PSJA Southwest’s Isaac Velasquez and McAllen High’s Nilton Dos Santos were dominant in their events Saturday at the Region VIII-5A swimming championship at the Corpus Christi ISD Natatorium and are now heading the state swim meet in three events.
The Valley’s contingent had a strong showing throughout the day. Dos Santos won in three events, Velasquez won two events and McAllen Memorial’s Dayan Rodriguez also qualified for the state meet by winning his event. The UIL Swimming and Diving Championship is scheduled for Feb. 27-28 at the Bill Walker Pool and Josh Davis Natatorium in San Antonio.
Velasquez won the 50 freestyle by .09 seconds before also swimming to first place in the 100 free. Velasquez, a junior, was also named the Region VIII-5A boys swimmer of the meet. He’s going to state for the thirsd straight year, and in completely different events. Last year, he advanced in the 100 fly and 500 freestyle.
“He has always liked the sprint events, but we felt he had a better chance in those other events last year to help the team win,” PSJA ISD aquatics director Jonathan Landero said. “This year, everything lined up for him to be in the events he really wanted and he went with it. He knows what he wants and he doesn’t let distractions get in his way. He’s so focused.”
Landero added that Velasquez is extremely versatile and his ability to successfully compete in almost any event is an issue when head coach Erika Amador is choosing the events.
“Coach Amador and I thought he could do anything, so why not let him do what he wants,” Landero said. “He allows us to build a team around him and if we need to do anything else for the team to do better, he’s willing to do that.”
Velasquez not only set personal marks in each event, but he also set PSJA Southwest and school district records in both events.
Dos Santos touched the wall first in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly individually. He also anchored the winning 400 relay team with Travis Wilkins, Nyles Dos Santos and Ethan Lizzotte. That quartet beat city rival McAllen Memorial and the team of Ethan Rodriguez, Dayan Rodriguez, Austin Barton and Sebastian Restrepo by .01 seconds.
Santos, the District 31-5A boys swimmer of the meet, took first in the 200 free and 100 butterfly, as well as the relay.
McHi junior Alex Rodriguez advanced to the state meet in the 1-meter diving category earlier in the week. Rodriguez captured second in the event, behind Alexander Pisarek of Corpus Christi Ray. The top two finished in the diving event advance to the state meet.
In the girls diving event, Mission Veterans’ Ryann Ramirez also captured second place, behind Mia Stevens, to move on to the state meet in San Antonio.