Marion County athletes compete in the Junior Olympics

Marion County students competed in April at the local level to compete in this past week at Ft. Jackson in Columbia in the Junior Olympic events, one of several regional competitions conducted nationwide that will determine which youngsters advance to the National Finals.
For information on the Jr. Olympic Skills Competitions visit http://www.jrolympicskills.com.
Students competed in soccer, tennis, track and field and basketball. Those who competed in Columbia, and winners in the local competition were:
Soccer: Boys 8-9 year-olds, DaJu’an Moore of Gresham; Boys 10-11 year-olds,  DeShawn Tolbert of Centenary;
Girls, 8-9 year-olds, Aleha Davis, Marion; Girls, 10-11 year-olds, Rion Griffin of Gresham.
Tennis: Boys 8-9 year-olds, Braxton Jones of Gresham; Boys 10-11 year-olds, DeShawn Tolbert of Centenary;
Girls 8-9 year-olds, Ja’Quest Jackson of Marion; and in the girls 12-13 year- olds, Rion Griffin of Gresham.
Track and Field: Boys, 8-9 year-olds, Shawn Parsley of Marion; Boys 10-11 year-olds     DeShawn Tolbert of Centenary;
Girls, 8-9 year-olds, Ty’Kisha Bacchus of Gresham; 10-11 year-olds, Jakaysia Dozier of Gresham.
Basketball: Boys, 8-9 year- olds, Braxton Jones of Gresham and Shawntavious Parsley of Marion; 10-11 year-olds, William Brown of Gresham;
Girls, 8-9 year-olds, Aaliyah Parsley of Marion; Girls, 10-11 year-olds, Karastin Hughes of Gresham; 12-13 year-olds, Christa Davis of Marion.
Winners in the June 14 competition from the area were, in the basketball, boys, 8-9 year-olds, Braxton Jones, first place, and Shawn Parsley, second.
In the 8-9 year-old girls, Aaliyah Parsely won second place and in the girls 10-11 year old category, Karastin Hughes won third place. In the girls 12-13 year-olds, Christa Davis won first place.
In soccer, DaJu’an Moore own second place in the 8-9 year-old boys, Aleha Davis won second place in the 8-9 year-old girls, and Rion Griffin won first place in the 10-11 year-old girls.
In track and field, Shawn Parsley received first place in the boys 8-9 year-old, Tykisha Bacchus received first place in the 8-9 year-olds and Jakaysia Dozier took first in the 10-11 year-old girls.
In tennis, Braxton Jones received second place in the 8-9 year old boys and Rion Griffin received second place in the 10-11 year-old girls.
Regional competitions were completed on June 22 and the winners are awaiting the scoring of those contests. Scores will be compared to other first place winners to determine who goes to nationals in July in Chicago. The national competition is an all-expense paid trip for the top three in each category, per age group, per gender.