Two local NFL fans who participated in the regional Punt, Pass & Kick (PPK) competition at Renton's Virginia Mason Athletic Center finished at the top of this year's PPK national championship, an event put on by USA Football and hosted by the Indianapolis Colts.
Casey Canonica out of Tacoma (boys age 12-13) and Calla Haldorson out of Western Montana (girls age 14-15) each launched two punts, two passes, and two kicks with scores based on distance and accuracy (in feet), and their best score from each activity was tabulated to determine each athlete's result. Canonica's total of 369.0 feet ranked second and Haldorson's 324.2 feet ranked first in their respective age divisions.
A program of the NFL's Play60 movement, PPK is one of the nation's biggest grassroots sports competitions, with Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Dan Mario even taking part when they were young. To learn about how you or someone you know can get involved, head to nflppk.com, and for a full list of 2015 PPK national championship winners, click here.
On Saturday, the Seahawks hosted NFL Punt, Pass and Kick competition finalists from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington at VMAC who competed in the Regional Championship Round for a chance to advance to the National Punt, Pass and Kick Championships.
