Friday, February 7, 1997

AHS, CHS in Region I swimming championships today

By LANCE FLEMING / Staff Writer

LUBBOCK - Abilene High diver Chantell Riggs is hoping for a big crowd this weekend at the Region I swimming championships. Bigger is better as far as the AHS senior is concerned.

"Big crowds make me nervous, and when I'm nervous I dive better," Riggs said. "My adrenaline goes up and I get really excited. That's when I think I'm at my best."

Riggs will have to be at her best today and Saturday as she competes against the region's best 1-meter divers for the right to advance to the state swim meet.

Riggs leads a large contingent of Abilene High and Cooper swimmers to the regional meet, where head coach Bev Ball expects some good things to happen. She's especially looking forward to seeing how the 11 relay teams that will be in Lubbock fare.

The two locals did particularly well in the 200-meter freestyle relays. The Cooper girls and Abilene High boys both won the district championship in that race.

The Cooper girls team, which consists of Ashley Marcell, Adrian Reese, Shannon Slate and Somer Akin, is seeded first at regional. Meanwhile, the AHS boys team, made up of Casey Pacheco, John Jones, Kris Knight and Justin Wray, is seeded third at regional.

"I think all the relays have a really good chance of making the finals," Ball said. "They're all sitting in good spots; they're all seeded in the top six. But I feel really good about everybody that's going."

Besides the 11 relay spots and Riggs, AHS will be represented by eight swimmers in six individual events. The highest seed of those eight is Andrea Barrett, who is seeded fourth in the girls 50-meter freestyle.

Cooper is represented by five swimmers in six events. The highest seed of that group is Mike Mann, who is seeded seventh in the boys 100-meter breaststroke.

Only the winners in individual events and relays advance to the state meet, while the top two divers will move on to the state championship meet.

Riggs defended her District 4-5A title two weeks ago, but she hasn't been able to put much work into her diving this week because of an illness.

The flu and sinus headaches have plagued her for the last few days and caused her to miss workouts last Friday, as well as this past Monday and Tuesday.

"I think I'll be fine if I can pull myself together," Riggs said. "With all the stuff in my head my equilibrium is off and I lose my balance a little bit. It kind of makes me feel funny, but I'm definitely going to dive."

It's something she's done pretty well for the last two years, having lost just two meets in her high school career. She finished 12th last year at the state meet, and earlier this season she finished behind Lubbock Monterey's Katie Combs at a meet in Dallas.

Riggs missed a dive in that meet, giving her one less score than Combs.

But Riggs regrouped for the rest of the season and then blew away the field two weeks ago at the District 4-5A meet. She scored 390.15 points, easily beating second-place Stephanie Hedges of San Angelo Central, who scored just 313.80 points.

It was in that meet that Riggs finally nailed her most difficult dive: a back 11/2 pike.

"Ever since I started doing that dive this year I've only gotten 2's for scores," she said. "I'd always miss it or do something wrong. But I nailed it at district and got 61/2's across the board. I think that'll be my best dive at regional if I can pull it off."

The two-time district and defending regional champion wants desperately to defend her crown so she can atone for her performance at last year's state meet.

"I just had a terrible meet," Riggs said. "My dad was there to see me dive for the first time, and that meant a lot to me, but I tried too hard. I let things get to me.

"This year I know if I get there I can't let that happen," she said. "But right now I just want to have that chance."

Region I swim meet

-- Where: Lubbock (Swimming in Texas Tech Rec Pool and diving in Tech Men's Pool)

-- When: Today - Diving Prelims begin at 9 a.m.; Swimming - Prelims begin at 3 p.m.; Saturday - Swimming finals begin at 11:15 a.m.

--Abilene High individual entries - Andrea Barrett and Cameron Cook, girls 50-meter freestyle; Justin Wray, boys 50-meter freestyle; Kris Knight, boys 100-meter butterfly; Marilyn Nguyen, girls 100-meter backstroke; John Jones and Kyle Buse, boys 100-meter breaststroke.

-- Abilene High relay entries - Girls 200-meter medley (Marylin Nguyen, Cameron Cook, Cara Mash, Andrea Barrett); Boys 200-meter medley (Casey Paceheco, John Jones, Kris Knight, Justin Wray); Girls 200-meter freestyle (Nguyen, Cook, Mash, Barrett); Boys 200-meter freestyle relay (Jones, Knight, Wray, Chase Guernsey); Girls 400-meter freestyle (Nguyen, Cook, Mash, Barrett); Boys 400-meter freestyle (Jones, Knight, Wray, Guernsey).

-- Cooper individual entries - Adrian Reese, girls 200-meter freestyle; Reese, girls 100-meter butterfly; Josh Marcell, boys 500-meter freestyle; Keith Wright, boys 100-meter backstroke; Shannon Slate, girls 100-meter breaststroke; Mike Mann, boys 100-meter breaststroke.

-- Cooper relay entries - Girls 200-meter medley (Ashley Marcell, Shannon Slate, Adrian Reese, Somer Akin); Boys 200-meter medley (Keith Wright, Mike Mann, Josh Norvell, Josh Marcell); Girls 200-meter freestyle (Marcell, Slate, Reese, Akin); Boys 200-meter freestyle (Mann, Ian Brown, Matt Tilbrook, Wright); Girls 400-meter freestyle (Akin, Marcell, Slate, Robinson).