UISD Teams and Swimmers Make District Shine at Recent Meet
Written by Post Public Information Representative, Feb 16, 2015, Comments Off
Courtesy Alex Meyer,
(Laredo, Tx)-On February 6 and 7th, 2015, students from all four UISD high school teams competed at Regions held in Brownsville, Texas. Alexander H.S. started off the meet by winning the 200 Medley Relay and also set a new District record with a time of 1:53.41.
As a result, Alexander H.S. will be represented by swimmers Kassie Hsu, Samantha Babiak, Ayeesha Mohammed, and Regina Chemas at the State competition scheduled for the weekend of February 20 and 21st, 2015 in Austin, Texas. On the individual side, Samantha Babiak will be representing UISD and Alexander H.S. in the 100 breaststroke, for which she set a new record at Regions with a time of 1:09.04. Mohammed will also be representing Alexander in the 100 fly and the 100 backstroke. Mohammed set a new District record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 59.91, and tied her own record set 2 years ago with a time of 57.92 in the 100 butterfly. The Alexander H.S. girls team came in 2nd , missing the title by 9 points to McAllen’s Nikki Rowe for the regional team title.
The Alexander H.S. boys team placed 3rd in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:47.53. The relay team consisted of Luis Babiak, David Martinez, Oscar Martinez, and Luis Martinez. Oscar Martinez placed 3rd in the 100 Fly with a time of 55.98. The United H.S. girls 200 medley relay team consisted of Melissa Casanova, Erika Escamilla-Elizondo, Maria Escamilla-Elizondo, and Myrnalejandra Canales, who placed 6th with a time of 2:15.65. The United H.S. boys relay team placed 7th with a time of 1:53.49. The swimmers for that relay were Omar Alaina, Henry Vuong, Ricardo Solis, and Eloy Fierro.
Erika Escamilla-Elizondo placed 3rd in the 100 breast stroke, setting a personal best time of 1:13.96 and Alberto Duarte finished 2nd in the 500 freestyle with a personal best time of 5:04.73. Christopher Rock of McAllen Memorial outpaced Duarte by a mere 3 seconds.
A new milestone was achieved when the United South H.S. girls and boys relay teams made it to the B-Finals at Regionals. The girls relay teams consisted of Cinthia Flores, Abigail Flores, Ashley Champion, and Brianna Prado. The boys relay team consisted of Hugo Arredondo, Jacob Rodriguez, Diego Vazquez-Caceres, and Aaron Aguilar. Finally, LBJ was represented by Amber and Nicholas Golarte. Amber competed in the 50 and 100 Free, while Nicholas competed in the 50 free.
It was also at the Regions event that UISD Swimming Coach Paul Kane was named Region Coach Of The Meet by the Texas Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association ” I’m surprised and honored to be the recipient of this accolade from the coaches in Region 8. I wish to thank my swimmers for their dedication and congratulate them on their achievements. It’s our combined efforts that make the United ISD swimming team excel”, said Kane. “To my knowledge, this is the first time that a swim coach from Laredo has received this award,” he concluded. Coach Paul Kane may be contacted at 334-0600
