South Belt Area "All Stars" Swimming Team headed to TAAF Games of Texas

By Chris Price
Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved

KATY, TEXAS (July 27, 2021) The South Belt Area “All Stars” Swimming Team (SBAS) placed second in the team standings at the Texas AmateurAthletic Federation (TAAF) Region 14 Swimming Championships at Katy High SchoolNatatorium. SBAS qualified 21 individuals and three relays for the TAAF Gamesof Texas State Championships in Corpus Christi on July 29-August 1, 2021.

In the girls 11-12 division, Kirstin Kelly, who is a seventh grader at Deer Park Junior High, won gold medals in both the 50-yard butterfly and 100-yard breaststroke, and the silver medal in the 100-yard individual medley, qualifying in all three events. This will be Kelly third trip to the summer state championships. In the girls 13-14 division, Phoebe Kaatz (Bondy Intermediate School) placed third in the 50-yard backstroke to punch her ticket to the championships. She also placed sixth in the 50-yard freestyle. Pasadena Memorial High School’s Vedika Deva will join Kaatz in Corpus Christi in the girls 13-14 division, placing third in the 50-yard breaststroke. She also placed fifth in the 50-yard freestyle.

The girls 15-17 age group will see a large contingent of swimmers who compete in high school for various Pasadena Independent SchoolDistrict. Pasadena High School juniors Emely Lopez (3^rd place: 50-yard butterfly and 3^rd place: 100-yard individual medley) and Briselda Diaz (1^st place: 50-yard breaststroke and 7^th place: 100-yard freestyle) will be competing at state. Pasadena Memorial High School will also have swimmers represent South Belt at state. Sophomore Samara Martinez (1^st place: 50-yard freestyle, 3^rd place: 50-yard breaststroke, 4^th place: 100-yard freestyle and 8^th place: 50-yard butterfly) will be joined by juniors Madison Arcizo (2^nd place: 100-yard freestyle and 4^th place: 200-yard freestyle), Nailea Esquival (3^rd place: 100-yard freestyle, 4^th place: 100-yard individual medley, and 6^th place: 50-yard butterfly), Jenae Flores (5^th place: 50-yard butterfly and 5^th place: 100-yard butterfly), along with senior Zulema Pica: (5^th place: 200-yard freestyle and 7^th  place: 50-yard butterfly. Pamela Guerrero, a junior at Sam Rayburn High School, placed second in the 50-yard backstroke, third in the 200-yard freestyle and fourth in the 50-yard butterfly.

South Belt will also have three women in the 18-and over master’s division. Former Pasadena HS and University of Houston swimmer Kristine Kelly won the 50-yard freestyle and 50-yard backstroke in the women’s 30-34 age group. Kelly will be joined by Renee Martinez, who won the 50-yard freestyle and 50-yard backstroke in the 50-54 age group, and Darla Kelly, who was victorious in the women’s 60-64 50-yard freestyle and 50-yard breaststroke.

 Three relays also qualified for the Games of Texas, with SBAS sweeping the top two places in the girls 15-17 200-yard freestyle relay. The foursome of Arcizo, Diaz, Lopez, and Flores won the gold medal, followed by teammates Pica, Martinez, Guerrero, and Esquivel, who took the silver. Arcizo, Diaz, Lopez, and Flores also combined to win the 200-yard medley relay.

 In the male division, Pasadena Memorial incoming freshman Levi Del Angel will compete in three events in Corpus Christi, by winning the boys 13-14 age group 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, and 100-yard individual medley. He will be joined by First Baptist Christian Academy’s Nicholas Brown, who won the gold medal in the 50-yard breaststroke and silver in the 50-yard freestyle.

Senior Harrison Brown (First Baptist Christian Academy) will compete in the 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle, and 50-yard breaststroke, after placing first, first and second, respectively at regionals.

 McMurry University sophomore Christopher Brown, who will be in his second season competing for the WarHawks, will be swimming four events at state after placing first in the 18-24 200-yard freestyle, 50-yard breaststroke, and 50-yard butterfly and second in the 100-yard individual medley at the region meet. Brown swam in high school for First Baptist Christian Academy.

 Also competing at the region championships was Elias Pica, who placed seventh in the 25-yard freestyle and eighth in the 25-yard backstroke in the boys 9-10 age group.

 This year will make the seventeenth year since 2005 for SBAS swimmers to compete at the Games of Texas since 2005. The Games of Texas were cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19.

The South Belt Area “All Stars” Swimming Team is a select swimming team consisting of elite swimmers from the Deer Park, Pasadena, Pearland, Friendswood, Clear Lake and greater Houston area.