Free-throw champion plays many sports

KEARNS — Joe Cremer is the sixth grade free-throw champion in the Knights of Columbus-sponsored diocese-wide free-throw contest.

Cremer, 12, attends St. Francis Xavier Regional School in Kearns. He started playing basketball when he was in kindergarten, and took first place in the free-throw competition on the parish level when he was 8 years old. Three years later, he took first place on the parish level again and decided to go on to the diocese-wide finals to see if he could become the overall champion of the contest.

Cremer made 10 out of 15 free throws in the parish competition, which he says is not that many. He then made 21 out of 25 in the finals at St. John the Baptist Parish earlier this year. He had his choice to shoot from the free-throw line or in front of it, and chose to shoot from the free-throw line. There were about 40 competitors in the contest, and he placed second in the overall contest.

Cremer also plays baseball and football and his favorite subject in school is math. His father, Marc, is his role model, and Cremer plays all of the same positions as his father. He plays point guard in basketball, quarterback in football, and is a shortstop and pitcher in baseball. He works on his skills by practicing with his father all the time in their back yard.

Of all the sports, his favorite is basketball. He says it is more fun because there is a lot of action. Former Utah Jazz Basketball Point Guard John Stockton is also his role model.