05/07/2026
❤️ It was our honor tonight to present 4 scholarships alongside the Mt. Zion Youth Basketball Board, to Senior Student Athletes with the proceeds from the Inaugural Live Like Jack Free Throw Competition at Winter Warm Up back in December🖤
Presentation from Awards Banquet :
Good evening,
Last winter the Mt Zion Youth Basketball Board hosted another successful Winter Warm Up tournament here at the fieldhouse with over 100 teams participating.
During that weekend, they also partnered with the 217 Wiffle Ball Classic and put on the Inaugural Live Like Jack Free Throw Competition where the funds raised would be allocated to scholarships for student athletes here at Mt Zion High School in honor of Jack Brinkoetter. That weekend we were able to raise $3,000 for two scholarships to be given out tonight.
All of the Senior student athletes were eligible to win simply by writing a one page essay explaining how they Live Like Jack. The entries were then passed on to Jess, Jack’s mom with the names removed to read anonymously. While it was a difficult task it turned out to be a blessing once she got to see how much her son is still loved and admired by the seniors who wrote them.
Jess was able to do the impossible task of narrowing it down to 4 finalists that really spoke to her. At that time the board looked over the scholarships chosen by Jess, and all agreed that the 2 scholarships would now be 4 with the Wiffle Ball Classic adding an additional $1,000 for the 3rd and 4 place winners to split.
With that I am honored to present the following students with the Live Like Jack Scholarships this year :
Vienna Shim - $500
Braxton Rhoades - $500
Addyson Hodges - $1,500
Gabe Shumaker - $1,500
We look forward to next years Live Like Jack Free Throw Contest and continuing to honor him all year long in everything that we do while striving to live just like Jack.