Posts by Webmaster
USA Team for the 2019 Summer World University Games Selected
The National Collegiate Taekwondo Association completed its team selection by holding a 2019 Summer World University Games team trials for its poomsae athletes at the 2019 NCTA Championships on April 20 at the University of Texas at Austin. One 3-person male female team and 3-person male team only were selected. Each team was asked to compete with one freestyle and one recognized poomsae in the final round.
In the female poomsae division, the winners were Adalis “AJ” Munoz (University of Texas, Arlington), Christy Quintanilla (Johns Hopkins University), and Titania Thao (Gustavus Adolphus College). The male poomsae athletes selected were Kody Han (Foothill College), Edward Jeong (University of Bridgeport), and Sean Wallace (Santa Clara University).
These 6 athletes will join the 12 athletes selected at the sparring team trials held on March 9 at the Ft. Worth Convention Center and journey to Naples, Italy this July to compete at the Games. The female sparring athletes include Lizette Salas (-49kg, California State University, Northridge), Logan Weber (-53kg, Johnson County Community College), Starla Santana (-57kg, Miami Dade Community College), Amanda Bluford (-62kg, De Vry University), Cheyenne Lewis (-67kg, University of California, Berkeley), and Makayla Gorka (-73kg, University of Central Oklahoma).
The male sparring athletes include Alejandro Bravo (-58kg, Miami Dade Community College), George El-Chemali (-63kg, University of Southern California), Charles Buset (-68kg, American Military University), Matthew Klein (-74kg, University of Dayton), Connor Wilson (-80kg, University of California, Los Angeles) and Abdul Rahman (-87kg, College of Southern Maryland).
Said incoming NCTA president Dan Chuang, “Congratulations to these athletes who have earned the right to represent their country on the largest collegiate stage in the world. I look forward to seeing this incredibly talented and hard working group of athletes give their best in July.”
2019 NCTA Championships Held at University of Texas at Austin
6 years
The National Collegiate Taekwondo Association held the 44th National Collegiate Taekwondo Championship and 6th National High School Championship at the University of Texas at Austin on April 20 and 21, 2019. The NCTA president was Dr. Russell Ahn and the tournament host was Joseph Van of the University of Texas at Austin. The Tournament Committee Chair was Tara Sarathi, the Referee Chair was Mike Wickham, and the Medical Chair was Dr. Sherri Lashomb.
Said President Ahn at his final Championships as president, “Thank you very much for the successful National Collegiate and High School Taekwondo Championships at the University of Texas Austin. I am grateful for our dedicated officials, medical staff, referees, coaches and most importantly, athletes. It has been such a wonderful privilege and a great honor to work with such an intelligent and passionate group of people.” President Ahn will be succeeded by Dan Chuang of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as president.
The first day of competition on April 20 featured the black belt collegiate championship poomsae divisions. Winning these poomsae divisions were Christina Castillo (Austin Community College) in the Female Individual category, Kevin Jiang (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the Male Individual Category, Adalis “AJ” Munoz and Michael Pascua in the Mixed Pair Category, Nina Anwar, Renee Zhao and Elizabeth Zou (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the Female Team category, and Alex Kim, Shuka Park and Richard Zhao (University of California, Berkeley) in the Male Team category.
The black belt collegiate sparring divisions were contested on the second day of competition, April 21. The winners in the female division were Jenna Slota (-46 kg, Northeastern University), Sommer Jones (-49kg, College of Southern Nevada), Logan Weber (-53kg, Johnson County Community College), Starla Santana (-57kg, Miami Dade College), Danica Deaton (-62kg, University of Texas at Austin), Cecilia Cozza (-67kg, University of Maryland, College Park), Jordan Stewart (-73kg, George Mason University), and Amanda West (+73kg, University of Michigan).
The men’s winners were Cole Crawford (-54kg, University of Texas at Austin), Isaac Weintraub (-58kg, University of Central Oklahoma), Edgard Castillo (-63kg, University of Dayton), Luis Orozco (-68kg, Eastfield College), Joao Costa (-74kg, Massasoit Community College), Connor Wilson (-80kg, University of California, Los Angeles), Tyler Edmiston (-87kg, Northlake College), and Adrian Villalobos (+87kg, University of Texas at Austin).
Special recognition was given to Starla Santana of Miami Dade College, who was named Freshman of the year, Danica Deaton of University of Texas at Austin, who was named Female Athlete of the Year, and Connor Wilson of the University of California, Los Angeles, who earned Male Athlete of the Year honors. Coach Joseph Van of the University of Texas at Austin was named Coach of the Year.
Team awards were given based on the total number of gold, silver and bronze medals earned. In the Championship Division (black belts), first place went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, second place to the University of California, Berkeley and third place to the University of Texas at Austin.
In the Combined Division (black belts and color belts), first place was earned by the University of Texas at Austin, second place by Brown University, and third place by the United States Military Academy at West Point.
In the Novice Division (color belts), the same standings held with first place earned by the University of Texas at Austin, second place by Brown University, and third place by the United States Military Academy at West Point.
In the High School divisions athletes competed for the title of high school national champion. In poomsae the high school champions were Jacqueline Vasquez (El Camino High) in the individual female division, Jospeh Yoo (New Providence High) in individual male poomsae, and Vazquez and Yoo in mixed pair poomsae. In Male Team Poomsae, Sunny Chen (Temple City High), Dylan Do (W.T. Woodson High), and Yoo earned gold, with Jenna Do (W.T. Woodson High), Aabia Hasan (Shrewsbury High), and Vasquez earning gold in Female Team.
Female high school sparring champions included Karine Leclercq (-46kg, Westwood High), Katie Smith (-49kg, Mercy High), Sophia Venetis (-52kg, Falmouth Academy), Sarah Ziehme (-55kg, Edmond High), Judy Hong (-59kg, Decatur High), Lauren Kheylik (-63kg, Milpitas High), and Zoe Osborn (-68kg, Bear Creak School).
The male high school sparring champions were Bryan Shon (-48kg, Stadium High), Kaishi Fukami (-51kg, Dublin High), Tyler Balestracci (-55kg, Norwell High), Alan Randall (-59kg, Stafford High), Raymond Malphurs (-63kg, Bole’s High), Chan Park (-68kg, Westlake High), Hadi Zreik (-73kg, Farquier High), and Robert Church (-78kg, Cathedral Catholic High).
For medal results and standings, please click here. For poomsae score results, click here.
Press release written by Dan Chuang, NCTA Secretary General.
Message From President Russell Ahn at 44th NCTA Championships
6 years
April 20 & 21, 2019
Dear Coaches, Athletes, and Families of Taekwondo,
Welcome to the 44th National Collegiate Taekwondo Championship!
On behalf of the National Collegiate Taekwondo Association (NCTA), it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the 44th National Collegiate Taekwondo Championship. The National Collegiate Taekwondo Championship has been dedicated to serve and motivate athletes to compete fairly. For the past 44 years, NCTA has been serving as a great pipeline and grassroots development for our national team and Olympic team members. Practicing taekwondo and developing stronger character results in a wonderful learning experience that positively affects not only the taekwondo community but society and our country overall.
As the National Collegiate Association for taekwondo, we will continue to preserve the excellence of taekwondo technical developments, martial arts’ philosophy, traditions, and educational values through various special events and international symposia. As practitioners of collegiate taekwondo, we must remember to embrace educational values of taekwondo training such as character building, mutual prosperity, self-confidence, and respect.
Furthermore, the 44th NCTA Championship is significant because we are presenting the 6th NCTA High School Championship as a pipeline for high performance athletes for NCTA so that in the future, these athletes can become one of many collegiate athletes that will serve as US National and Olympic team members. We hope high school athletes can become acquainted with college coaches and athletes so that they can continue their taekwondo career while they are pursuing academic endeavors in college.
The past 8 years has been such a wonderful learning experience for me to serve as the President of NCTA. I am grateful for our dedicated officials, medical staff, referees, coaches and the most importantly, athletes. I greatly appreciate those who helped not only support Team USA but also traveling together as one of the most prominent collegiate associations in the world.
I am also proud of our collegiate athletes who competed with great dedication for the country and the NCTA. It has been such a wonderful privilege and a great honor to work with the such intelligent and passionate group of people. Even though I am stepping down as the President of the organization, I will continue to support and cheer for our National Collegiate Taekwondo Association and the athletes.
I must take this opportunity to thank the dedicated NCTA officials, our tournament committee, the dedicated University of Texas-Austin’s Organizing Committee for preparing and running our 44th National Collegiate Championship as well as our sponsors, referees, medical staff, and volunteers for elevating the tournament’s reputation of continued excellence.
Best wishes to all athletes, coaches, and families!
Russell Ahn, Ph.D.
President, U.S. National Collegiate Taekwondo Association
Important NCTA Championships Updates
6 years
Please see below for some important updates to the NCTA Championships.
- Please note that due to space availability, the General Assembly has meeting time has been changed to 6-8pm at the University of Texas, Austin Recreational Sports Center on Friday, April 19, 2019.
- The deadline to verify student status via the National Student Clearinghouse is April 8, 2019. It was incorrectly noted in one place in the packet and has now been updated. Instructions on how to verify your student status are in the tournament packet.
- Gen 2 socks will now be permitted for use at the NCTA Championships.
After careful consideration and consultation, the NCTA has decided to allow Daedo Gen 2 socks to be used at the 2019 NCTA Championships. Although the Gen 2 socks are not designed for use with Gen 1 electronic body protectors (EBP), we received feedback that athletes do not want to invest in older technology as it is cost prohibitive. Athletes may still use Gen 1 socks with or without heel socks; please note that those using Gen 1 socks will be at a disadvantage against an athlete using Gen 2 socks, since Gen 2 socks have more magnet sensors and therefore will score more easily.
While we recognize that those who have invested in Gen 1 socks may now feel the need to upgrade, the NCTA feels that it is in the best interest of the athletes to allow them to invest in Gen 2 as it is future-oriented. Athletes may order new Gen 2 socks at https://www.tkdscore.com/
Please continue to use our Championships website as a resource and a place to find the latest tournament packet:
2019 NCTA Collegiate and High School Championships Packet Posted
6 years
The NCTA Championships Tournament packet has been posted to the NCTA Championships website, including schedule information, hotel information, and tournament rules.
Please note that tournament hotel information has been posted at the site above and is in the packet, and that the host hotel rates expire on March 27.
Also, all collegiate ant high school championship divisions serve as qualifiers for the 2019 USA Taekwondo National Championships. All competitors (high school and collegiate) will qualify to compete at the 2019 USA Taekwondo National Championships in their corresponding poomsae and/or sparring divisions. Please note that the High School Sparring Divisions will not earn ranking points due to the age spread (15-19), however, collegiate championship black belt poomsae and sparring divisions are USAT 10.0 events.
Collegiate black belt poomsae team trial divisions will serve as Team Trials for the 2019 U.S. National Collegiate Team and are not a ranking point event. Due to the FISU limitation of 6 total poomsae athletes per country, trials will be held only for the male team and female team divisions, with the individual and pair athletes being chosen from among the 6 selected athletes.
