’Stangs’ coach not talking about ‘what if’ with Walker

McALLEN — McAllen Memorial coach Roxanne Balducci doesn’t sound willing to think about “what if” for junior swimmer Kendal Walker.

Walker, who won the regional 100-meter breaststroke title last year, has never had a completely healthy season. As a freshman, Walker came down with mono and bronchitis. Last year, Walker dealt with food poisoning before the district meet.

This season, Balducci said Walker has dealt with loose joints in her shoulders. Although that is a common occurrence for swimmers, it can be painful.

“I think she finds it a little bit frustrating because she’s not always able to get her sets the way she wants to,” Balducci said. “But, she’ll do some kicking or she’ll do something else to compensate and keep the heart rate up.”

Shoulder issues or not, Balducci has goals in mind for Walker. Despite her shoulder pain, Walker won the girls 100-meter backstroke at the Harlingen Christmas Classic with a time of 1 minute and 2.58 seconds. Her qualifying time was even better, finishing in 1:00.22.

That though, wasn’t as fast as Balducci thinks Walker can get in the 100-meter backstroke.

“My goal is for her to break a minute in the backstroke,” Balducci said. “That’s what we’re working on. She’s so close. Our goal is to break that minute.”

Her next chance to break one minute is Saturday when McAllen Memorial swims against McAllen High at McAllen Rowe.

On the mats

On Saturday, Weslaco High will host the eight-team Tomas Garces invitational. The event is named for Garces, a 2003 graduate of Weslaco, who was killed in Iraq on Sept. 4, 2004 when his convoy was attacked by enemy forces using an improvised explosive device.

Not only is the tournament a memorial to Garces, but it also has one of the elite fields in the Valley, with only eight teams that are invited to the event.

“We’ll see how we stack up with some of the best in the Valley,” Rio Grande City coach Ronald Pratt said. “We’ve done well against some schools from up state, but I want to see how we do against Weslaco and La Joya and Rowe.”

For Rio Grande City to win the event, Pratt said his young Rattlers(15-6)must “wrestle smart.”

“We’ve gained a little bit of respect in the last four years from the teams in the Valley,” Pratt said.

“I don’t want to sound cocky or anything, but I think we’ve gained a lot of respect in a short period of time.”

Brian Sandalow covers high school sports for The Monitor. His notebook runs every Friday. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.