First Baptist Christian Academy competes in first meet of 2021

Story and Photos by Tracy Brown
Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved

DEER PARK, TEXAS (January 7, 2021) The First Baptist Christian Academy Warriors competed in their first swimming meet of 2021 against the Deer Park Deer at Deer Park High School on Tuesday, January 5, 2021. The Warriors top performers of the meet were Harrison Brown (shown right, pictured left), in the boy's division and and Keeleigh Wilbanks (shown below) on the women's side.. 

When the Warriors stepped to the blocks in the individual events, they shined despite their lack of access to consistent practice pools over the break. Timothy Henry (shown right, pictured right) swam a personal best in the 200-yard freestyle dropping almost two seconds, to touch the wall with a time of 2:32.40. Wilbanks swam a new personal best in the 50-yard freestyle when she finished with the time of 35.91 seconds.

When the boy's team took to the blocks to swim the 50-yard freestyle the, Warriors finished in record time once again. Owen Lambert set a new personal best of 31.25 seconds with George Gutierrez clocking 32.13 seconds.  Ayden Moore finished right in the thick of things with his time of 31.68.

Competing in the 100-yard butterfly, Brown swam a new personal best time of 1:05.93, breaking his previous school record by seven seconds. In the 100-yard freestyle the Warriors finished in order Lambert (1:16.78), Gutierrez (1:16.79), and Moore (1:23.83) to round out the field of 12. Brown also set a new personal best and a new school record with his fourth place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke with the time of 1:15.88. Henry finished seventh with his time of 1:34.09.

The Warriors next meet will be Monday, January 11, at Cypress Christian Academy.  Due to current restrictions, spectators are not allowed, but the meet will be livestreamed.

Three Top 10 finishes for Pasadena First Baptist Warriors in the Water

Story and photo by Tracy Brown
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS (February 9, 2020) For the fourth time in the four years of the program the Warriors from Pasadena First Baptist Christian Academy (FBCA) qualified to attend the 2020 TAPPS Division 3 State Swimming Championship. This year’s meet was held in San Antonio at the Josh Davis Natatorium.

The Warriors took the water in the 200-yard medley comprised of Timothy Henry, Christopher Brown, Stephen Lawson, and Owen Lambert, swimming to a sixteenth place finish with a time of 2:26.62. 

When sophomore Harrison Brown (shown above) stepped up to the blocks for the 200-yard freestyle a mere two events later, his preparedness shined.  He finished in seventh place with a new personal best time almost a full four seconds faster than his entry time with a new FBCA record of 2:02.70. 

In event six, the 200-yard individual medley, Lawson returned to the blocks dropping an additional three seconds from his entry time and finished in fourteenth place with a new personal best, 2:55.16. 

The Warriors saw their best finish of the meet in the 100-yard freestyle when Harrison Brown returned to the lanes to battle for fifth place with a new school record time of :54.84 with sixth place finished a mere 12-hundredths of a second behind him. 

In the longest distance of the day, senior and team captain Christopher Brown (shown left) led the Warriors to second place in his heat, placing tenth overall with a time nine seconds faster than his entry time.  Lawson finished in thirteenth place in the same event for the Warriors with his own personal best time. 

The Warriors’ last event of the day saw Harrison Brown lead off and set a new school record with his split in the 200-yard freestyle relay.  Freshman Ayden Moore joined in on the action and swam a new personal best as did sophomore John Harding.  The Warrior relay was anchored by Christopher Brown, senior, in his last swim of his high school career where he tore the water up and set a new personal best for his split as well.  The Warriors finished thirteenth in the event

In the final team standing, FBCA finished fourteenth out of 34 teams.

First Baptist Christian Academy headed to TAAPS state swimming meet

Story and photo by Tracy Brown
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 30, 2020) The First Baptist Christian Academy swimming team competed at the TAPPS Eastern Region Swimming Championships on January 18 at the University of Houston Natatorium with an exciting day of competition in the pool.

It was a rough week leading up to the competition.  Two of the relay swimmers came down with a fever and cough which kept them out of the practice pool for week.  Couple this with the ongoing cough, and we saw boys in the water who used every ounce of determination in their bodies to swim the assigned events.  The coach didn't have to yell things like "don't breathe every stroke" because they couldn't breathe at all!  Once they hit the water in the 200-yard medley relay though their training took over and the team of Timothy Henry, Christopher Brown, Harrison Brown, and Ayden Moore battled to a sixth-place finish and a new school record with their time of 2:12.34.

With only two events to rest, Harrison Brown stepped back up to the blocks to swim the 200-yard freestyle and charged to a fifth-place finish with his personal best time of 2:06.16 in his school record setting race.  This great effort by the sprinter was met by loud applause.  Teammate and fellow sophomore, Timothy Henry, reached the wall in eighth place with his own personal best time of 2:34.17.

Junior Stephen Lawson swam the 200-yard individual medley to represent the Warriors and finished in eighth place in Division 3 with a personal best time of 2:58.33.

When the Lady Warriors took to the blocks in the 50-yard freestyle each one set a new personal best time.  They were rocking the blocks for sure. Last  year's girls MVP, Makenzee McComb, proved that she still has the drive to win with her 13th place finish at :33.07.  Annalyn Henry and Keeleigh Wilbanks both improved their times to finish 15th and 16th in the East Region.

When it was time for the boys to swim the 50-yard freestyle, freshman Ayden Moore set a new personal best when he hit the wall at :31.46.  Fellow first year swimmer, Owen Lambert touched the wall at :33.63 narrowly holding off sophomore and teammate John Harding who reached the wall with his personal best time of :36.48.

In the 100-yard freestyle Annalyn Henry showed off her endurance and training as she set a new personal best time of 1:21.95.  Teammate and fellow sophomore, Keeleigh Wilbanks touched with wall with a new personal best of 1:33.71 proving her value in the pool after a stellar performance on the basketball court earlier in the week.

By event 14, Harrison Brown had rested and was ready to swim.  He attacked the water in his 100-yard freestyle to sprint to a bronze medal with his new personal best and school record time of :55.35.  

Proving how opposite brothers can be, Senior Christopher Brown, powered through the longest event at the meet, the 500-yard freestyle in order to qualify for his fourth trip to the State Championship Meet with his fifth-place finish, less than a second behind the senior from Logos Prep.  Stephen Lawson swam in the same event to a personal best time and seventh-place finish.

The Brown boys combined forces again this time joined by Ayden Moore and Stephen Lawson to reach the wall with a new school record in the 200-yard freestyle relay.  Their fifth-place finish qualified the relay to swim at the State Championship in San Antonio.

Their journey continues at the TAPPS State Championship Swim Meet on February 5, where we look forward to watching these Warriors in action in San Antonio.

FBCA swimmers place at regionals; qualify for state championships

Story and photo by Tracy Brown

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 22, 2019) The First Baptist Christian Academy (FBCA) Swimming Team competing in the TAPPS East Region Swimming Championships at the University of Houston on Saturday, February 19, 2019. The men's 200-yard freestyle relay took the bronze medal;  beating out the 4th place team by 1/100ths of a second!  They will represent FBCA at the State Championships in Mansfield in February.  The men's 400 free relay took the silver medal and punched their ticket to the state meet as well. The relay swimmers were Christopher Brown, Harrison Brown, Timothy Henry, and Stephen Lawson.

Freshman Harrison Brown earned a silver medal and will represent FBCA at the state meet in the 200-yard freestyle with a new personal best while setting a new FBCA school record.  Harrison finished fourth in the 100-yard backstroke with a new personal best and new school record.

Junior Christopher Brown earned a silver medal and will represent FBCA at the state meet in the 500-yard freestyle with a new personal best while setting a new FBCA school record.  Christopher also finished fourth in the 200-yard individual medley, with a new personal best and a new school record.

Sophomore Stephen Lawson finished fifth in the 200-yard freestyle and set a new personal best in the 100-yard butterfly during his seventh place finish.

Annalyn Henry, Makenzee McComb, and Keeleigh Wilbanks each set new personal bests in the 50-yard freestyle.  Annalyn's swim set a new FBCA women's school record.

Annalyn continued to have the best meet of her freshman year with a new school record and personal best in the 100-yard freestyle.

Sophomore Makenzee McComb swam a new personal best in the 100-yard backstroke.

Timothy Henry, or as he should now be called "SWIMMY TIMMY," swam a new personal best in the 100-yard backstroke and earned an eighth place ribbon at Regionals.  He also swam a new personal best in the 100-yard freestyle and earned an eighth place ribbon.