plenty of top area swimmers were on hand, swimming head-to-head. In two weeks, the pool will be the site of the crucial district meet that will send some swimmers home, and crown others champions moving on.
McAllen schools dominated the action over the weekend. McAllen High took first in the girls division, and second in the boys side of the meet. The McAllen Memorial Mustangs were first in boys and second in girls.
Sweeping top honors has been a theme for McAllen ISD of late. A season ago, the McHi boys and Memorial girls won district and regional titles.
McAllen ISD Swimming coordinator and diving coach Humberto Patch served as meet director. He was pleased with the state of the meet, which drew talent from Valley and Coastal Bend schools.
“It’s really important because this is your last meet before district,” Patch said. “A lot of teams that come here, Brownsville or even from Corpus are coming because they know we have tougher competition here, so it kind of pushes them. We like that, because it also pushes our McAllen kids.”
Despite being a couple weeks out from district, teams put a premium on secrecy and deception, at times. Swimmers may not always compete in their top event, sometimes to practice other strokes, other times to hide current times from their opponents.
Even while swimming off-events, many of the usual suspects had medals around their neck at the end of the meet.
Defending regional champion Shaine Casas won the 50-yard freestyle and 500 freestyle. He also took gold in 200 medley and 400 freestyle medley relay.
Max Saenz, another McHi bulldog with a gold from last season’s regional meet, is part of those relay teams.
A junior under coach Jared Kaminski, Saenz knows that swimming in every event is beneficial in high school and beyond.
“I’m getting around to all of my events so I have a list to choose from whenever I’m going to go for districts and find the best fit,” said Saenz, who took four gold home. “It’s very important because colleges tend to look at what you can do all around so they can place you wherever they need to, as opposed to just being able to swim one event and limiting yourself to what certain colleges need.”
Saenz was a gold medalist in the 200 individual medley during the regional meet a year ago, proof that well-rounded swimming is something he excels in.
Weslaco’s Daryl Wells is a sophomore who came up a few seconds short of a state appearance in the 100 butterfly last year. He’s hoping a year of hard work will be his opportunity to advance to Austin.
“It’s funny when you’re swimming against this competition, because usually you train with them,” Wells said. “Right now I’m seeded 3rd in the 100-butterfly. I know by regionals I can drop [time] if I can keep doing what I’m doing right now. This meet shows where you’re at, so you know what you need to work on for when district comes.”
He is chasing Casas and Saenz’s time in the butterfly, however he won gold in the 200 freestyle during the New Year’s Classic.
McAllen Memorial girls may have earned second place, but some of their top swimmers were on full display over the weekend.
Sophomore Stacia Benitez had two individual top-3 finishes, including a gold in the 100 backstroke. She was also part of a relay gold finish in the 200 medley. Hannah Bradford won 100 backstroke gold and 50 freestyle silver. Benitez and Bradford combined for three individual gold medals at last year’s regional meet.
VALLEY-SWIMMING AND DIVING RESULTS
New Year Classic
Jan. 13- Jan. 14
At Nikki Rowe Natatorium Team Results
GIRLS
1, McAllen High School, 409. 2, McAllen Memorial High School, 386. 3, Nikki Rowe High School, 347. 4, Homer Hanna HS, 201. 5, CC Incarnate Word Academy, 193. 6, Los Fresnos High School, 173. 7, Saint Joseph Academy, 169. 8, Weslaco High School, 117. 9, Robert Vela High School, 77. 10, Mission High School, 39. 11, Weslaco East High School, 34. 12, Brownsville Lopez, 33. 13, Richard King High School, 20. 14, Lajo, 9.
BOYS
1, McAllen Memorial High School, 472.5. 2, McAllen High School, 445. 3, Los Fresnos High School, 282. 4, Mission High School, 196. 5, Robert Vela High School, 153. 6, CC Incarnate Word Academy, 143. 7, Nikki Rowe High School, 133. 8, Weslaco High School, 131. 9, Lajo, 88. 10, Saint Joseph Academy, 68.5. 11, Homer Hanna HS, 46. 12, Brownsville Lopez, 33. 13, Weslaco East High School, 31. 14, Nikki Rowe High School, 26. 15, Mary Carroll Highschool, 20.
Individual Results
Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay
1, McAllen Memorial High School ‘A’ (Benitez, Stacia A 16, Bradford, Hannah J 16, Blevins, Megan 17, Guerra, Avia 16), 2:01.60. 2, McAllen High School ‘A’ (Lizzotte, Melanie, Crocker, Margot, Garza, Allison, Gonzalez, Sofia), 2:10.17. 3, Saint Joseph Academy ‘A’ (Aponte, Miren J, Fierro, Diana, Hainley, Jessie, Douglas, Sophia), 2:12.19. 4, CC Incarnate Word Academy ‘A’ (Garcia-Esparza, Peach A 14, Nicholson, Lizzy 15, Vicknair, Payton 16, Wood, Kelsi A 15), 2:12.49. 5, Nikki Rowe High School ‘A’ (Reyes, Shaena, Santos, Daniella, Estrada, Mariam, Delias, Ayanna), 2:12.90. 6, Los Fresnos High School ‘A’ (Rodriguez, Emily, Castro, Katherine, Villarreal, Sarah, Castro, Kaylie), 2:16.04. 7, Robert Vela High School ‘A’ (Benevente, Ashley, Alanis, Grace, Arteaga, Cassandra, Guerra, Christa), 2:16.61. 8, Nikki Rowe High School ‘B’ (Salazar, Charleen, Wyna, Megan, Garza, Maddy, Cueva, Raquel), 2:18.71.
Boys 200 Yard Medley Relay
1, McAllen High School ‘A’ (Casas, Shaine, Davila, Diego, Saenz, Max, Crocker, Evan), 1:42.67. 2, McAllen Memorial High School ‘A’ (Garza, Caden, Vazquez, Jorge 16, Gates, Cooper 15, Anaya, Robert T), 1:43.05. 3, Weslaco High School ‘A’ (Wells, Daryl L 16, Bloomquist, Brock A, Trevino, Daniel R, Cerda, Francisco J), 1:50.13. 4, Los Fresnos High School ‘A’ (Osuna, Luis, McKinney, Will, Espinoza, Javier, Escamilla, Daniel), 1:51.53. 5, Robert Vela High School ‘A’ (Rivera, Justice, Velador, Eddie, Garza, Eloy, Tijerina, Sebastian), 1:55.62. 6, Mission High School ‘A’ (Salinas, Diego, Vargas, Cesar, Vela, Moseis, Moreno, Jesus), 1:55.80. 7, McAllen Memorial High School ‘B’ (Rodriguez, Richard 16, Richart, James A 15, Garcia Sandoval, Humberto 17, Pena Sanchez, Patricio), 1:56.82. 8, McAllen High School ‘B’ (Hernandez, Alex, Lyon, Jace, Panola, Christian, De Leon, Mario), 1:59.94.
Girls 200 Yard Freestyle
1, Swanson, Shelby, MCAL, 2:04.09. 2, Hainley, Jessie, Saint Joe, 2:07.08. 3, Benitez, Stacia A, MCME, 2:12.05. 4, Fierro, Diana, Saint Joe, 2:16.10. 5, Blevins, Megan, MCME, 2:18.94. 6, Castro, Kaylie, LOFR, 2:23.50. 7, Parker, Morgan D, Weslaco, 2:23.93. 8, Arteaga, Cassandra, Vela, 2:25.87.
Boys 200 Yard Freestyle
1, Wells, Daryl L, Weslaco, 1:52.82. 2, Garza, Caden, MCME, 1:53.86. 3, Vazquez, Jorge, MCME, 1:55.68. 4, Paredes, Carlos, LOFR, 1:58.67. 5, Rodriguez, Richard, MCME, 2:03.83. 6, Trevino, Rocky, MCAL, 2:05.54. 7, Garcia Sandoval, Humberto, MCME, 2:06.32. 8, Moore, Zachary, MCME, 2:07.75.
Girls 200 Yard IM
1, Sarah, Villarreal, LOFR, 2:29.02. 2, Orta, Gloria, Hanna, 2:29.20. 3, Bradford, LiLi E, MCME, 2:36.42. 4, Lizzotte, Melanie, MCAL, 2:49.19. 5, Pizzano, Gabi, MCAL, 2:51.78. 6, Moore, Madison R, MCME, 2:51.82. 7, Vicknair, Payton, Angels, 2:57.14. 8, Gonzalez, Daniela, MCRO, 3:14.52.
Boys 200 Yard IM
1, Saenz, Max, MCAL, 2:10.31. 2, Bloomquist, Brock A, Weslaco, 2:14.14. 3, Williams, Joe, MCAL, 2:15.01. 4, Richart, James A, MCME, 2:15.81. 5, Velador, Eddie, Vela, 2:18.91. 6, Rivera, Justice, Vela, 2:30.57. 7, Salinas, Diego, Mission, 2:33.21. 8, Garza, Aaron, MCME, 2:34.16.
Girls 50 Yard Freestyle
1, Davila, Natalia, Hanna, 27.20. 2, Bradford, Hannah J, MCME, 27.89. 3, Moreno, Alanah, MCAL, 28.30. 4, Gutierrez, Nadia, Hanna, 28.41. 5, Estrada, Mariam, MCRO, 28.46. 6, Smith, Tammy, MCAL, 28.55. 7, Rodriguez, Lauren, MCAL, 28.70. 8, Torres, Iris, Weslaco, 29.20.
Boys 50 Yard Freestyle
1, Casas, Shaine, MCAL, 21.28. 2, Anaya, Robert T, MCME, 22.57. 3, Yeager, William A, Angels, 23.26. 4, Wilkins, Thomas, MCAL, 23.83. 5, Davila, Luis S, Saint Joe, 24.17. 5, Gates, Cooper, MCME, 24.17. 7, Morales, Ari, LOFR, 24.21. 8, Garza, Eloy, Vela, 24.31.
Girls 1 mtr Diving
1, Ward, Kelley, King High School-ST, 330.55. 2, Rocha de Murga, Patricia, MCME, 303.95. 3, De Leon, Katherine, MCME, 303.45.
Boys 1 mtr Diving
1, Hazelwood, Trevor, Carroll-US, 445.40. 2, Barrera, Eddie, LAJO, 310.40. 3, Martinez, Vicente, LAJO, 295.50. 4, Moreno, Jesus, Mission, 267.00. 5, Lorenz, Quintin, MCRO, 233.00. 6, Rios, Jose, LAJO, 231.55. 7, Anorga, Andres, Hanna, 194.05. 8, Gonzalez-Hernandez, Fernando, MCME, 143.50.
Girls 100 Yard Butterfly
1, Guerra, Avia, MCME, 1:05.34. 2, Hainley, Jessie, Saint Joe, 1:07.75. 3, Santos, Daniella, MCRO, 1:07.80. 4, Davila, Natalia, Hanna, 1:09.32. 5, Blevins, Megan, MCME, 1:13.47. 6, Garcia-Esparza, Peach A, Angels, 1:13.64. 7, Delias, Ayanna, MCRO, 1:13.82. 8, Guerra, Christa, Vela, 1:17.80.
Boys 100 Yard Butterfly
1, Yeager, William A, Angels, 59.53. 2, McKinney, Will, LOFR, 1:00.20. 3, Osuna, Luis, LOFR, 1:02.71. 4, Trevino, Daniel R, Weslaco, 1:03.91. 5, Mendiola, Noah, McRojv, 1:04.05. 6, Vela, Moseis, Mission, 1:05.16. 7, Richart, James A, MCME, 1:06.31. 8, Davila, Diego, MCAL, 1:07.11.
Girls 100 Yard Freestyle
1, Swanson, Shelby, MCAL, 57.79. 2, Estrada, Mariam, MCRO, 1:01.37. 3, Reyes, Shaena, MCRO, 1:02.33. 4, Rodriguez, Emily, LOFR, 1:03.89. 5, Moreno, Alanah, MCAL, 1:03.92. 6, Gonzalez, Daniela, MCRO, 1:06.22. 7, Gallegos, Alejandra, LOFR, 1:07.16. 8, Aponte, Miren J, Saint Joe, 1:07.26.
Boys 100 Yard Freestyle
1, Anaya, Robert T, MCME, 51.07. 2, Gates, Cooper, MCME, 53.17. 3, Bloomquist, Brock A, Weslaco, 54.13. 4, Davila, Luis S, Saint Joe, 54.19. 5, Moore, Michael, MCAL, 54.37. 6, Morales, Ari, LOFR, 54.89. 7, Garcia, Roman, MCRO, 55.19. 8, Crocker, Evan, MCAL, 55.21.
Girls 500 Yard Freestyle
1, Rodriguez, Lauren, MCAL, 5:59.54. 2, Orta, Gloria, Hanna, 5:59.59. 3, Douglas, Sophia, Saint Joe, 6:13.48. 4, Fierro, Diana, Saint Joe, 6:36.85. 5, Wood, Kelsi A, Angels, 6:36.93. 6, Castro, Kaylie, LOFR, 6:41.40. 7, Pizzano, Gabi, MCAL, 6:42.15. 8, Lam, Marianna, MCRO, 6:46.44.
Boys 500 Yard Freestyle
1, Casas, Shaine, MCAL, 4:48.22. 2, Wilkins, Thomas, MCAL, 5:15.10. 3, Wells, Daryl L, Weslaco, 5:27.45. 4, Williams, Joe, MCAL, 5:28.48. 5, Paredes, Carlos, LOFR, 5:30.72. 6, Cerda, Francisco J, Weslaco, 5:34.34. 7, Velador, Eddie, Vela, 5:45.75. 8, Roblero, Jesse, LOFR, 5:53.47.
Girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
1, McAllen High School ‘A’ (Smith, Tammy, Moreno, Alanah, Rodriguez, Lauren, Swanson, Shelby), 1:53.32. 2, McAllen Memorial High School ‘A’ (Hernandez Balleza, Luisa 17, Bradford, LiLi E 14, Blevins, Megan 17, Guerra, Avia 16), 1:54.30. 3, Homer Hanna HS ‘A’ (Davila, Natalia, Gutierrez, Nadia, Larson, Annika, Orta, Gloria), 1:54.44. 4, Saint Joseph Academy ‘A’ (Fierro, Diana, Aponte, Miren J, Douglas, Sophia, Hainley, Jessie), 1:54.94. 5, Nikki Rowe High School ‘A’ (Santos, Daniella, Lam, Marianna, Cueva, Raquel, Reyes, Shaena), 1:55.97. 6, CC Incarnate Word Academy ‘A’ (Garcia-Esparza, Peach A 14, Vicknair, Payton 16, Lippincott, Paige, Wood, Kelsi A 15), 2:03.71. 7, Nikki Rowe High School ‘B’ (Garza, Maddy, Rowland, Tabitha, Guerra, Samantha-Jo, Underwood, Rebecca), 2:04.95. 8, Weslaco High School ‘A’ (Cano, Brianna L, Cano, Cyanna L, Reyes, Kyana, Torres, Iris), 2:04.96.
Boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
1, McAllen High School ‘A’ (Wilkins, Thomas, Williams, Joe, Crocker, Evan, Moore, Michael), 1:35.98. 2, McAllen Memorial High School ‘A’ (Anaya, Robert T, Rodriguez, Richard 16, Vazquez, Jorge 16, Garza, Caden), 1:36.39. 3, Los Fresnos High School ‘A’ (Morales, Ari, McKinney, Will, Espinoza, Javier, Paredes, Carlos), 1:38.19. 4, Robert Vela High School ‘A’ (Garza, Eloy, Velador, Eddie, Tijerina, Sebastian, Rivera, Justice), 1:38.88. 5, Mission High School ‘A’ (Hernandez, Ricardo, Salinas, Diego, Moreno, Jesus, Vela, Moseis), 1:41.21. 6, CC Incarnate Word Academy ‘A’ (Vicknair, Gavin P 14, Hein, Nicholas A 15, Villarreal, David A 18, Yeager, William A 17), 1:43.49. 7, McAllen Memorial High School ‘B’ (Moore, Zachary 16, Graham, Timothy R 15, Medrano, Alan 14, Cortez, Alan 15), 1:45.71. 8, Lajo ‘A’ (Ochoa, Thomas, Ayala, Ruben, Marrero, Juan Pablo, Enriquez, Sam), 1:46.44.
Girls 100 Yard Backstroke
1, Benitez, Stacia A, MCME, 1:04.09. 2, Guerra, Avia, MCME, 1:05.91. 3, Sarah, Villarreal, LOFR, 1:10.88. 4, Bradford, LiLi E, MCME, 1:11.14. 5, Reyes, Shaena, MCRO, 1:11.16. 6, Santos, Daniella, MCRO, 1:11.22. 7, Garcia-Esparza, Peach A, Angels, 1:12.99. 8, Lam, Marianna, MCRO, 1:14.88.
Boys 100 Yard Backstroke
1, Saenz, Max, MCAL, 58.30. 2, Garza, Caden, MCME, 59.24. 3, Trevino, Ruben D, MCME, 1:01.79. 4, Park, Gwanghoon, MCAL, 1:01.97. 5, Osuna, Luis, LOFR, 1:02.82. 6, Vega, Cesar I, Saint Joe, 1:03.07. 7, Rodriguez, Richard, MCME, 1:04.70. 8, Baltodano, Richardo, McRojv, 1:06.99.
Girls 100 Yard Breaststroke
1, Bradford, Hannah J, MCME, 1:10.89. 2, Crocker, Margot, MCAL, 1:20.00. 3, Nicholson, Lizzy, Angels, 1:23.12. 4, Bang, Jessica K, Angels, 1:26.57. 5, Herzberg, Jessie, MCAL, 1:26.68. 6, Castro, Katherine, LOFR, 1:31.00. 7, Salazar, Charleen, MCRO, 1:31.04. 8, Hernandez Balleza, Luisa, MCME, 1:31.12.
Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke
1, Vazquez, Jorge, MCME, 1:01.44. 2, McKinney, Will, LOFR, 1:11.27. 3, Mata, Jose, MCRO, 1:14.06. 4, Hernandez, Ricardo, Mission, 1:15.98. 5, Crocker, Evan, MCAL, 1:17.18. 6, Vicknair, Gavin P, Angels, 1:17.40. 7, Vargas, Cesar, Mission, 1:18.38. 8, Wells, Robert, LOFR, 1:18.51.
Girls 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
1, McAllen High School ‘A’ (Rodriguez, Lauren, Swanson, Shelby, Garza, Allison, Moreno, Alanah), 4:09.24. 2, Homer Hanna HS ‘A’ (Davila, Natalia, Gutierrez, Nadia, Zamora, Paulina, Orta, Gloria), 4:16.07. 3, Los Fresnos High School ‘A’ (Rodriguez, Emily, Castro, Kaylie, Castro, Katherine, Sarah, Villarreal), 4:21.60. 4, Nikki Rowe High School ‘A’ (Delias, Ayanna, Estrada, Mariam, Gonzalez, Daniela, Lam, Marianna), 4:21.81. 5, McAllen Memorial High School ‘A’ (Bradford, Hannah J 16, Martinez, Evie P 14, Garza, Vanessa 16, Benitez, Stacia A 16), 4:31.12. 6, McAllen Memorial High School ‘B’ (Bradford, LiLi E 14, Sanchez, Aviana E 15, Cueva, Emilia 16, Moore, Madison R 14), 4:35.50. 7, Weslaco High School ‘A’ (Horta, Larisa M, Parker, Morgan D, Cano, Brianna L, Reyes, Kyana), 4:41.47. 8, McAllen High School ‘B’ (Smith, Tammy, Gonzalez, Sofia, Crocker, Margot, Seal, McCoy), 4:44.75.
Boys 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
1, McAllen High School ‘A’ (Saenz, Max, Casas, Shaine, Wilkins, Thomas, Moore, Michael), 3:29.41. 2, Los Fresnos High School ‘A’ (Escamilla, Daniel, Osuna, Luis, Morales, Ari, Paredes, Carlos), 3:37.60. 3, McAllen Memorial High School ‘A’ (Trevino, Ruben D 17, Moore, Zachary 16, Medrano, Alan 14, Cortez, Alan 15), 3:47.31. 4, McAllen High School ‘B’ (Rodriguez, Draven, De Leon, Mario, Park, Gwanghoon, Trevino, Rocky), 3:53.40. 5, CC Incarnate Word Academy ‘A’ (Yeager, William A 17, Villarreal, David A 18, Hein, Nicholas A 15, Vicknair, Gavin P 14), 3:57.89. 6, Nikki Rowe High School ‘A’ (Garcia, Roman, Mondragon, David, Acevedo, Nico, Iglesias, Ivan), 4:00.19. 7, Mission High School ‘A’ (Barbosa, Christopher, Ramirez, Robert, Rojas, Orlando, Vargas, Cesar), 4:02.98. 8, McAllen Memorial High School ‘B’ (Gates, Cooper 15, Richart, James A 15, Santos Guerra, Antonio S 14, Turk, Marcos S 15), 4:07.71.