(May 11, 2005) — Sophomore Andy Ter-Nersesian looks up at the basket. He looks around while dribbling to the three-point line. The many pairs of eyes stare as each contestant waits to see if he would score a perfect throw or come just short. He breathes deeply. “When all the eyes stare at you, sometimes you choke and give you quite a scare,” he said. He knew he had to be focused, at least enough not to miss. Sixty seconds. Fifteen shots. Start! Each time he makes a shot, he can hear teacher Randy Tiffany’s voice saying,” One…two…four…” At the round’s completion, Ter-Nersesian tied for third with nine points. On April 28, approximately 100 students participated in the third annual three-point shootout competition. According to P.E. teacher Judy Thomsen, the three-point shoot competition replaced the International “3-on-3” Basketball Tournament two years ago. In the international tournament, the teams were required to recruit members of different ethnic groups. Not enough people signed up for the tournament. Also, due to the district’s regulations on race, Clark could no longer hold the international basketball tournaments; as a result, the tournament was cancelled. The 3-Point Contest took the place of the “3-on-3” International Tournament and soon became popular. Each year, more students participated in the contest. Divisions were made, which add up to the total of six divisions this year: seniors, juniors, sophomore, freshman, girls and sport teams. “It’s exciting to see girls step up because they just want to enjoy their time and put aside their competitive nature,” said Thomsen. The different approach that they took turned into a creative idea to include everyone. Although the contest was scheduled to hold at least five shootouts last week, there have been, so far, only two due to the absence Thomsen. Therefore, the finals are expected to start around May 23. “It won’t pass the month of May,” she said. The game, which appears to be complicated, is actually very simple. There are five designated spots on the 3-point line. From each spot, the participant has three shots; there the competitors have 15 balls to shoot. However, the players have only a minute to shoot all of them. Each ball is worth a point except for the third shot in each spot, which is worth two points. From each round, the top half of the participants who shoot the most remain in the division while the other half are dropped from the tournament. The competition repeats until there are top seven players remaining. But all aside, having fun was the key to the contest. “As long as I have fun, then it’s worth trying for,” said sophomore Artin Laleian. “Winning isn’t everything.”