Photo courtesy of Amy Knoll

The Hope Piranhas Swim Team placed third for the summer-only, small division at the South Arkansas Swim Association (SASA) Championships Saturday in Pine Bluff.

5-year-old Khloe Rodgers and 12-year-old Ben Stewart also won high point in their respective age divisions; Stewart earning 24 points in total while Rodgers earned 19.

Rodgers placed first in the Girls 6 & Under 25 yard breaststroke and second in the Girls 6 & Under 25 yard freestyle, beating out third place finisher Emma Jetton from Magnolia by less than a second while also shaving off over seven and a half seconds from her previous best time.

Stewart placed top three in three of his four events. He placed second in both the Boys 12 & Under 50 yard freestyle and the Boys 12 & Under 50 yard breaststroke, beating out Pine Bluff swimmer Marcus Jones by three hundredths of a second. Stewart also placed third in the Boys 12 & Under 50 yard butterfly.

The Hope Piranha Girls 14 & Under 200 yard medley relay won their event against Monticello's and Magnolia's relays. The relay consisted of 12-year-old Aracely Garcia doing the backstroke, 13-year-old Addison McEuen doing the breaststroke, 12-year-old Zoie Cox doing the butterfly and 13-year-old Sadie Knoll doing the freestyle.

Cox also placed first in the Girls 12 & Under 50 yard breaststroke, beating out Monticello swimmer Addison Bradshaw by only one-hundredth of a second, the closest finish of the entire meet. Cox also shaved off over three seconds in that event from her previous best time.

Knoll placed second in two of her individual events: the Girls 14 & Under 50 yard breaststroke and the Girls 14 & Under 200 yard freestyle. McEuen was right behind Knoll in the latter event finishing in third place.

Knoll, McEuen and Stewart will all be heading to Houston next weekend for the Junior Olympics to swim alongside Team Arkansas and finish off the season.

Photos courtesy of Amy Knoll