DETROIT -- Gavin Vaughn out-touched his opponent by 12 seconds at the finish of the 200-meter butterfly to capture the bronze medal on the final day of the AAU Junior Olympic Games in Detroit Sunday.
As a team, the Poplar Bluff Piranhas finished 15th out of 30 teams.
Vaughn finished in 3 minutes, shaving a full second off of his preliminary time. The 14-year-old Poplar Bluff swimmer had the fifth-fastest time after the prelims before medaling in his final race.
Vaughn also took 13th in the 200 IM Saturday. He took 4 seconds off his prelim time and finished in 2:55.04, and was seventh in the 400 freestyle with a time of 5:25.42.
In the boys 13-14 division, Kastin Caudel finished 21st in the 100 backstroke (1:28.83) and 36th in the 50 freestyle (33.75) Saturday. Caudel also finished 35th in the 100 freestyle (1:14.19) on Sunday.
Teagan Kassing finished in the top 20 in three of his five 9-10 year-old division races and shaved time off in every race. Kassing was 17th in the 50 breatstroke (1:05.63) and 18th in the 50 butterfly (59.96).
His greatest improvement came in the 100 freestyle, where he placed 20th in 1:36.98 and shaved 6.08 seconds off his qualifying time. Kassing also finished 26th in the 50 backstroke (55.66) and 28th in the 50 freestyle (44.80).
After a top-8 finish Friday, Jack Harrison finished 20th in the boys 15-18 division 50 freestyle in 27.88 Saturday. He also took 21st in he 200 IM in 2:47.78 and missed qualifying for the 400 freestyle final by 2.17 seconds.
Harrison wrapped up his weekend with a 12th place finish in the 100 breaststoke with a time of 1:21.47.
Keona Sample swam a 46.57 in the 50 breaststroke to finish 11th in the finals Sunday and was 44th in the 100 freestyle with a time of 1:26.57. She finished 25th in the 200 IM (3:34.55), 45th in the 50 freestyle (36.67) and 47th in the 50 breaststroke (49.09).
On the track, Jaelyn Haldemann finished 65th in the girls 8 & under 100-meter dash prelims with a time of 16.97 seconds.