Villa Park Knights of Columbus Council 8365 host Free Throw Contest

Six boys and girls from Villa Park and Berkeley ages 11 to 14 were named local champions of the 2013 Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship and have earned the right to compete at the district level. Villa Park Knights of Columbus Council # 8365 sponsored the local competition at St Alexander's Gym. All youngsters ages 10 to 14 were eligible to participate.

Michael Danielson was the winner of the 11-year old boys division. The 11 year old girls' bracket was won by Shannon Knudtsen. The 12-year old boys division was won by William Hesslan II. Thirteen year old winners were Bridget Garner in the girls division and Dominick Ranieri in the boys division. Fourteen-year-old champions were Andy Ciesla in the boys' division. Each contestant was allowed 15 free throw attempts in the contest. Ties were settled by successive rounds of five free throws per contestant until a winner emerged.

Each of the winners received a plaque and will compete in the district competition to be held February 18 at Xtreme Sports in Lombard with an eye toward moving on to the regional, state and international levels.

The Knights of Columbus is an international Catholic family fraternal service organization with nearly 1.7 million members in over 14,000 local councils. Last year Knights donated over 69 million volunteer hours and $151 million to charitable and benevolent causes, sponsoring projects to benefit their church, councils, communities, families, and youth.