caption:

The Espinosa family in Chicago.


Takes 5th
in the U.S.
It was back to normal on Monday for TJ Espinosa. Back to school, which included a field trip, and a baseball game in the evening.
The weekend, though, was anything but normal.
The Putnam Middle School seventh grader spent the weekend in Chicago as one of 12 finalists in his age group for the Elks Hoops Shoot national finals. Espinosa, who won district, state, and regional free throw shooting contests over the past three months, made 21-of-25 free throws in the final, good for a fifth-place finish in the country.
“I’m really happy about it,” he said. “My goal was to get there. I wanted to win, obviously, but that was my goal.
“When I was 10, 11 years old, I really wanted to make it to Chicago. Last year I started actually winning and I could see that I was getting better. I made it to regionals and finished second last year, so I just worked harder because I knew this was my last year. And I made it, and I’m really happy about it.”
The 13-year-old Espinosa said he knew there were a lot of people back home who were supporting him.
“They told us that they were talking about it on the broadcast, and that social media was going crazy with support for me,” he said. “That really means a lot, I really appreciate that so much.”
Espinosa arrived in Chicago with his family Thursday night and spent time with the other competitors playing games and getting to know them. There was a practice shootaround and a tour of the city – including a boat tour and a visit to Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, where each shooter had his name and picture up on the scoreboard.
The contest was Saturday afternoon – “obviously, the best part,” Espinosa said – followed by a huge dinner banquet, before the family returned home Sunday.
The contest was held at Wintrust Arena, home of DePaul University’s basketball teams and the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. The competition included three age brackets (8-9 years old, 10-11, 12-13) with 12 shooters in each, for both boys and girls, so 72 shooters in all. Espinosa had two former national champs in his bracket. Espinosa made eight of his first 10 shots, then went 13-for-15 in his second round. The eventual winner made all 25 of his shot attempts.
“I was nervous, but I was ready,” Espinosa said. “I missed my first shot, which was tough, but all I thought was ‘make the next one, anything can happen.’
Said TJ’s dad, Tom: “The Elks do it first class. It was unbelievable. We were blown away by it. They gave the kids the red-carpet treatment the whole time, just treated them like stars. It was unbelievable, really. It was an experience of a lifetime.”
By Stephen Nalbandian