
Whitehall youth Taylor Mikkelson will compete along with other area children in an area free-throw contest Thursday night. Mikkelson has won three state free-throw titles and Thursday presents a chance to start the road to a fourth.
Taylor Mikkelson of Whitehall will be aiming for her fourth state championship in free throw shooting this year, and her journey begins Thursday night at 6 p.m., when she and other area youth will compete at Our Lady of White Lake Knights of Columbus Council’s free throw championship at the Whitehall Community Services Building.
Youth ages 9-14 who have not participated through the White Lake Youth Sports Club teams are welcome to participate. The winner of each age group, both boys and girls, move onto the district championship in Fremont. Winners continue to progress through a regional and state championship.
Taylor, who has won three state free throw shooting titles, will aim for a fourth. She comes from a strong basketball family. Her father, Brett Mikkelson, is a coach and regularly has other players advance in the free throw contest.
Although Taylor practices dribbling and shooting 100 shots every day in the summer, this time of year is more difficult to get as much practice in. Even with all her success, Taylor realizes nothing is a sure thing,
“Anyone can have days they don’t shoot well,” she said.
Also, the level of competition increases with each round, adding to the nerves.
In addition to basketball, Taylor enjoys swimming, dancing, singing and mythology. She is interested in crime mysteries, and her favorite school subjects are social studies, politics, current events and history. Although basketball is her favorite sport, Taylor has also taken up tennis and golf.