Harlingen's High Brandon eyes possible coaching future

HARLINGEN — Even though most swimmers and divers aspire of becoming a state champion, Harlingen’s Diana Brandon has another thing in mind.

“My goal as a senior is to do better than last year,” said Brandon. “Last year I placed 14th in the state in diving and I want to improve if I can.

“I feel that with my experience and work ethic I have a good chance of doing that.”

Brandon said that she has a routine every day in practice that has helped her drastically this year.

“Before the season began, I came up with a list of dives I wanted to do,” said Brandon. “Usually I practice those dives three to four times each day and do them all in order and am not satisfied until they are perfected in practice.”

Dan Brandon, Harlingen High’s swimming coach and Diana’s father, said that he feels that Diana will have a good chance of making some noise at state this year.

“Diana has qualified for state the past two years and is an all-state swimmer as well,” said Brandon. “She is a great swimmer and works very hard at it.”

Diana Brandon said that even though this is her last year swimming and diving at the high school level, she will continue to keep on pursuing what she loves while in college.

“Even though this is my last year in high school, I am not going to let up on swimming and diving,” said Brandon. “I am going to attend Texas A&M University and will continue to swim on my own in the beginning.

“During my first year I plan on getting used to college life and maybe try to walk on to the A&M swimming team as a sophomore.”

After college, Brandon said that she hopes to become a coach and pass on her knowledge of the sport she so loves.

“Right now I have been working with the middle school kids and really enjoy it,” said Brandon. “I can see myself becoming a coach and feel I have a lot to pass on to the youngsters coming in.”

The meet ended Friday with Harlingen and Harlingen South finish-ing first and second, respectively, in the girls division, while South easily won the boys division. Edinburg finished in second place behind South.

District 31-5A swimming meet

Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay

1, HARLINGEN HIGH 'A' (Brandon, Diana 12, Cortez, Veronica 11, Aparo, Francisca 09, Cooke, Shauna 12), 2:10.38. 2, EDINBURG HIGH SCHOOL 'A' (Lopez, Lyndsay 12, Miller, Marissa 12, Atkins, Dorothy 10, Cantu, Crystal 11), 2:26.45. 3, EDINBURG NORTH COUGARS 'A' (Fuentes, Nicole 12, Trevino, Stephanie 11, Canales, Angela 10, Guajardo, Anyssa M 09), 2:27.86. 4, HARLINGEN SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL 'A' (Poulos, Anne M 10, Garza, Carolina 12, Galvan, Loriann M 11, Gonzalez, Maria F 11), 2:30.72.

Boys 200 Yard Medley Relay

1, EDINBURG HIGH SCHOOL 'A' (Lopez, Rick 12, Von Milczewski, Jonas 09, Abrego, Rigo 10, Cano, Homero 10), 1:56.58. 2, HARLINGEN HIGH 'A' (Uhlhorn, Cutter 12, Morales, Matthew 10, Roybal, Blade 11, Cantu, Brandon 10), 1:56.87. 3, HARLINGEN SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL 'A' (Castillo, Brian R 10, Rudd, Eric 10, Mesquias, Randy 11, Oelerich, Scott M 12), 1:58.16. 4, EDINBURG NORTH COUGARS 'A' (Garza, Victor 12, Castilleja, JD D 11, Guerra, Andres 10, Flores, Joe D 11), 2:11.54.

Girls 200 Yard Freestyle Varsity

1, Gutierrez, Erika K, HASO, 2:00.95. 2, Galvan, Loriann M, HASO, 2:34.92. 3, Rodriguez, Sonia, EDBG NORTH, 2:37.58. 4, Fuentes, Nicole, EDBG NORTH, 2:37.89. 5, Canales, Angela, EDBG NORTH, 2:40.45. 6, Morales, Cindy, HARG, 2:44.19.

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle

1, Gozdalski, Ian, HASO, 1:56.34. 2, Crockett, Charlie, HASO, 2:06.22. 3, Oelerich, Scott M, HASO, 2:08.69. 4, Mesquias, Randy, HASO, 2:09.46. 5, Guerra, Andres, EDBG NORTH, 2:13.16. 6, Morales, Matthew, HARG, 2:13.23.

Girls 200 Yard IM

1, Aparo, Francisca, HARG, 2:29.92. 2, Cortez, Veronica, HARG, 2:43.49. 3, Guerra, Krysti A, EDBG NORTH, 2:50.77. 4, Rios, Chey J, EDBG NORTH, 2:52.46. 5, Cruz, Olivia, HARG, 3:11.26.

Boys 200 Yard IM

1, Rudd, Eric, HASO, 2:20.09. 2, Abrego, Rigo, EDIN, 2:21.04. 3, Castillo, Brian R, HASO, 2:24.78. 4, Lerma, Mikal, HARG, 2:34.42. 5, Von Milczewski, Jonas, EDIN, 2:52.34.

Girls 50 Yard Freestyle

1, Arche-Pagan, Gabbie G, HASO, 28.53. 2, Fite, Jenna, HARG, 28.57. 3, Brandon, Diana, HARG, 28.90. 4, Guerra, Lari L, EDBG NORTH, 29.28. 5, Lopez, Lyndsay, EDIN, 30.77. 6, Sanchez, Selena, HASO, 32.21. 7, Debrooke, Chelsea, HASO, 33.05. 8, Segovia, Brandi, JEHS, 33.08.

Girls 1 mtr Diving

1, Brandon, Diana, HARG, 328.50.

Boys 1 mtr Diving

1, Hernandez, Ruben, HARG, 256.55. 2, Ybarra, Juan, HARG, 224.90. 3, Hernandez, Antonio, JEHS, 205.65.

Girls 100 Yard Butterfly

1, Aparo, Francisca, HARG, 1:07.69. 2, Guerra, Krysti A, EDBG NORTH, 1:16.57. 3, Canales, Angela, EDBG NORTH, 1:17.07. 4, Atkins, Dorothy, EDIN, 1:20.27. 5, Galvan, Loriann M, HASO, 1:20.67. 6, Cooke, Shauna, HARG, 1:25.38.

Boys 100 Yard Butterfly

1, Roybal, Blade, HARG, 57.56. 2, Mesquias, Randy, HASO, 1:01.46. 3, Abrego, Rigo, EDIN, 1:03.51. 4, Lerma, Mikal, HARG, 1:08.29. 5, Guerra, Andres, EDBG NORTH, 1:10.42. 6, Cantu, Alex T, EDBG NORTH, 1:12.44.

Girls 100 Yard Freestyle

1, Gutierrez, Erika K, HASO, 54.44. 2, Fite, Jenna, HARG, 1:01.74. 3, Guerra, Lari L, EDBG NORTH, 1:06.95. 4, Cruz, Olivia, HARG, 1:07.63. 5, Lopez, Lyndsay, EDIN, 1:11.01. 6, Rodriguez, Sonia, EDBG NORTH, 1:11.30. 7, Medina, Rayven, EDIN, 1:13.05. 8, Sanchez, Selena, HASO, 1:13.08.

Girls 500 Yard Freestyle

1, Brandon, Selina, HARG, 6:24.44. 2, Rios, Chey J, EDBG NORTH, 6:52.83. 3, Poulos, Anne M, HASO, 6:56.79. 4, Arche-Pagan, Gabbie G, HASO, 6:57.51. 5, Walters, Mallory, HARG, 7:25.21. 6, Guajardo, Anyssa M, EDBG NORTH, 7:54.41.

Boys 500 Yard Freestyle

1, Castillo, Brian R, HASO, 5:48.11. 2, Rudd, Eric, HASO, 5:57.56. 3, Gonzalez, Jacob, HARG, 6:31.93. 4, Fite, Kevin, HARG, 6:41.92. 5, Romero, Ryan, EDBG NORTH, 7:33.05.

Girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

1, HARLINGEN HIGH 'A' (Brandon, Diana 12, Fite, Jenna 11, Cortez, Veronica 11, Brandon, Selina 12), 1:54.81. 2, HARLINGEN SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL 'A' (Gutierrez, Erika K 12, Debrooke, Chelsea 11, Sanchez, Selena 12, Arche-Pagan, Gabbie G 10), 1:58.70. 3, EDINBURG NORTH COUGARS 'A' (Guerra, Krysti A 10, Rodriguez, Sonia 11, Rios, Chey J 12, Guerra, Lari L 10), 1:59.03. 4, EDINBURG HIGH SCHOOL 'A' (Atkins, Dorothy 10, Cantu, Crystal 11, Miller, Marissa 12, Lopez, Lyndsay 12), 2:05.71. 5, ECONOMEDES HIGH SCHOOL 'A' (Taylor, Amber 9, Segoviab, Bridget 9, Segovia, Brandi 9, Hinojosa, Zuli 9), 2:44.61.

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

1, HARLINGEN SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL 'A' (Gozdalski, Ian 12, Crockett, Andy 10, Crockett, Charlie 12, John, Tony 12), 1:33.23. 2, EDINBURG HIGH SCHOOL 'A' (Abrego, Rigo 10, Cano, Homero 10, Garza, Reynaldo , Lopez, Rick 12), 1:44.69. 3, EDINBURG NORTH COUGARS 'A' (Cantu, Alex T 12, Moya, Mark A 11, Guerra, Andres 10, Flores, Joe D 11), 1:47.62. 4, HARLINGEN HIGH 'A' (Cantu, Brandon 10, Morales, Matthew 10, Gonzalez, Jacob 12, Lerma, Mikal 10), 1:49.42. 5, ECONOMEDES HIGH SCHOOL 'A' (Villarreal, James 9, Vargas, Jacob 10, Lobaton, Victor 10, Hernandez, Antonio 10), 2:02.12.

Girls 100 Yard Backstroke

1, Brandon, Selina, HARG, 1:11.83. 2, Fuentes, Nicole, EDBG NORTH, 1:22.33. 3, Walters, Mallory, HARG, 1:25.65. 4, Poulos, Anne M, HASO, 1:29.92. 5, Navarro, Valeria, HARG, 1:36.02. 6, Guajardo, Anyssa M, EDBG NORTH, 1:36.43.

Boys 100 Yard Backstroke

1, Gozdalski, Ian, HASO, 1:04.49. 2, Uhlhorn, Cutter, HARG, 1:07.52. 3, Garcia, Alexander A, HASO, 1:13.67. 4, Hernandez, Antonio, JEHS, 1:17.64. 5, Garza, Victor, EDBG NORTH, 1:44.09.

Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke

1, Crockett, Andy, HASO, 1:07.29. 2, Von Milczewski, Jonas, EDIN, 1:13.20. 3, Morales, Matthew, HARG, 1:19.82.

Girls 400 Yard Freestyle Relay

1, HARLINGEN HIGH 'A' (Aparo, Francisca 09, Fite, Jenna 11, Cooke, Shauna 12, Brandon, Selina 12), 4:11.78. 2, HARLINGEN SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL 'A' (Arche-Pagan, Gabbie G 10, Sanchez, Selena 12, Poulos, Anne M 10, Gutierrez, Erika K 12), 4:29.28. 3, EDINBURG NORTH COUGARS 'A' (Guerra, Krysti A 10, Rodriguez, Sonia 11, Rios, Chey J 12, Guerra, Lari L 10), 4:32.31. 4, EDINBURG HIGH SCHOOL 'A' (Hankins, Amanda 09, Medina, Rayven 10, Perez, Francine 09, Salinas, Vianey 11), 5:24.92.

Boys 400 Yard Freestyle Relay

1, HARLINGEN SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL 'A' (Gozdalski, Ian 12, Crockett, Andy 10, Crockett, Charlie 12, John, Tony 12), 3:34.57. 2, HARLINGEN HIGH 'A' (Roybal, Blade 11, Lerma, Mikal 10, Gonzalez, Jacob 12, Uhlhorn, Cutter 12), 4:00.71. 3, EDINBURG HIGH SCHOOL 'A' (Cano, Homero 10, Garza, Reynaldo , Torres, Nicholas 09, Abrego, Salvador 09), 4:13.76. 4, EDINBURG NORTH COUGARS 'A' (Cantu, Alex T 12, Garza, Victor 12, Castilleja, JD D 11, Romero, Ryan 11), 4:51.96.

Women Team Rankings

1, Harlingen High, 179. 2, Edinburg North Cougars, 110. 3, Harlingen South High School, 109. 4, Edinburg High School, 61. 5, Economedes High School, 9.

Men Team Rankings

1, Harlingen South High School, 172. 2, Harlingen High, 125. 3, Edinburg High School, 81. 4, Edinburg North Cougars, 55. 5, Economedes High School, 21.