VERONA, N.Y. (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) – In mid-April three local athletes will head to Chicago in an effort to win 2023 Elks Hoop Shoot National Championships. Thomas Goodelle, Armante `Bo’ Ventiquattro, and Riley Hodkinson have each won four levels of Elks free-throw shooting competition and are now one of just twelve athletes remaining in their respective age division.

Tommy, who is competing in the boys’ age 12-13 division, will be going to Nationals for the fourth time, including a win in boys’ age 10-11 division in 2020. For both Bo and Riley this is their first trip to the national competition after attempts last year.

There is a level of familiarity for more than just the Goodelle’s though, Riley’s father, Chad, who recently retired as the head coach of the Vernon-Verona-Sherrill baseball program, competed in the Elks Hoop Shoot in 1983, reaching the Nationals that year in the boys’ age 8-9 division and converting 18 of a possible 25 free throws.

The Elks Hoop Shoot Nationals are set to start on April 20th and run through the 23rd.