By Terry Carter
The 5A/6A UIL State Swim and Dive Meet this weekend will feature several local standouts who could earn a state medal in Austin.
Competing at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas at Austin, Friday’s preliminary competitions will give way to state finals on Saturday.
Among the Katy ISD favorites to earn a Top-3 finish are:
- Seven Lakes senior diver Kailey Koval (461.60), who qualified second in the state in girls’ 1-meter diving
- Katy junior diver Avery Coates (461.35), who qualified third in the state in the same event. The district rivals will be in the hunt for two diving medals on Saturday after sterling performances at the regional
- Seven Lakes’ Joel Nace, who qualified at regionals fourth in the 100 butterfly. Nace also qualified eighth in the 200 freestyle in 1:39.61
- The Seven Lakes 200 freestyle boys’ relay (1:23.90), the third best time among 6A teams
- Taylor senior Logan Pack (48.69), who qualified third in the 100 boys’ backstroke
Other automatic state qualifiers include:
Jordan’s Kaeili White qualified sixth in the girls’ 200 freestyle, Cinco Ranch’s Marley Barnard qualified 10th in the girls’ 200 IM, Seven Lakes sophomore Connor Jones in the boys’ 500 freestyle, Taylor senior Mariana Diaz Ponce in the girls’ 100 breaststroke, Katy junior Derek Wintergrass in the boys’ 100 breaststroke, Jordan’s girls 400 freestyle relay team, and Seven Lakes’ boys 400 freestyle relay.
Swimming and diving finals are projected to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday for 6A teams and at 4 p.m. for 5A schools and athletes.
Seven Lakes swimming and diving fans will be cheering again for the Spartan state qualifiers. (Photo by Terry Carter/UDPhotos)
Top divers Avery Coates of Katy and Seven Lakes’ Kailey Koval will be among the favorites competing for a state diving medal this weekend in Austin. (Photo by Terry Carter/UDPhotos)
