Powell youth Danen Oram proved he was the best free throw shooter for his age in Wyoming this past winter. That led to him having the experience of a lifetime, winning the 10-11-year-old division state championship for the Elks Lodge 52nd Annual Wyoming State Hoop Shoot Finals in Casper in February before competing at the regional competition in Colorado in March.

“It was really fun representing Powell and the state of Wyoming,” Oram said.

He is the first winner in the competition from Powell in 25 years.

“The last person from Powell to make it to the regional competition was West Hernandez, who is a family friend,” Oram said.

The Elks competition holds local, state, regional and national competitions each year for kids aged 8-13.

According to a press release from the Elks, the competition focuses on a character building, competitive experience for all contestants, learning about the importance of respect and good sportsmanship.

Inspired from an early age to compete in basketball by Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, Oram decided to enter the local free throw competition to test his skills and compete against his friends.

“The Elks group hosted a local tournament and it sounded fun. Plus, it is fun to compete against my friends,” Oram said. “Before the local tournament, I had just been playing basketball with my travel team the Crossover Cubs, but not working on free throws specifically. But after I had won, I started to spend time each day shooting them.”

After winning the local competition, Oram made his way to Casper to take part in the February competition, recalling the nerve-wracking experience as he awaited the other athletes to shoot while they were competing at Dean Morgan Junior High.

“It was really cool to win in Casper,” Oram said. “Shooting your personal free throws and then having to wait and see how all the others did was stressful — once you found out you won it was a huge stress relief but also a lot of fun to win.”

Winning that competition meant that Oram had advanced to the next stage, heading to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to take part in the West Central Region 8 competition, shooting against kids from Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas.

“It was really fun to travel to a new city,” Oram said. “The Elks really made it special. With Team Wyoming warm-ups and sweatshirts along with having fun activities for all of the state champs to participate in. They hosted a Chuck E. Cheese party as well as a spaghetti dinner after the competition. There was a huge trophy and even a poster of each state champion on their hotel door.”

Unfortunately Oram did not advance past the regional competition with the winner advancing to the national competition in Chicago on April 20.

After seeing the competition and success he had this year, Oram said he has already started preparing for next year, while working with his dad Eric, who serves as the seventh grade coach at Powell Middle School.

“I have already been shooting lots to make sure that I can do my best next year,” Oram said. “My goal is to make it past the regional competition in Colorado … I feel like [dad coaching] helps me a lot and gives me a small edge in training. I really want to play after high school, my dad played college basketball at the University of Great Falls in Montana so he gets to help me a lot.”

Oram wanted to thank all the local and regional Elks members, while encouraging others to practice alongside him to try and become a state champion in free throws in the future.