NCTA Admin

Menlo College in the San Francisco Bay Area has announced that it is adding men’s and women’s taekwondo as a varsity sport. Menlo College is an accredited private college specializing in business and located in Atherton, California. 53% of its students are athletes.

Said Keith Spataro, Vice President for Athletics at Menlo College, “We will offer athletic scholarships and have a full-time coach. Being a part of our taekwondo program not only provides the opportunity to pursue a degree (Majors) but also offers a chance to develop leadership skills, discipline, and a strong sense of community.  We are actively looking for seniors in high school who wish to pursue a degree and be a scholarship athlete.  If you have students in your program who want to pursue this, please have them visit our website Menlo Athletics and complete the form on this link Apply NOW.  We are thrilled to be uniquely positioning ourselves by offering this fantastic sport.”

Press release here.

For more information, please contact Tim Ghormley, Assistant Director of Athletics for Non-NCAA Sports at Menlo College at tim.ghormley@menlo.edu.

The NCTA USA National Collegiate Taekwondo Team competed at the 2024 FISU America Games from November 8 to November 10th in Cali, Colombia. Nineteen NCTA athletes represented the Uni-USA Team with a 2nd place overall finish among all countries in competition. The team earned 20 medals, including 5 Gold, 6 Silver, and 9 Bronze medals.

Congratulations to all athletes, coaches, and staff for a stellar week of competition! Thank you, also, to the families and friends who traveled with the team and provided on-the-ground support.

Full list of athletes’ results are below:

Poomsae Athletes

Female Individual Kaitlyn Reclusado (Skyline College) – BRONZE
Male Individual Gavin Zhao (Cornell University) – BRONZE
Mixed Pair Kaitlyn Reclusado (Skyline College), Gavin Zhao (Cornell University) – GOLD
Male Team Ryan Real (University of Pennsylvania), Gavin Zhao (Cornell University), Brandon Cho (UCLA) – GOLD
More pictures here

Female Sparring Athletes

-46kg Auryon Duque (Los Angeles Pierce College) – SILVER
-49kg Amber Avroya (Broward College) – SILVER
-53kg Kayla Shanahan (Queens College) – SILVER
-57kg Bella Morrissey (Grand Canyon University) – BRONZE
-62kg Jessica Gniedziejko (Bard College) – GOLD
-67kg Anna McGrade (Cornell University)- BRONZE
+73kg Naqiya Caderbhoy (Moorpark College) – SILVER

Female Team Sparring

Anna McGrade (Cornell University), Jessica Gniedziejko (Bard College), Kayla Shanahan (Queens College), Amber Avroya (Broward College) – BRONZE
More pictures here

Male Sparring Athletes

-54kg Zardo Villanueva (Mount San Jacinto College) – BRONZE
-58kg Alejandro Rayas (University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley) – BRONZE
-63kg Ian Hong (Rutgers University) – BRONZE
-68kg Jason Lee (University of Michigan) – SILVER
-74kg Fergus Curran (Edmonds College) – BRONZE
-80kg Aidan Chan (University of Virginia) – GOLD
-87kg William Smith III (UCLA) – GOLD
+87kg Luis Espinosa (Broward College) – SILVER

Male Team Sparring 

William Smith III (UCLA), Aidan Chan (University of Virginia), Zardo Villanueva (Mount San Jacinto College), Alejandro Rayas (University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley) – QUARTERFINALS
More pictures here

Management Team & Coaches

Daniel Chuang, NCTA President
Sung Kim, Team Director/Head of Team
Sherri Lashomb, Team Doctor
David Lee, Head Sparring Coach
Russell Beneby, Sparring Coach
Cheyenne Lewis, Sparring Coach
Fabricio Rodriguez, Sparring Coach
Catherine Tong, Poomsae Coach/Team Manager