Dambrino's Dive Invitational WaterPandas – Meet Recap & Highlights
Dambrino's Dive Invitational
WaterPandas – Meet Recap & Highlights
Mirabeau B. Lamar HS · HISD Middle School Swimming · Saturday, November 15
The Pershing WaterPandas made a powerful statement at the 2025 Dambrino's Dive Invitational. From warm-ups to the final relay, our swimmers showed discipline, sportsmanship, and heart. They arrived early, moved independently to their heats, supported one another, and represented Pershing with pride.
🏆 Official Team Placements
Against some of the largest and strongest programs in HISD, Pershing finished in the top tier of several divisions:
- 7th Grade Boys: 3rd place – 46 points
- 7th Grade Girls: 5th place – 55 points
- 8th Grade Girls: 2nd place (tie) – 64 points
- 8th Grade Boys: 5th place – 39 points
For a roster our size, finishing in the top three for 7th Boys and 2nd for 8th Girls is a huge accomplishment.
🚀 Relay Highlights
Relays showcase teamwork, exchanges, and nerves under pressure. Our relays stepped up:
- 7th Girls 4×50 Medley Relay: Chavez · Brown · Hernandez · Stanger — 4th place, 3:02.99
- 7th Boys 4×50 Medley Relay: Ashlin · Randall · Abdallah · Obregon — 3rd place, 2:51.69
- 8th Girls 4×50 Medley Relay: Marino · Wyllie · Zoë Cheng · Bradshaw — 2nd place, 2:49.48
- 7th Girls 4×50 Free Relay: Stanger · Zhu · Brown · Hernandez — 5th place, 2:33.63
- 7th Boys 4×50 Free Relay: Ashlin · Randall · Obregon · Abdallah — 4th place, 2:43.07
- 8th Girls 4×50 Free Relay: Wyllie · Marino · Zoë Cheng · Bradshaw — 2nd place, 2:24.30
- 8th Boys 4×50 Free Relay: Moore · Lazard · Wells · Mahan — 5th place, 2:20.43
🌟 Individual Highlights
Every swimmer contributed, but these performances especially stood out in the final results:
7th Grade Highlights
- Eliana Hernandez – 2nd in 200 Free (3:12.53) and scoring in 50 Fly & relays.
- Max Obregon – 2nd in 200 Free (3:33.50) and strong relay leg.
- Jiaqi Zhu – 4th in 50 Free (34.49) & 3rd in 100 Free (1:24.07), anchor on free relay.
- Ramzy Abdallah – 3rd in 50 Free (33.18) and scorer in 50 Fly & relays.
- Reid Ashlin – 4th in 100 Free (1:18.02) and key position on both 7th boys relays.
- Emma Stanger – scorer in 100 IM & 50 Breast, plus lead-off on relays.
8th Grade Girls Highlights
- Zoë Cheng – 2nd in 200 Free (2:55.94) and 2nd in 50 Fly (35.31), big split on both relays.
- Zoe Bradshaw – 2nd in 100 IM (1:30.98) and 3rd in 100 Free (1:15.88), anchor on relays.
- Kate Wyllie – 4th in 50 Free (35.73) and 5th in 50 Back (44.88), key relay lead-off.
- Betty Marino – scoring in 50 Free and backstroke, plus crucial medley and free relay legs.
- Unna Stella – 10th in a deep 100 Free field (1:43.73) with a strong second-half split.
- Evelina Chen & Isabelle Nguyen – both scored in 100 Free with big improvements from earlier in the season.
8th Grade Boys Highlights
- Alexander Mahan – 2nd in 50 Free (27.40) and 4th in 50 Fly (32.14), strong relay anchor.
- Dean Wells – 3rd in 100 Free (1:06.30) and scorer in 50 Back (40.37).
- Noah Lazard – 4th in 50 Breast (43.47) and 11th in 100 IM (1:27.05).
- Gavin Moore – battled through a long 200 Free (4:23.24) and helped the 8th boys free relay to 5th.
📈 Most Improved WaterPandas (2025–2026)
Beyond one meet, our swimmers have been working hard all season. Here are our current Most Improved athletes based on percentage improvement across their official times this year:
Women – Overall Improvement
| Place | Swimmer | Improved Races | Avg % Drop |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evelina Chen | 9 | 19.60% |
| 2 | Isabelle Nguyen | 8 | 10.40% |
| 3 | Eliana Hernandez | 8 | 2.86% |
| 4 | Zoe Bradshaw | 8 | 1.32% |
| 5 | Jiaqi Zhu | 7 | 19.09% |
Men – Overall Improvement
| Place | Swimmer | Improved Races | Avg % Drop |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dean Wells | 8 | 2.62% |
| 3 | Theodore Randall | 7 | 8.94% |
| 4 | Noah Lazard | 7 | 4.55% |
| 5 | Alexander Mahan | 7 | 3.04% |
*Place numbers reflect the internal improvement rankings we track for the season.
💙 What We Take Away
Dambrino’s Dive gave our swimmers exactly what we hoped for: real racing experience, visible time drops, and a chance to test themselves against championship-level teams. The combination of strong results, significant improvements, and outstanding behavior on deck shows that the WaterPandas are moving in the right direction.
Great job, WaterPandas!
Keep training hard, supporting your teammates, and representing Pershing with pride.
Go WaterPandas! 🐼💦
