Ex-Ripon swimmer falls short of second medal. Groveland woman gets ready to fire
Modesto-born swimmer Erika Brown fell short in her bid for a second medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
Brown finished seventh out of eight women in a semifinal heat for the 100-meter freestyle Thursday morning. She already had a bronze medal from the 400-meter freestyle relay last weekend.
Brown is one of six Tokyo Olympians with ties to the Modesto area. Four of them still have competitions ahead of them.
Brown, 22, spent a year at Ripon High School before moving to North Carolina. She qualified for her first Olympics as she was finishing a stellar swimming career at the University of Tennessee.
Golfer Bryson DeChambeau, 27, had to withdraw because of a positive test for COVID-19 before he flew to Tokyo. He was born in Modesto but moved to Clovis in the third grade.
Rifle shooter Sagen Maddalena, 27, is a resident of the Groveland area of Tuolumne County. She will take part in the 50-meter smallbore event Saturday, July 31. She qualified while serving with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit.
NBA guard and Modesto native Gabe Nnamdi Vincent, 25, is playing for Nigeria’s basketball team in the Olympics. His father, Franklyn Vincent, is from that nation.
Nigeria is 0-2 so far in the 12-nation tournament. It faces Italy on Saturday, July 31.
In an 84-67 loss to Australia, Vincent scored seven points in 25 minutes, going 1-of-7 from the field. In a 99-92 loss on Tuesday to Germany, Vincent had eight points on 3-of-11 shooting from the field, taking all but one shot from 3-point range.
Vincent spent his freshman year at Modesto Christian High School before transferring to St. Mary’s High School in Stockton. He went on to play at UC Santa Barbara and is now with the Miami Heat.
The USA baseball team has a pitcher and coach who spent part of their time in the Modesto area. It will open Friday, July 30, against Israel, part of a six-nation field.
Starting right-hander Joe Ryan, 25, spent his senior year at Stanislaus State University and is now a Triple-A prospect for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Bench coach Jerry Weinstein, 77, managed the Modesto Nuts from 2007 to 2011.
Olympic schedules and other details are at www.olympics.com/tokyo-2020.
This story was originally published July 29, 2021 at 10:58 AM.
