Texas high school swimming’s loaded Region IV produced more than half the state-qualifying swims in Class 6A as Austin Westlake rolled away with boys and girls titles.
In Texas high school swimming, the region meets serve as the qualifier for the state championships. Every event winner from each of the 8 regions earns a state berth, after which, the next 8 fastest times statewide are invited as “call-ups” to the state championship meet.
When all the results were tallied, Region IV held the fastest call-up time in 16 of the 22 events between both genders. On top of that, the region accounted for 99 state-qualifying swims (56 from the girls and 43 from the boys) out of 176 total swims that earned spots at the state meet.
You can find the automatic state qualifiers here.
You can find the state call-ups here.
On the girls’ side, Westlake won the meet by 35 despite winning just a single event. That came from junior Victoria Edwards, who took home the 100 fly title in 54.55. But Westlake was deep, taking second in all three relays and getting runner-up finishes from Edwards in the 100 back (55.20), Dakota Luther in the 200 free (1:47.89) and Catriona MacGregor in the 100 breast (1:04.57).
Their closest challengers were the girls of The Woodlands High, who won 6 of the meet’s 11 events. Lucie Nordmann was a part of four of those wins, leading the 200 medley relay (1:42.40) and 400 free relay (3:26.67) while winning the 100 back over Edwards in 53.58 and the 50 free in 23.02. Of note in that 50 – 7 of the 8 A finalists qualified for the state meet.
Joining the sophomore Nordmann were freshman Zoe Gawronska and Caitlin Reynera, both of whom won individual events for the young Woodlands team. Gawronska won the 500 free in 4:46.88 and Reynera the 100 breast in 1:02.89.
College Park sophomore Monica Gumina doubled up on wins, taking the 200 free (1:47.89) and 100 free (50.22), and other wins went to Austin Bowie’s Diana Dunn in the 200 IM (2:01.38) and Atascocita High in the 200 free relay (1:36.09).
Top 5 Girls Teams
- Austin Westlake – 348
- The Woodlands – 313
- Kingwood – 230
- Atascocita – 229
- College Park – 179
Westlake was stronger at the top on the boys side, winning 5 of 11 events.
Sophomore Matthew Willenbring picked up three wins total, taking the 200 IM (1:51.32) and 100 breast (57.54) while leading off the winning 200 free relay (1:25.23).
He was joined by junior Will Thomas, who went 4:27.99 to win the 500 free, and Westlake also went 3:04.22 to take home the 400 free relay title.
Westwood’s Preston Varozza was the senior standout of the meet, winning three races. He led off the winning 200 medley relay for Westwood (1:33.22) and also took individual titles in the 100 free (45.44) and 100 back (49.34). Also doubling up was Kingwood senior David Morejon, who won the 200 free (1:38.14) and 100 fly (49.45).
Klein Oak junior Keith Gill cracked 21 in winning the 50 free. He was 20.97 for that title.
Top 5 Boys Teams
- Austin Westlake – 316
- The Woodlands – 293
- Kingwood – 237
- Westwood – 221
- Klein Oak – 159
Do Westlake and Southlake require club swimmers to attend all high school practices?
Southlake does but Westlake doesn’t require their Olympic trial qualifying swimmers to come to HS practice (their Trials Qualifiers are girls)
Southlake Carroll has morning HS practice EVERY school day, and many holiday weekdays during the school year. HS practice begins the 2nd day of the school year and runs, full-time, through the end of our Texas HS Swim Season.
Of course, Southlake adheres precisely to the UIL 8-hour rule. About 75% of their Varsity Swimmers are also USA swimmers and attend the “club” practice of their choice (2x’s to 6x’s per week) in the afternoons and Saturday mornings.
USA “club” swimming for Southlake HS is an integral part of the overall preparation for the rigors of qualifying for the Texas 6A State Meet, but the Southlake HS Program, during the Winter season, is equally responsible for the success of… Read more »
Southlake Carroll has certainly taken over the sport in Texas. I remember when The Woodlands seemed to win it every year, but it seems like TWST’s kids are now more dispersed among the area schools while all the NTN kids filter into Carroll.
Have you seen the psych sheet? Carroll may not even end up in the top 5 combined scores.
Should’ve specified…..I meant for the Boys
“Combined” scores? Neither the UIL, nor the NFHS Association awards “combined” Team Championships. As far as I know, there is no “combined” Team Championship in HS Swimming anywhere in the USA. That is a USA Swimming designation.
There is a Girl’s State Championship Team and a Boy’s State Championship Team in Texas HS 6A Swimming and 5A & Under Swimming, but no “combined” Champions. However, it will be interesting to see if your “combined” score calculations are correct, and Southlake Carroll really falls below the Top 5 in your “combined” score, unofficial award.
If the meet were scored, strictly, off the aforementioned Psych Sheet, the Southlake Carroll would score 285 points in the boys and 93 points in the… Read more »
That is correct. No titles awarded for Combined scores. The reason why this score is always included in the results is because unlike other sports, in swimming for the most part, both boys and girls teams are under the direction of the same coaching staff and they compete together at all their meets. They include the scores to get a sense of the overall program. As seen on the link below on TISCA’s site, they show the combined scores first, then break it down into boys and girls.
http://www.tisca.org/2015_UIL_Results/6A%20Files/State/2015%206a%20state%20meet%20results.pdf
Southlake boys too deep especially when you include their two divers and none of the other contenders have any. Battle is for 2nd. Woodlands girls slight favorite over Westlake. It will come down to relays and who was fully rested at regionals and who wasn’t
Southlake Carroll Boys rolled up two state-leading relays at their Region 3-6A Meet, 200 free relay and 400 free relay, 1:24.3 and 3:03.6, along with a State qualifying medley relay at 1:34.5. Along with the relays, Southlake Carroll’s boys also garnered 13 individual State qualifying swim slots and two diving slots, to lead the way, on paper, into the Texas 6A State Meet in two weeks. The Westlake Boys and the Katy Cinco Ranch Boys will challenge Southlake with three State Qualifying relays each and 7 individual swim slots each. The Woodlands Boys will be tough also, with three relays and 5 individual swim slots heading into the 6A Texas State Meet.
Westlake’s Girls have the highest number of State… Read more »