Chuang Elected President of the National Collegiate Taekwondo Association
6 years
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April 19, 2019 (Austin, TX) At the annual spring meeting of the National Collegiate Taekwondo Association (NCTA), Dan Chuang of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was unanimously elected president of the National Collegiate Taekwondo Association.
Chuang has previously served 8 years as secretary General and 4 years as Vice President before assuming the post. Chuang has also served twice acted as as head coach of the US National Collegiate Taekwondo Team and is currently head coach of the USA Taekwondo National Poomsae Team. Outgoing president Dr. Russell Ahn said, “Coach Chuang has my full support and I’m excited to see what he brings to the organization. It has been my honor to serve as president for the past 8 years.”
Added President Chuang, “I’m eager to first support the National Collegiate Team at the Summer World University Games in Naples, Italy this July. When I get back, I’ll put our first emphasis on growing our organization in a way that benefits both our grassroots athletes as well as our elite ones, in both poomsae and sparring.”
Meeting minutes can be found by clicking here.
Coaching Interest Form for Summer World University Games Open
6 years
All coaches interested in attending and participating in the 2019 Summer World University Games for the USA Team for taekwondo should complete the survey accessed by clicking here by Monday, April 29, 2019.
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
