La Jolla, CA, March 7, 2026 – The PacWest Taekwondo Conference hosted a regional tournament at University of California, San Diego on Saturday, March 7, 2026, continuing the region’s adoption of the 3v3 team poomsae and team sparring format ahead of the upcoming NCTA Cup at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this April.

The tournament brought together 25 athletes from two schools for the 3v3 portion of the tournament, with teams from UC San Diego and UC Riverside competing in both poomsae and sparring divisions.

Liam Blanchard, PacWest Board Member, noted:

“The 3v3 event opened up a world of collegiate taekwondo that our athletes hadn’t seen before. In both poomsae and kyorugi, athletes were ecstatic to compete in and learn more about this format that has expanded the size of tournaments all over the nation. PacWest South might’ve been the first time they had tried it, but immediately afterwards, athletes were already talking about the next tournament where they could compete as a team.” 

In A-Team Poomsae, UC San Diego PA1—Kate Feng, Sharon Lee, and Alyx Wikarsa—captured the gold medal with a strong synchronized performance. UCSD PA3, consisting of Kathleen Adhinatha and Sneha Aravind, earned silver, while UCSD PA2—Anderson Lai and Achintya Rai—took bronze. In B-Team Poomsae, UC Riverside PB1—Olivia Sin, Samantha Fu, and Amy Hoang—secured the gold medal.

Nick Bayhi, member of the NCTA Tournament Committee, highlighted the energy of the competition and the PacWest region’s unique spin on the format:

“Big thanks to UC Riverside and hosts UCSD for filling out our 3v3 brackets. The Poomsae A-teams put on a clinic of 1-, 2-, and 3-person poomsae, performing Sipjin simultaneously with their opponents—a fun twist that PacWest has added to the 3v3 format.”

Team sparring divisions also produced exciting matches. UC Riverside claimed gold in Men’s A Team Sparring with UCR MA1—Aaron Choi, Edward Park, and Aric Vootkur—while UCR MA2 earned silver and UCSD MA1—Sebastian Mallari, Liam McCarthy, and Pranav Puttagunta—took bronze. In Men’s C Team Sparring, UCR MC1—Christopher Amay, Jude Jones, and Adrian Deapera—won gold, followed by UCR MC2—Lawrence Tran and Jake Fong—with silver. UCR WA1—Chaeie Kim and Ashley Chan—captured gold in Women’s A Team Sparring.

In the overall team standings, UC Riverside emerged as the tournament champion with 16 points, followed by UC San Diego with 7 points.

The tournament further demonstrated the growing excitement around the 3v3 team format within the PacWest region. With athletes gaining valuable experience in this team-based competition structure, both schools are now preparing to represent the West Coast at the NCTA Cup during the 2026 National Collegiate Taekwondo Championships, taking place April 24–26 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Results

A-Team Poomsae

 🥇 UCSD PA1 – Kate Feng, Sharon Lee, Alyx Wikarsa
🥈 UCSD PA3 – Kathleen Adhinatha, Sneha Aravind
🥉 UCSD PA2 – Anderson Lai, Achintya Rai

B-Team Poomsae

 🥇 UCR PB1 – Olivia Sin, Samantha Fu, Amy Hoang

Team Sparring

Men’s A Division
 🥇 UCR MA1 – Aaron Choi, Edward Park, Aric Vootkur
🥈 UCR MA2 – Issei Lim, Edison Park
🥉 UCSD MA1 – Sebastian Mallari, Liam McCarthy, Pranav Puttagunta

Men’s C Division
 🥇 UCR MC1 – Christopher Amay, Jude Jones, Adrian Deapera
🥈 UCR MC2 – Lawrence Tran, Jake Fong

Women’s A Division
 🥇 UCR WA1 – Chaeie Kim, Ashley Chan

Overall Team Standings

 🥇 UC Riverside – 16 points
🥈 UC San Diego – 7 points