PENDLETON — With a couple of days of good weather and hundreds of area swimmers competing in 66 events, the fourth annual Stars and Stripes Invite on Friday and Saturday was deemed a success.
Pendleton Swim Club and Power Aquatics, a Hamilton Heights and Tipton club, played co-hosts to the event at Alvin D. Brown Memorial Swimming Pool in Falls Park.
Swimmers ranged from ages 6 to 17 and were from nine different clubs.
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“Mother Nature cooperated,” said Jill McKinney, president of the Pendleton Swim Club Board. “We achieved our goal of putting on a fun and competitive event that showcased the sport of swimming, the hard work of our athletes, the Brown Pool facility and the town of Pendleton.”
Along with PSC and Power Aquatics, other teams at the event were New Castle, Yorktown, Jay County, Cardinal Community (Muncie), Oak Hill and Mt. Vernon swim clubs and Howard County Aquatics.
Local swimmers did well.
Pendleton Swim Club members had four swimmers finish in the top three in total points in their respective age groups. PSC swimmers also won nine individual events.
Three PSC swimmers were runners-up in points. Grace McKinney was second in the girls 15-and-older group, scoring 89 points in her events. Aidan Ballart was second in the 8-and-under boys category with 72 points. Evan Ray scored 86 points and was second in the 9-10 boys’ division.
Lilly Jacobs was third in points, with 80, in the girls 9-10 division.
McKinney won the 1,500-meter freestyle (20:30.30) and the 200 IM (2:50.76). Also in the 15-and-older category, Maggie Miller won the 200 backstroke (3:06.65).
Ballart had a pair of victories, winning the 50 and 100 backstrokes (1:00.52 and 2:16.16, respectivley).
Ray took the top spot in the 50 breaststroke (53.36 seconds). He was the only swimmer to finish in under one minute.
Ella Rector finished first in the girls 11-12 400 IM with a time of 6:26.81.
Mallory Gentry was first among 25 swimmers in the girls 13-14 50 freestyle, finishing in 30.6 seconds.
Ian Christian took the top spot in the boys 13-14 200 IM (3:05.78).
“We take it as a great compliment that area teams request our meet each year,” Jill McKinney added. “It takes the hard work of many volunteers from Pendleton Swim Club and Power Aquatics, as well as the generosity of several corporate sponsors, to make this type of event happen. We look forward to coming back next year with plans for even more growth in the event.”