The first weekend of March our state champion Jordan and his Dad were flown to Portland, Oregon for the Elks' Club Regional free fhrow competition. There were 6 kids from Alaska, boys and girls in 3 age groups. Sheldon kept saying, "Our whole family should be here!" from the boys' scores when they shot earlier in Homer, but Brandon's 20-25 was beat in a tie-break, and Clayton's 17-25 was beat in a tie-break. Only Jordan's 17-25 was good enough in his age bracket to advance to the next level. BUT he was very proud to go, and enjoyed some quality time with his Dad! :)
The HOOP SHOOT took place at Clark College in Vancouver Saturday, March 5. It was a whole different level of SERIOUS competition... no talking, no clapping, no flash photography! The kids sat in chairs out in the middle, had warm up times, then each shot a series of 10 freethrows, and then another series of 15 freethrows.
In his level, WA made 22-25, ID made 21-25, and AK Jordan tied with OR for 19-25! So they went to a tie-break, and Jordan made 4-5 while OR made 2-5. Woo HOO - 3rd place!!! His Dad was SO PROUD... one of his best consistent scores - and under big pressure!
After the competition, they were honored at a special luncheon!
And posed for photos with the State and Regional Elks' Club directors. :)
None of the Alaska kids placed first to move on to the National competition in Massachusetts, but they all came home with beautiful embroidered sweatsuits with their name on front and "Alaska State Champion" on the back, big medallions, and impressive trophies! Way to go!
They celebrated with a swim in the hotel pool...
...and then a trip downtown to the "Rose Garden" arena - home of the NBA Portland Trailblazers!
They got to see the Trailblazers beat Charlotte, NC. "The most amazing part was the trampoline dunks at halftime, Mom!" :)
What a neat opportunity for our son - we're proud of you, Jordan!!!
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