ISLE FILE
Sun misses swim finals
Advertiser Staff
Hongzhe Sun, an 'Iolani School and Stanford alum from 'Ewa Beach, finished sixth in his semifinal heat of the 100-meter backstroke Monday and failed to advance to the eight-man finals in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Omaha, Neb.
Sun clocked 54.47 seconds. The top four swimmers in each heat competed in Tuesday's final, which was won in a world-record time of 52.89 by Aaron Peirsol, of Irvine, Calif.
JUNIOR OLYMPICS
FIVE YOUNGSTERS FROM HAWAI'I QUALIFY
Five Hawai'i youngsters qualified for the national finals of the U.S. Jr. Olympic Skills competition, the official youth skills competition of the United States Olympic Committee.
The event will be in the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games Candidate City of Chicago, from July 24 to 27.
There will be 72 athletes, ages 8-13, at the finals. They compete in four "fundamental sports" — basketball, soccer, tennis and track and field.
Savanna Christensen, from La'ie, qualified for basketball and tennis in the girls 8-9 division. Rachel Christensen and Zachary Frampton, also from La'ie, will compete in 12-13 tennis. Hau'ula's Kamaile Aluli is in girls 8-9 soccer and Wai'anae's Felicianna Vazquez in girls 12-13 track and field.
Athletes qualified by winning age and gender divisions at one of 150 regional events, and 7,500 local qualifying events across the country. They represent the event's top 72 athletes across the country out of more than 1.7 million competitors.
The U.S. Jr. Olympic Skills competition is in its third year. The focus is on "introducing America's youth to multi-sport competition and encouraging participation in Olympic sport, emphasizing fair and friendly play, and promoting an active lifestyle."
