Then students who qualify move onto the district level where they compete against students from surrounding areas like Moreno Valley, Hemet, and San Jacinto. From there students qualify for regional competition, which takes place at Notre Dame High School. There, ALL areas come together to see who can make the most free throws in their age category. The last level is State, which includes Northern, Central and Southern California winners. This year the State competition took place in Fresno, California.
St. James Catholic School sent two students to the state competition. Dennis Vielman an eighth grade student representing the 14 year old age level and Emily King, a sixth grade student representing the ten year old age level. Dennis tied with another student from Sacramento and went to a “shoot off.” Dennis made one less shot than the student from Sacramento and came in second with a total of 25 free throws made. Emily won her age division with 23 shots made. We are very proud of these students. They made it through several rounds before attending the Championship. They showed perseverance and school spirit along their journey to the State Championships. Go Irish!!