Thursday, March 28, 2024

NAU student is champion behind the arch

NAU student is champion behind the arch
Terri Sharkey of Kayenta, Ariz., made 11-of-15 shots to become the overall winner during the Northern Arizona’s three-point shoot-out. The former MV standout is also enjoys dirt bike racing and shooting guns. (Times photo – Krista Allen)

Terri Sharkey of Kayenta, Ariz., made 11-of-15 shots to become the overall winner during the Northern Arizona’s three-point shoot-out. The former MV standout is also enjoys dirt bike racing and shooting guns. (Times photo – Krista Allen)

FRUITLAND, N.M.

Somewhere off of Highway 160 in Kayenta, Ariz., there is a volleyball net and a set of pipes attached to a basketball goal.

It is a homemade three-point basketball machine that collects made baskets and feeds the ball back to the shooter. It was made by three-point shooting extraordinaire Terri Sharkey’s dad Carneal Sharkey.

An avid shooter behind the arch, Terri Sharkey spent most of her high school years under the blanket of darkness working on her three-point shots. But she did not have anyone to feed her the ball, so her dad came up with the idea.

‘That helped out a lot,” Terri Sharkey said. “In high school after practice, my goal was to shoot a 100 baskets. I made 80 and missed about 20, I wouldn’t stop until I got the 100.”
The countless nights paid off when Sharkey won the Northern Arizona three-point shoot out on March 5.

Sharkey, 21, (she turned 21 today) grew up in Kayenta playing basketball and worked her way up to playing for Monument Valley High School. She graduated in 2012.
She said she always wanted to know what it felt like to play in the Walkup Skydome at NAU.

“It was honestly a dream come true,” she said. “In high school I didn’t get a chance to play in the Skydome; that was my way of living out my dream.”


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About The Author

Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi

Sunnie Clahchischiligi has been the sports writer for the Navajo Times since 2008. She has a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from the University of New Mexico. Before joining the Times, she worked at the St. Cloud Times (Minn.), the Albuquerque Journal, the Santa Fe New Mexican, Sports Illustrated Magazine in New York City and the Salt Lake Tribune. She can be reached at sunnie@navajotimes.com or via cell at (505) 686-0769.

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