One of the bigger summer swimming events in the Houston area is the Ponderosa Invitational, which features several teams from the Houston area and from other parts of Texas like Huntsville and College Station.

Held at Klein Collins High School Saturday and Sunday, the two-day event hosts swimming events for children from ages 6-18.

In Saturday’s action, the 15-18 age group had finals in the 50-yard freestyle, the 50-yard backstroke and the 100-yard individual medley.

In boys action, Reid Ginzel from the Spring-Cypress Swim Team won the freestyle and finished third in the backstroke. The incoming senior at Cypress Woods posted a time of 21.86 seconds to win the freestyle.

“I swam my best, jumped out to a good start and finished first,” Ginzel said.

Andrew Moore from Cypresswood won the medley with a time of 54.42 seconds, with Taylor Kneisley finishing second with a time of 55.09. In the backstroke, Ryan Allen from Winchester won with a time of 25.47, with Kneisley second with 26.58.

In girls action, Lindsay Williams from Wortham won two events at the Ponderosa, winning the freestyle with a time of 25.63 and the medley with a time of one minute and 4.02 seconds. She also finished second in the backstroke with a time of 29.79. Kara Rainey won the backstroke with a time of 29.62 and also finished second in the freestyle with a time of 26.05.

The event continues Sunday with preliminary heats starting at 9 a.m. and finals scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Because of contractual obligations, the Athlete's Connection is not permitted to sell photos from this event.

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