Aledo back at state - again

Senior Julia Gordy has now qualified for state in each of the three seasons she has competed for the Aledo swim team.

The Aledo quartet of (from left, back) Ian Perez, Kale Roberson, (front) Jaxon Robinson, and Parker Kaiser set two school relay records and qualified for the Class 5A State Swim Meet Feb. 20-21 at the University of Texas in Austin.

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The competition takes place on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20-21 at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas.

The Aledo program will have seven athletes in Austin, including alternates Brayden DeBoer and Michael Spillers, both juniors. This is Spillers’ first season to make the trip, while DeBoer has previously competed.

The lone senior competing for Aledo is Julia Gordy, who has qualified every season she has competed for the Ladycats. She qualified this season after winning the 200-yard freestyle at the Region II Meet in Mansfield.

Joining her is the Bearcat contingent of juniors Kale Roberson, Ian Perez, and Jaxon Robinson, along with Parker Kaiser, the first freshman ever to qualify for state for the Bearcats. The quartet will be competing in the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays after finishing second at regionals and setting two program records in the process (1:30.36 in the 200 and 3:18.17 in the 400).

Roberson will be competing in two additional events individually. He won the 200 individual medley and was second in the 100 free at regionals.

Roberson is the first boy in Aledo history to qualify for state in four events in the same season.

Perez and Kaiser are also competing in individual events. Perez won the 100 butterfly at regionals and Kaiser was second in the 100 backstroke.

“The district-regional-state timeline is tricky. We know we’ll face some fierce competition at regionals for a lot of them, so we’ll do a taper prior to that meet so they’re rested and can place well/make it out to state,” Aledo coach Meghan Roberson said. “That was the case with a lot of the team this year, so now it becomes a small build back up so that we can have them ready for state. 

“We just try to hold onto the momentum and prepare them for the environment they’re about to walk into. 

“Racing at UT can be overwhelming, so working on the mental preparation for getting up on the blocks in front of that crowd becomes the focus at this point.”

For Perez and Kale, this will be their second year competing, whereas Robinson was an alternate last season.