Consol sweeps District 12-5A swimming and diving titles

There were few surprise winners at the District 12-5A swimming and diving meet Saturday. A&M Consolidated's girls and boys repeated as team champions, while individual standouts Haley Clark of Bryan and Robyn Miller of Consol both won two events.

Unexpected results that secured trips to regionals probably elicited as much or more emotion than winners, from Consol's celebration of a sixth-place finish early in the meet to Bryan coach Gina Rodriguez fighting back tears of happiness after it was over.

Consol easily claimed both team titles and was especially strong on the girls side. The Lady Tigers won all three relays and got individual championships from Reilly Haden, Maddie Hirsch, Nikki Reich and Miller to score 217 points at the Texas A&M Student Rec Center Natatorium. Belton girls finished second with 86 points and Bryan took third at 79.

Although the Consol boys were unable to capture a relay title, the Tigers used their depth to win the team race. Cody Green and Laine Johansen earned gold medals as the Tigers finished with 140 points. Belton took second at 114. Bryan secured fifth place with 52.

"I could not be more proud," Consol coach Ryan Goodwyn said. "We had a few kids that were very tired and a couple that were sick, and they still stepped up and swam really well."

The top six finishers in each event qualified for the Class 5A Region III meet that will be held in Mansfield on Feb. 10-11.

In most races, the battle for the final regional berth was more dramatic than the race for first place. That was the case in the third event, when Consol freshman Kaitlyn Ong finished sixth in the 200-yard freestyle to the delight of her teammates on the pool deck.

Consol will send 17 girls and 11 boys to the regional meet, taking three more entries on the girls side than last year and one less boys entry. The Tigers' regional qualifiers include nine freshman girls and two freshman boys.

"Probably the biggest surprise or pleasure was watching how well the freshmen stepped up," Goodwyn said. "That speaks really well for the future. That's really exciting."

Bryan qualified all 14 of its swimmers who made district finals after sending five to regionals last year. First-year Bryan coach Rodriguez was emotional after congratulating members of the Viking 400 freestyle relay team, which got a regional berth by getting sixth in the final event.

The Vikings claimed three gold medals, with freshman Brittany Thurstin taking the 100 freestyle to go along with Clark's victories in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly.

"I'm so proud of the kids," Rodriguez said. "They did such a great job, every single one of them. From our top swimmers to our middle swimmers to our kids who have just started, every kid swam with heart."

Clark, a senior in her second year with the Vikings, won girls Swimmer of the Meet honors, which are based upon times compared to national standards. Clark was the only swimmer in the meet to post a time fast enough for All-American consideration, winning the 100 butterfly in 56.17 seconds even though her training has been pointed toward regionals and state.

"Her times are going to drop," Rodriguez said. "She's not even rested yet. She's just an incredible swimmer. She's got a lot of heart, a lot of dedication. We're looking for her to go to state."

Consol senior Miller owned the distance freestyle events, winning at 200 and 500 yards. She posted a time of 5:06.74 in the 500, finishing 8 seconds ahead of second place.

The Tigers' other regional qualifiers on the girls side were Kelli Klein, Megan Rogers, Mati Castro, Shelby Buenger, Karly Waguespack, Teresa de Figueiredo, Shreya Shankar, Res Gates, Meredith Spillane, Ivy Lee, Mya Gates and Maggie Ford. Consol got second-place finishes from Buenger in the 50 freestyle, de Figueiredo in the 100 butterfly, Hirsch in the 100 freestyle, Haden in the 500 freestyle and Lee in the 100 backstroke.

Consol's other boys who earned berths at regionals included Nasan Tsengeg, Ryan Murphy, Fernando Zambrano, Ryan Olivieri, David Deng, Ashton Green, Carlos Campos, Luke Griffith and Cameron Marquardt. Cody Green finished second in the 500 freestyle while Deng took silver in 1-meter diving.

"Cameron Marquardt really stepped up and had probably the swim of his life," Goodwyn said. "Ryan Murphy just swam phenomenally. Laine Johansen as a freshman, to go as fast as he did was really exciting."

The Viking contingent headed to regionals includes members of all six relay units. Bryan also qualified Alanis King, Harrison Jones, Ivann Alejandro and Phillip Kelly. Jones and Alejandro both qualified in two individual events, with Jones taking second place in the 100 butterfly. King and Alejandro will be making return trips to the regional meet.

Bryan's regional qualifiers in the relays are Johanna Krauter, Sarah Cadarette, Gabby Martinez, Alex Manzano, Matthew Acosta, Hunter Terry, Chad Brelsford and Isaac Lawrence.

District 12-5A Championships

Texas A&M Rec Center Natatorium

Girls Results

Team standings: 1. A&M Consolidated 217, 2. Belton 86, 3. Bryan 79, 4. Heights 42, 5. Temple 41, 6. Cove 27, 7. Ellison 17, 8. Shoemaker 8.

200 medley relay: 1. Consol, 1:53.41; 2. Bryan, 1:58.36; 3. Belton, 2:01.27; 4. Temple, 2:05.83; 5. Cove, 2:15.31; 6. Ellison, 2:19.34.

200 freestyle: 1. Robyn Miller, Consol, 1:56.10; 2. Erika Delgado, Belton, 2:04.11; 3. Kelli Klein, Consol, 2:05.51; 4. Megan Rogers, Consol, 2:05.72; 6. Kaitlyn Ong, Consol, 2:16.14.

200 individual medley: 1. Reilly Haden, Consol, 2:12.57; 2. Tanya Bott, Temple, 2:15.48; 3. Mati Castro, Consol, 2:17.76; 4. Megan Nitcher, Belton, 2:21.19; 5. Danielle Nelson, Heights, 2:23.92; 6. Alanis King, Bryan, 2:25.14.

50 freestyle: 1. Haley Clark, Bryan, 24.00; 2. Shelby Buenger, Consol, 25.31; 3. Brittany Thurstin, Bryan, 25.79; 4. Clara Pappenfort, Belton, 26.18; 5. Karly Waguespack, Consol, 26.29.

1-meter diving: 1. Nikki Reich, Consol, 469.20.

100 butterfly: 1. Clark, Bryan, 56.17; 2. Teresa de Figueiredo, Consol, 1:00.58; 3. Pappenfort, Belton, 1:01.59; 4. Nitcher, Belton, 1:03.70; 5. Nelson, Heights, 1:04.62; 6. Castro, Consol, 1:06.23.

100 freestyle: 1. Thurstin, Bryan, 55.45; 2. Maddie Hirsch, Consol, 56.47; 3. Bott, Temple, 57.33; 4. Rogers, Consol, 57.65; 5. Shreya Shankar, Consol, 1:00.48; 6. Res Gates, Consol, 1:01.53.

500 freestyle: 1. Miller, Consol, 5:06.74; 2. Haden, Consol, 5:14.74; 3. Meredith Spillane, Consol, 5:45.83; 4. Klein, Consol, 5:46.07; 5. Maryssa Bradley, Ellison, 5:50.63; 6. Jessica Bonner, Belton, 5:53.11.

200 freestyle relay: 1. Consol, 1:41.90; 2. Bryan, 1:44.37; 3. Heights, 1:54.57; 4. Belton, 1:57.50; 5. Cove, 2:01.58; 6. Ellison, 2:04.57.

100 backstroke: 1. Delgado, Belton, 1:04.00; 2. Ivy Lee, Consol, 1:04.71; 3. Waguespack, Consol, 1:06.52; 4. Mya Gates, Consol, 1:06.81; 5. Samantha Pentico, Belton, 1:08.64.

100 breaststroke: 1. Hirsch, Consol, 1:09.21; 2. Katharine Gilbert, Heights, 1:12.39; 3. Maggie Ford, Consol, 1:13.11; 4. Shankar, Consol, 1:13.89; 5. Res Gates, Consol, 1:14.99; 6. Colleen Robinson, Temple, 1:24.14.

400 freestyle relay: 1. Consol, 3:45.39; 2. Belton, 3:55.00; 3. Temple, 4:13.33; 4. Bryan, 4:16.17; 5. Heights, 4:25.06; 6. Cove, 4:36.35.

Boys Results

Team standings: 1. Consol 140, 2. Belton 114, 3. Heights 93, 4. Temple 73, 5. Bryan 52, 6. Shoemaker 40, 7. Cove 16, 8. Ellison 5.

200 medley relay: 1. Belton, 1:42.43; 2. Temple, 1:43.41; 3. Consol, 1:44.24; 4. Heights, 1:44.60; 5. Shoemaker, 1:45.99; 6. Bryan, 1:47.16.

200 freestyle: 1. Matthew Sluss, Heights, 1:45.78; 2. Benjamin York, Belton, 1:48.26; 3. Nasan Tsengeg, Consol, 1:50.22; 4. Harrison Jones, Bryan, 1:51.92; 5. Ryan Murphy, Consol, 1:53.64; 6. Chance Ursey, Heights, 1:56.04.

200 individual medley: 1. Cody Green, Consol, 2:00.90; 2. Mitch Anderson, Belton, 2:01.11; 3. Laine Johansen, Consol, 2:02.41; 4. Fernando Zambrano, Consol, 2:06.60; 5. Taylor Bean, Heights, 2:07.67; 6. Morgan Bean, Heights, 2:08.21.

50 freestyle: 1. Mark Curley, Shoemaker, 21.97; 2. Jonathan Lutgens, Heights, 22.13; 3. Ivann Alejandro, Bryan, 22.76; 4. Ryan Dickson-Sullivan, Temple, 23.05; 5. Ryan Olivieri, Consol, 23.33; 6. Kennedy Lim, Belton, 23.41.

1-meter diving: 1. Wesley Johnson, Temple, 318.30; 2. David Deng, Consol, 315.50; 3. Ashton Green, Consol, 302.05.

100 butterfly: 1. Robby Stenman, Temple, 53.74; 2. Jones, Bryan, 54.46; 3. Sluss, Heights, 55.70; 4. Jake Fitzwater, Belton, 57.11; 5. Carlos Campos, Consol, 58.30; 6. Morgan Bean, Heights, 58.45.

100 freestyle: 1. Curley, Shoemaker, 48.05; 2. Lutgens, Heights, 48.69; 3. Austin Couillard, Belton, 49.07; 4. York, Belton, 50.73; 5. Alejandro, Bryan, 50.63; 6. Tsengeg, 51.72.

500 freestyle: 1. Anderson, Belton, 4:54.71; 2. Green, Consol, 4:59.75; 3. Murphy, Consol, 5:01.12; 4. Zambrano, Consol, 5:04.70; 5. Daniel Lee, Heights, 5:11.15; 6. Tristan Boss, Belton, 5:13.34.

200 freestyle relay: 1. Belton, 1:31.91; 2. Bryan, 1:34.13; 3. Consol, 1:34.37; 4. Shoemaker, 1:35.02; 5. Heights, 1:35.09; 6. Temple, 1:35.56.

100 backstroke: 1. Stenman, Temple, 53.23 2. Couillard, Belton, 53.74; 3. Luke Griffith, Consol, 57.89; 4. Cameron Marquardt, Consol, 59.02; 5. Phillip Kelly, Bryan, 1:00.97; 6. Lee, Heights, 1:02.02.

100 breaststroke: 1. Johansen, Consol, 1:01.20; 2. Taylor Bean, Heights, 1:03.14; 3. Lim, Belton, 1:04.22; 4. Justin Aranavage, Temple, 1:04.41; 5. Olivieri, Consol, 1:04.93; 6. Andres Cavadid, 1:05.10.

400 relay: 1. Heights, 3:22.49; 2. Consol, 3:24.82; 3. Belton, 3:31.46; 4. Temple, 3:49.78; 5. Cove, 3:54.57; 6. Bryan, 5:02.05.