By Jeff Peters
Catholic Herald correspondent
Holy Rosary teen wins free throw tournament
|
11-year-old Stephanie Wiener, a member of the Holy Rosary Parish in Mellen, took first place in her division at the annual Knights of Columbus State Free Throw Championship in Tomah. Stephanie is a fifth grader at the Mellen Grade School. (Photo by Jeff Peters) |
MELLEN -- Holy Rosary Parish member Stephanie Wiener took top honors at the annual Knights of Columbus state free throw championships last month in Tomah.
The sharpshooting 11-year-old drained 18 out of 25 free throws to take home the first-place trophy. Wiener, who practiced an hour each evening for the event, said she was cool and collected prior to the finals.
"I wasn't nervous at all," she said. "The whole thing was cool and exciting. I had a very good time doing the competition and I am already looking forward to next year's competitions."
Her parents, Missy and Don Wiener, also parish members, admitted they had a case of the jitters before the contest. "I guess we were being nervous for her," said Missy, noting Stephanie beat out 10 other contestants at the state finals.
"Stephanie was very confident in herself at the championship in Tomah, and at the three other contests she had to win to go to state. She wasn't nervous at all. Don spent a lot of time with her practicing. He brought her to the Mellen Public School gymnasium to practice each week," Missy said.
It appears Stephanie had a very good teacher, after all her dad also took top honors at the KC state finals 20 years ago when he was 14. Don Wiener, now 34, also had nerves of steel when he won the event two decades ago after three tiebreakers, swishing 37 out of 40 shoots from the stripe.
And when the family, which includes Stephanie's brother Joe, moves into their new home near Mellen this summer, one of the first things built will be, you guessed it, an outdoor basketball court.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2002