High school swimming: Flour Bluff girls 200 medley relay takes silver at UIL State Meet

Bolstered by a medal in the first race of the day, Flour Bluff again finished in the Top 10 in the girls team standings at the Class 5A UIL State Swimming and Diving Championships at Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.

The Hornets quartet of Jennifer Pena, Patience Orms, Ema Elizondo and Kylee Hutchinson finished second in the 200 yard medley relay, breaking a school record that was set earlier this season with a time of 1 minute, 47 seconds.

Flour Bluff finished eighth for the second straight season, amassing 93 points, the Hornets fourth consecutive season in the Top 10.

"I thought they swam great all around," Flour Bluff coach Bryan Hutchinson said. "Yesterday was a little up and down. They really came in today laser-focused and that medley relay set the tone. Everyone was going faster than yesterday. That is all you can ask for: to bring back some medals, and that is what they did."

Pena swam in three 'A' finals, picking up the other Flour Bluff medal on Saturday, finishing third in the 100 backstroke with a school record (55.99 seconds).

The junior also finished sixth in the 100 butterfly (57.29).

"She was seeded third (in the backstroke) going in and we talked to her about making sure you stick to your underwaters, because that is her strongest part," Bryan Hutchinson said. "She really did an outstanding job off all the walls. We were watching her off the third wall going into the finish.

"We were telling her to 'Hang on, hang on' and stay under. She did and at that point we were sure she was coming home with a medal."

Orms set a school record with a sixth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.70). Orms finished 15th in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:11.96.

Hutchinson, a senior, capped her Hornets career with a 13th-place finish in the 50 freestyle (24.61).

The Hornets also scored with their 200 freestyle relay (Grace Steinbruck, Pena, Orms, Hutchinson) by finishing 14th with a time of 1:41.27.

Maria Stevens of Ray finished 14th in girls 1-meter diving (289.95 points) and Flour Bluff's Julia Volesky was 12th (304.50).

"Our goals at the beginning of the year were to get that medley relay record, which they did at the TISCA meet and they set it even lower today," Bryan Hutchinson said. "The other thing was to bring home medals, which they also did.

"I feel like mission accomplished. The girls won the district and regional meet and set some records. Luckily we were good enough this season for several records to fall."

Quinton Martinez covers all things sports in South Texas. Support local coverage like this by checking out our subscription options and special offers at Caller.com/subscribe

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: High school swimming: Bluff girls medley relay medals at UIL State meet