Yajaira Fortson set the tone for the Blue Wave swim team on Friday, Jan. 8, in her team’s final regular season meet in Andrews.

The junior recorded the highest finish on both the girls and boys squad via a runner-up performance in the 50 freestyle. Fortson also placed third in the 500 free - her first time racing in the longest of all high-school events - as well as a third-place finish in the 200 medley with Leslie Esquivel, Ashlyn Foster and Arissa Jimenez.

The same group of four clocked a seasonbest time in the 200 free relay to place third.

On Thursday, Esquivel started her impressive showing at the Andrews meet with a second-place outing in the diving competition. The junior compiled 270.50 points to earn the feat. Esquivel added a seventh-place finish in her first every 200 free race.

The multi-sport standout, who also qualified for state in cross country, capped her day with a third-place finish in the 100 breaststroke via a season-best time.

Jimenez placed fourth in the 50 free and third in the 100 free as the sophomore continued her improvement.

Foster added more points to the coffer by placing seventh in the 100 freestyle.

Quaylon Rios was the top finisher for the Fort Stockton boys team by way of a second-place finish in the 100 butterfly. The junior was a part of all three relay teams that placed fourth in their respective events.

Rios teamed up with Connor Miller, JC Napay, and Andrew Rangel on the 200 medley relay team. Three of those four (Miller, Rios, Rangel) joined Jason Oldencamp on the 200 free relay, who clocked their best time of the season.

Rios, Cobos, Oldencamp, and Eric Gonzalez were a part of the 400 free relay squad that placed fourth.

The boys placed in four swimmers in the top seven in the 50 free with Miller placing fourth in the 50 free, Gonzalez placing fifth, the lone senior on the team, 01-dencamp, placing sixth, and the junior Rangel, taking seventh.

Cobos continued his big time drop, placing 8th in the 100 fly.

Miller placed sixth in the 100 freestyle with a season-best time and Rangel added an eighth-place finish in the event.

The junior, Napay, took fifth in the 100 breaststroke and freshman Brenton Tollett finished one spot behind Napay in sixth.

Daidrian Renteria led the Panther divers, edging teammate Anthony Gomez by less than two points. Renteria, a freshman, placed fourth with a total of 241.1 points while Gomez recorded a fifth-place finish with 239.8 points.