PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – Six youth emerged out of a field of 40 competitors to advance in the Elks Hoop Shoot foul shooting competition held Dec. 13 at Presque Isle Middle School.
The event was sponsored by Presque Isle Elks Lodge 1954.
Addalyn Hews of Washburn made eight out of 25 free throws to take the top spot in the 8-9 year-old girls’ category. Placing second was Oaklee Putnam of Mapleton. Two others competed in this division.
Nick Hopkins of Easton, representing Zippel Elementary School in Presque Isle, topped six other competitors by sinking 21 shots and taking the 8-9 boys’ title. The runner-up was Briggs Clark of Mapleton. Hopkins reached the state championship in the division last winter.
For 10-11 girls, Charlie Powers of Mapleton Elementary School claimed the win out of a field of eight by netting 13 of her attempts. Kooper Griffeth of Presque Isle Middle School took second place.
Sawyer St. Peter of Caribou was victorious in the competitive 10-11 boys’ division, which included eight other shooters. St. Peter, who advanced to the New England championship in the 8-9 division two years ago, logged 19 successful attempts That put him just ahead of Collin Robertson, the runner-up representing Presque Isle Middle School.
Taking top honors in the 12-13 girls’ category which included six competitors was Natalie Porter of Presque Isle Middle School with a total of 19 makes. Claiming second by prevailing in a tie-breaker against two other shooters was Evangeline Chalou of Easton, a state qualifier in the 10-11 division a year ago.
Brody Woodworth of Mars Hill won in the 12-13 boys’ division by totaling 21. The runner-up was Aaron Cloukey of Presque Isle Middle School, a lodge champion in the 10-11 category last year. Six youth participated in this age division.
All six first-place winners earned the right to advance to the next round, which is the district competition. That event will take place Sunday, Jan. 11 at the James F. Doughty School in Bangor.
Capturing the William Sewall Outstanding Shooter awards, which go to the boy and girl with the highest totals among all the age divisions, were Woodworth for the boys and Porter for the girls, Woodworth had to survive a shootout against Hopkins to capture the win.
The awards are presented in honor of Sewall, who directed the Presque Isle lodge Hoop Shoot program for nearly 40 years. He passed away in 2023.
A total of 785 youth participated in preliminary contests held at Ashland, Caribou, Easton, Limestone, Mapleton, Mars Hill, Presque Isle (PIMS and Zippel), Washburn and Woodland. The winners of those preliminaries qualified for the lodge competition.
