U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL : Parmenter Gets Grip on Gold of Her Own

Three years ago, when the Olympic Festival was in Los Angeles, Jennifer Parmenter helped hand out the medals.

Now she has one to keep.

Parmenter, 13, the youngest swimmer in the competition, won a gold medal Saturday in the 200-meter backstroke. “I hoped I would win one this time,” she said.

Parmenter, of Granada Hills, finished in a time of 2 minutes 18.39 seconds, ahead of Erin Schatz of Agoura Hills, who won the silver medal in 2:19.09. “I was tired, but the last 50 (meters) I gave it my all,” Parmenter said.

Nicole Beck of Ventura finished in 2:20.63 for fifth, one place ahead of her former Buena High teammate, Mandy Walz of Ventura, whose time was 2:21.31.

Earlier in the day, Parmenter was fifth in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 58.94.

Rebecca Gilman, 14, from Ventura, won a bronze medal in the 800-meter freestyle in 8:57.18.

In tennis, Ania Bleszynski of Thousand Oaks continued to win.

The top-seeded player in women’s singles, Bleszynski, 17, cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 decision over Kristen Sanderson of Pinellas Park, Fla., in the opening round.

The Stanford-bound former Harvard-Westlake High standout will meet hometown favorite Laura Guidon in the second round today.

Guidon, of St. Louis, drew enthusiastic support from an overflow crowd during her 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (9-7) decision over Katy Propstra of Paradise Island, Ariz.

In mixed doubles, Bleszynski teamed with Mark Loughrin from Greendale, Wis., to down David Sutton of San Juan, P.R., and Mary Carlisle-White of Spartanburg, S.C., 6-4, 7-5.

A victory Monday will put Bleszynski and Loughrin in Wednesday’s gold medal match.

In canoeing, Joe Harper and David Spaulding of Ventura won a silver medal in the 1,000-meter race in a time of 4:16.97.

Jim Werland of Ventura teamed with David Serafin of San Diego to place sixth in 4:44.12.

In archery, Mark Hainline and Justin Huish, both from Simi Valley, qualified for Monday’s elimination round. Teri Chang of Northridge failed to make the cut in the women’s competition.

Nancy Janik of Simi Valley was ousted in the semifinal round of one-meter springboard diving.

In team handball, the West defeated the North, 23-17, behind four first-half goals by Jim Hop of Camarillo and six second-half goals by Mike Hurdle of Reseda.