Hanna looks to defend team titles at city meet

The Brownsville city meet features a low-key atmosphere with friendly competition for the most part between the participating swimmers and divers.

The annual event takes place at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center.

Hanna's boys and girls are defending team champions.

"The city meet is kind of a time for camaraderie," said Monica Rosales, Brownsville ISD aquatic administrator at the Clark facility. "Yes, the athletes want to win, and everyone wants to see who's going to come in first, even though there's no trophy (for the winner). It's more for bragging rights.

"It's just kind of a fun meet to set the tone before Christmas," she added. "Everyone comes back (after the holiday break) and resumes working out hard (in preparation for the District 32-5A meet Feb. 3 and 4)."

Added Pace coach Brian Wild, "It's an exciting meet for the kids (as far as city rivalries go)."

Some of the Hanna swimmers with strong chances to do well in the city meet include Natalie Castillo, Ayme Saldaña, Brianna Morales, Carolina Mayen, Carlos Delgado and Francisco Barrientos along with Kelley Jimenez in the diving.

Castillo, Saldaña and Jimenez placed first in the 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle and 1-meter diving, respectively, at last weekend's Pre-Regional Meet at Clark Aquatic Center. In addition, Saldaña (100 freestyle) and Morales (200 individual medley) posted second-place finishes for Hanna.

Also at the Pre-Regional meet, St. Joseph Academy's boys finished second in the team standings behind McAllen Memorial. The Bloodhounds could make a strong showing in the city meet behind the efforts of Edgar Garcia, Luis Valencia, Daniel Burguete and Danny Euresti.

Alberto Flores, a past state qualifier, is a swimmer to watch for Rivera.

Roy Hess writes for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com