A Jefferson girl came home as the runner-up in her age group for the State Elks Hoop Shoot contest.

Samantha Pedersen was the northwest district champion for the 8-9-year-old girls division and traveled to Grinnell this past weekend where she ended up in second place, one shot away from advancing to the multi-state regional contest. Pedersen tells Raccoon Valley Radio that she made 16 out of 25 free throws and the eventual 8-9-year-old girls champion made 17, but despite her second place finish, Pedersen looks at the experience with a positive outlook.

“I was pretty happy because there were hard competition and I was really close to that other girl. Well if I was like 20 shots away I would’ve been really made at myself.”  

Pedersen notes 16 was the most number of free throws she made compared to the other two rounds that she won. At the local level, Pedersen made 13 and at districts there were 12 free throws made. She talks about the other fun part of the weekend trip.

“I loved going to the hotel, the pool was awesome. They had a really nice hot tub where you can control the jets.”  

As part of the trip, the Jefferson Elks Lodge #2306 sponsored the local competitors with funding for a hotel stay and mileage.