On Saturday, Jan. 13, area youth between the ages of 8 and 13 who had won foul shooting contests at local schools or recreation programs, competed in the Elks Hoop Shoot foul shooting contest at the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Wieden Hall gymnasium.
Winners in the three age groups, with separate divisions for boys and girls, earned the right to compete in the Hoop Shoot competition for Northern Maine held on Sunday, Jan. 14 in Bangor.
The winners on Saturday in the 8- and 9-year-old category were Joshua Harvell, son of John and Heather Harvell of Presque Isle; and Blayne Tardif, daughter of Jaime and Rob Tardif of Mapleton.
In the 10- and 11-year-old category, the winners were Owen Sweeney, son of Bill and Sheree Sweeney of Easton; and Amelia Godin, daughter of Carla and Steve Godin of Caribou.
Wesley LaPointe of Caribou, son of Traves LaPointe and Farrah Boucher, won in the 12-13-year-old boys’ division and Faith Sjoberg, daughter of Kevin and Susan Sjoberg of Presque Isle, won in the 12-13-year-old girls’ division.
The following day at the Hoop Shoot district foul shooting contest held in Bangor, the foul shooters were shooting against representatives from other Elks lodges in northern Maine and seeking to win the right to compete in the Hoop Shoot state finals to be held in Fairfield on Sunday, Jan. 28.
Of the six competitors who had won in their division at the Hoop Shoot contest sponsored by the Presque Isle Elks, Lodge 1954 on Saturday, four also won in their divisions at the contest in Bangor.
LaPointe and all three girls — Tardif, Godin and Sjoberg — won to advance to the state finals. Sjoberg hit all 25 of her shots to advance, while LaPointe nailed 23 of 25.
Winners of the State of Maine Hoop Shoot contest at the end of the month will advance to the Regional Hoop Shoot for the New England area, to be held in March in the Portland area.
