Four youth from across Mountain View County are provincial champs in their categories and two placed second in the province among about 150 competitors in the Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship.
They had the highest aggregate scores over three intermediate levels of competition.
Knights of Columbus basketball free throw chair Richard Bodnar, who has been organizing these events in Olds for about 20 years, says this is the first time in his memory that so many local competitors have been provincial champions or placed second in the province.
"We've had one a lot of times; I can't even remember having two. I was just really surprised when all of a sudden, the chairperson for basketball free throw for the province, he sent this memo out. I started looking at this. I said, 'by golly we have four first place and two second place.'"
Bodnar says those kids now qualify in what amounts to a North American championship. However, he says that doesn't mean they have to travel and compete.
"The scores are sent. They just tabulate; send their score sheets down and see how they did."
The provincial nine-year-old girls champion was Lugereke Shamvu of École Olds Elementary School (EOES).
Zoey McCormick of École Deer Meadow School (EDMS), was the 10-year-old girls’ provincial champion. Spencer Clifford of EOES, was the winner of the 10-year-old boys’ division.
In the 11-year-olds’ bracket, Grayson MacDonald of Holy Trinity Catholic School was the boys’ champion.
In the 13-year-old division, Naomi Rieberger of Olds Koinonia Christian School and Austin Schoonderbeek of EDMS placed second in their respective categories.
They got to that level after competing in the a free throw competition this past March at Holy Trinity Catholic School.
That competition featured participants from Olds, Carstairs, Didsbury, Sundre, and Red Deer, ages 9 to 14. It was sponsored by The Knights of Columbus Father Forsythe Council #4748 in Olds.
During the preliminary rounds, each contestant was allowed 15 free throw attempts in the first contest with 25 free throw attempts in each later round. Ties were settled by successive rounds of five free throws per contestant until a winner emerged.
Scores of each of those winners were sent on to determine the overall provincial standings, with champions representing only the top aggregate performers, across all levels of competition.
"It's amazing," Bodnar says. "We were very happy to have it, that's for sure."
Local Knights of Columbus members are grateful for the support they received for the competition from local schools and businesses.
