Ohio Senior Olympics rolls out in Valley

Staff report

More than 730 athletes from around the country are competing in the Ohio Senior Olympics, which began this week in the Mahoning Valley and Akron areas.

Athletes who are 50 and older are competing in cycling, tennis, bowling and track and field. The games began Tuesday and run through July 23.

The final event is a 10-K run Aug. 28 in Mill Creek Park. Winners will qualify for the national games in Houston in 2011.

Athletes in their 90s will be competing in golf, tennis and bowling. George Riser, 86, Lyndhurst, holds the national record in the shot put. The World War II veteran will compete in Boardman in the track and field events July 23.

Twelve people also will be inducted into the Ohio Senior Olympics Hall of Fame beginning at 6 p.m. July 22 at Enzo’s Restaurant, 2918 Elm Road N.E., Warren.

Sandy Ketchen, a Boardman native and tennis champion, will be among the inductees to be enshrined in the third annual hall-of-fame ceremony.

Ketchen will be playing tennis in the singles event, which begins at 1 p.m. Friday at Packard Park in Warren.

This is the 31st year for Ohio Senior Olympics.