More than a dozen swimmers from three Spring Branch ISD high schools compete this weekend in the annual University Interscholastic League (UIL) State Swim Meet. The swimming and diving meet will be held Feb. 15-16 in the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center in Austin.
The talented Spring Branch ISD group of swimmers will compete in 11 separate events during the two-day state meet at the Jamail Center, according to news reports. Swimmers qualified during the recently held Region IV-6A championships hosted at the Conroe ISD Natatorium.
Highlighted district swimmers and races this weekend include:
Spring Woods High junior Samuel Jennings, a 6-feet-4-inch Tigers baseball player, set a personal record in the 100-yard backstroke at regionals. His 51 seconds in one of the state’s fastest swim regions earned him bronze, and the No. 1 call-up time in Class 6A. “I’m hoping to get a final and drop more time, hopefully go under 50,” Jennings told the Memorial Examiner newspaper. This state swim meet is his first ever.
Stratford High seniors Emma Stephenson and Dean Rathgeb compete as state meet veterans in individual races. Stephenson is defending state champion in the super-fast, 50-yard freestyle, where she returns as the top event seed. Her regional time was 22.88. She also ranks No. 3 in the 100-yard butterfly. Rathgeb qualified in the 100-yard breaststroke with a regional time of 57.80, a silver medal finish.
Memorial High junior Noah Czelusta won region breaststroke and took bronze in the 200-yard individual medley (IM) for a state call-up in that weekend race.
Five separate SBISD relays will take the blocks in Austin. They include the school record-setting Stratford team of Emma Venghaus, Kara Moss, Stephenson and Kaitlyn White, swimming the state 200-yard medley relay. Stephenson and Moss pair up with Kristin Kight and Laura Powell in the state 200-yard freestyle relay, too.
Stratford High boys medley relay splashes into the water with Keagan Firenza, Rathgeb, Henry Genez and Cole Oliphant. Stratford boys won another state bid in the 200-yard freestyle relay, where Genez, Oliphant, Rathgeb and Luke Reed will team up.
Memorial High boys will also compete in the state medley relay. Campus swimmers there are Lucas Funderburk, Colin Norton, Czelusta and Michael Ma.
Visit the Texas UIL State Swimming & Diving website for meet schedules and results:
https://www.uiltexas.org/swimming-diving/state
![Investing in tomorrow’s educators today: Two THRIVE participants receive Houston Teacher Pathways Scholarship]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1769012831/springbranchisdcom/qlgbsjkjfurevtcwljt1/THUMB_7.png","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1769012831/springbranchisdcom/qlgbsjkjfurevtcwljt1/THUMB_7.png","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1769012831/springbranchisdcom/qlgbsjkjfurevtcwljt1/THUMB_7.png","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1769012831/springbranchisdcom/qlgbsjkjfurevtcwljt1/THUMB_7.png","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1769012831/springbranchisdcom/qlgbsjkjfurevtcwljt1/THUMB_7.png","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_6/v1769012831/springbranchisdcom/qlgbsjkjfurevtcwljt1/THUMB_7.png","width":2200}])
![Good Neighbors in action: CITGO investing in students and the future workforce]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1768588156/springbranchisdcom/djt3cuujxhlatt32j0in/Unknown_1.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1768588156/springbranchisdcom/djt3cuujxhlatt32j0in/Unknown_1.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1768588156/springbranchisdcom/djt3cuujxhlatt32j0in/Unknown_1.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1768588156/springbranchisdcom/djt3cuujxhlatt32j0in/Unknown_1.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1768588156/springbranchisdcom/djt3cuujxhlatt32j0in/Unknown_1.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1768588156/springbranchisdcom/djt3cuujxhlatt32j0in/Unknown_1.jpg","width":1920}])
![Mentoring Matters: Shannon Mahan]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1768599577/springbranchisdcom/nz5l1ydrmrstxpuoyr8l/0M5A6133-2.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1768599577/springbranchisdcom/nz5l1ydrmrstxpuoyr8l/0M5A6133-2.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1768599577/springbranchisdcom/nz5l1ydrmrstxpuoyr8l/0M5A6133-2.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1768599577/springbranchisdcom/nz5l1ydrmrstxpuoyr8l/0M5A6133-2.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1768599577/springbranchisdcom/nz5l1ydrmrstxpuoyr8l/0M5A6133-2.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_6/v1768599577/springbranchisdcom/nz5l1ydrmrstxpuoyr8l/0M5A6133-2.jpg","width":2200}])