Several members of the Mena Barracuda swim team traveled to Texarkana, TX June 23 and El Dorado, AR July 7 in an attempt to qualify for the 2017 Junior Olympics to be held in Detroit MI, July 27-30. To qualify, a swimmer must place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in the individual event they are swimming. Results were as follows:
Age 8 and Under Boys:
Ayden Dong (Texarkana) placed 5th in the 50-meter Breaststroke 1:37.22, 6th in 50-meter Backstroke 1:27.59, and 6th in 50-meter Freestyle 1:07.48. Ryan Jian (Texarkana) placed 2nd in 50-meter Breaststroke 1:10.27, 3rd in 50-meter Freestyle 48.29, and 4th in 50-meter Backstroke 1:12.73.
Age 10 and Under Boys:
Brandon Dong (Texarkana) placed 4th in 50-meter Breaststroke 1:05.44, 8th in 50-meter Freestyle 48.73, and 9th in 50-meter Backstroke 1:13.37.
Age 12 and Under Girls:
Ranessa Ricker (Texarkana) placed 2nd in 100-meter Butterfly 2:14.69 and 7th in 50-meter Freestyle 40.36. In the El Dorado meet, Ranessa placed 5th in the 200-meter Freestyle 3:07.56, 5th in 100-meter Breaststroke 1:48.99, 5th in 100-meter Freestyle 1:28.47, 6th in 200-meter Individual Medley 3:44.90, 7th in 50-meter Breaststroke 51.80, 9th in 50-meter Freestyle 38.09, and 9th in 50-meter Backstroke 49.29.
Age 12 and Under Boys:
Brenden Ricker (Texarkana) placed 2nd in 100-meter Breaststroke 1:54.72, 3rd in 50-meter Breaststroke 53.79, 5th in 200-meter Individual Medley 4:11.24, and 8th in 50-meter Backstroke 56.58. In the El Dorado meet, Brenden placed 3rd in 200-meter Individual Medley 3:33.88, 6th in 100-meter Backstroke 1:43.61, 7th in 50-meter Butterfly 47.89, 7th in 50-meter Backstroke 48.96, and 9th in 100-meter Freestyle 1:33.68.
The swimmers that qualified for Junior Olympics this year were Ryan Jiang, Ranessa Ricker, and Brenden Ricker.
About Author
Jeri Pearson
Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.
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