Churchill’s Cronk captures two crowns
Churchill senior Carli Cronk earned two golds medals, including one in a new event, at the Region VII-6A swimming and diving finals held Saturday at Josh Davis Natatorium.
Cronk, who signed with Notre Dame, won her third straight regional title in the girls 200-yard freestyle with a personal-best 1 minute, 46.36 seconds. She also won the 100 backstroke in 55.16.
“I’m really proud of myself because I started training the 100 backstroke just this season,” Cronk said. “To be going 55 is surreal. I started the season at 56, and I’ve dropped one second this season.”
Cronk had qualified for state in the 500 freestyle with fifth- and sixth-place finishes the previous two seasons. Although it’s one of her specialties, Cronk said swimming it in backto-back days in preliminaries and finals at the state is grueling.
“After a while, it gets real tiring, and I haven’t had the best results in finals, so hopefully this year, I’ll have a better result in finals in the 100 back,”
Cronk said.
Cronk finished strong to win 200 freestyle by two seconds and qualify for state in the event for the third straight season. She earned state silver last season and a bronze two years ago.
The top two finishers in each event automatically qualify for the UIL state championships scheduled for Feb. 23-24 at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin.
Reagan junior Montse Spielmann earned four medals including a gold in the 100 butterfly and silvers in the 200 freestyle and 400 medley relay, and a bronze in the 400 freestyle relay.
Spielmann, who is committed to Michigan, won the 100 butterfly by more than two seconds with a 53.26. That is not only her personal best, but it broke the previous meet record (53.53) set by Churchill’s Lily Moldenhauer in 2010.
“It’s my best time in the fly this season, so it’s really exciting,” said Spielmann, who is the reigning state champion in the event. “It gives good energy for the path to state.”
Spielmann will also push Cronk in the 200
freestyle. She finished third behind Cronk at state last year.
“Carli and I race a lot, and she’s an incredible competitor,” said Spielmann, who shared girls swimmer of the meet honors with Cronk. “It’s going
to be exciting to get up there and race her and a couple of other incredible girls in the 200 free.”
Spielmann is making her third appearance at state. She finished ninth in the 100 butterfly as a freshman before capturing gold last year.
“As a junior, I’ve been through the gauntlet,” Spielmann said. “I’ve done it twice before, so I kind of know what to expect. It’s also awesome to compare where I’m at compared to last year and see the progression.”
In October, Spielmann competed in the 2023 Pan American Games held in Santiago, Chile. Spielmann represented her parents’ homeland of Chile at the Games. Spielmann, who was born in Pittsburgh, holds dual citizenships in Chile and the United States.
“It was a great experience racing outside of the United States,” Spielmann said. “Competing at a high level trained me to remain a little calm before my races, and using what I learned from that meet at the high school meet is super helpful.”
Johnson junior Ethan Moore earned three medals with golds in the boys 100 freestyle and the 200 freestyle relay and a silver in the 50 freestyle. He set personal bests, including a blistering 19.86 split as anchor in the 200 freestyle relay, in all his events.
“That 19.8, I’ve just dreamed about that,” Moore said. “I never knew I was going to go that. I was really blessed to be able to do that.”
That split enabled Moore, who teamed with Austin Moore, Trevor Bordelon and Diego Rojas, to make up more than a bodylength deficit for a schoolrecord 1:24.95.
Moore also set a personal best in winning the 100 freestyle with a 45.25. He beat Round Rock’s Oliver Rowe by .03 of a second.
Clark senior Evan Croley edged Moore in the 50 freestyle with 20.46. Moore timed a personal-best 20.60.
Reagan sophomore Grant Lilly turned in a state-qualifying performance by winning the boys 500 freestyle. He was also part of the Rattlers’ second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay with Noah Ott, Johnny Ganser and Gabriel Aleman.
Spielman teamed with Tessa Christiansen, Yara Olsen and Isabella Ott for second in the 200 medley relay. Christiansen also finished second in the 100 backstroke. Johnson sophomore Carly Mauldin was second in the girls 500 freestyle.