Season hitting crescendo at regional swimming meets

Sam Perez is in his first season as Brownsville Hanna’s head swimming coach. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know the layout of South Texas swimming.

He knows that the McAllen Memorial boys will be a tough team to beat, and that defending champion Corpus Christi King will pose numerous challenges on the girls side of this weekend’s Class 5A, Region VIII meet in Brownsville. That said, he has his own goals for Hanna, which enters the meet after winning the girls championship. He wants to see as many of his swimmers qualify for the state meet and finish with their best times.

Of course, some team success would be welcomed, too.

“We’re definitely excited,” said Perez, who was an assistant at Hanna for five years before taking over this season. “Looking at the competition, we’ve seen what we’re going up against and we’re familiar with them after the district meet.”

The McAllen Memorial boys are also familiar with success. They are looking to win their fifth straight regional championship and continue their dominance of the region. This season, they are looking at a stern challenge from District 32-5A champion Los Fresnos and also a challenge from their youth.

Unlike previous seasons, the Mustangs enter the meet lacking some experience. Coach Roxanne Balducci, though, won’t let her team use that as an excuse.

“I’m hoping that they’ll stay calm and do what we need to do to be successful,” Balducci said. “We have a lot of freshmen that are swimming. Nerves get real frayed, those butterflies stir up and hopefully they stay calm and stay focused and do what they need to do to make finals and then do well on Saturday.”

Those schools aren’t the only ones to watch, though.

Sharyland won the District 30-5A girls title once again while Edinburg North won the 31-5A girls championship. On the boys side, Edinburg High will try to parlay its 31-5A championship into more, while Los Fresnos will attempt to do the same as 32-5A winners.

The Class 5A, Region VIII meet isn’t the lone important event for area swimmers. In Corpus Christi, Region VIII will have its 4A meet. There, Brownsville Veterans Memorial, fresh off its District 32-4A girls title, will try to ride the momentum at the regional meet. Roma will compete as the 32-4A boys champion.

Brian Sandalow covers high school sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436 or via email at bsandalow@themonitor.com.