On Sunday, February 1st, ten boys and thirteen girls from Storm Lake showed off their free throw shooting skills. The youngsters ages 9-13, gathered for the annual Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship. Nine were named local champions of the 2026 and have earned the right to compete at the district level. St Mary’s Council 2326 in Storm Lake sponsored the local competition at the Panther Pit in Storm Lake. All boys and girls ages 9-14 were eligible to participate.
Cammie Campbell was the winner for the 9-year-old girls division and Benson Foell won for the 9-year-old boys. In a moment of pure excitement, 10-year-old Rhett Friedrichsen sank all 15 of his shots.
London Ingold won the 11-year old’s division by sinking 12 of 15 free throws. Beckham Crum won the 11-year-old boy’s division. In a highly competitive 12-year-old girls division, Callie Campbell captured the championship. In 2025, Callie won her division making the victory this year a back to back championship for her.
The boys’ 12-year-old division was won by Fletcher Friedrichsen. Nora Brostad won the 13-year-old girls division and Ethan Foell the 13-year-old boys division. All contestants were allowed 15 free throw attempts in the contests. Ties, which happened for our 9-year-old and 12-year-old girls competitions, were broken through successive rounds of five free throws until a winner emerged. All participants, champion or not, sank many free throws on Sunday!
Each of the local Champions will compete in the district competition to be held at 1:00 PM on Sunday, February 8, 2026, at Newell-Fonda High School gym to move on to the state and international levels.
