Edinburg North girls, Edinburg boys take first at 31-5A meet

HARLINGEN — Whoever said electricity and water don’t mix apparently never attended a District 31-5A Swimming & Diving championship meet.

The pool at Pendleton Park got an early jolt Friday evening when Harlingen diver Miguel Angel Garcia broke the pool record with a score of 397.95.

Garcia, a junior known to his classmates as "Deano", blew away the competition after executing a gainer from the tuck position, his best dive.

"I trained really hard for this," said Garcia. "I’m really happy I was able to set this mark at this meet."

The mark bested the old record of 338.95 set by fellow Harlingen alum Bobby Morales in 2008-09, who now dives for the University of Chicago where he currently holds four of the schools all-time records.

The swimming portion of the meet saw all three schools from Edinburg and both schools from Harlingen compete for the right to become District 31-5A champions and the right to advance to the Region IV meet, which will be held on Feb. 10-11 in Corpus Christi.

The support from the crowd during each race made for a compelling scenario in which teamwork and sportsmanship became the main event.

"I thought it was a great meet," said Harlingen swim coach Dan Brandon. "We (coaches) all worked together, the competition between us has never been adversarial."

In the boys division, Edinburg High placed first with 114.2 points, ahead of Harlingen South by six points, followed by Edinburg Economedes and Harlingen High.

The difference between first and fourth place was a mere 13 points, demonstrating the lack of parity among the top teams.

The girls division saw Edinburg North take home the title with 135.2 points, edging out Harlingen High by six points as well, followed by Edinburg North and Harlingen South.

Entering the meet for Harlingen South was standout Andy Crockett, who helped the South boys win the 200-yard medley relay by a time 1:51.63. 2.

Crockett led South as he placed second in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle, and third in the 200 freestyle relay.

Brian Castillo and Eric Rudd also added much needed points for the Hawks as they finished first and second in the 200-yard freestyle, with Castillo placing second in the 100 butterfly and Rudd with a second place finish in the 100 backstroke as well.

The Harlingen girls earned valuable points in the 200-yard freestyle when Celeste Taniguchi and Mallory Walters finished first and third, respectively, with Taniguchi gaining more with her second place in the 500 freestyle.

The Cardinal girls repeated the feat in the 200 IM when Francisca Aparo and Cynthia Inglett finished first and third, with Aparo adding more with her first-place finish in the 100 yard butterfly.

Seton Uhlhorn rounded out the Lady Cardinal scoring with a second place finish in the 100 breaststroke and helping the 400 freestyle relay.

"The teams that won earned it," added Brandon. "I give their coaches all the credit."