Team USA to Compete at Pan American Grand Prix This Weekend

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) - The qualifying process for the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico begins this weekend at the Pan American Grand Prix in Panama City, Panama.

The first of a series of seven qualifying events, the Grand Prix, a USA Judo Senior D-Level Point Tournament, will include all Olympic weight divisions as well as the non-Olympic women's 44kg and men's 55kg divisions.

Competition schedule is as follows:

Friday, February 26
Men's 81kg, 90kg, 100kg and +100kg
Women's 63kg, 70kg, 78kg and +78kg

Saturday, February 27
Men's 55kg, 60kg, 66kg and 73kg
Women's 44kg, 48kg, 52kg and 57kg

Team USA includes former World Team members Jeanette Rodriguez (Davie, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami / 52kg), a 2007 Pan Am Games medalist and Katie Sell (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center / 70kg), the 2009 Senior National Champion.

Rodriguez and Sell, both Pan American Championship veterans, are joined by former Pan Am Team members Veronica Prado (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami / 44kg), Christal Ransom (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center / 63kg) and Anthony Turner (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami / +100kg).

The complete team roster is as follows:

Women's 44kg
Veronica Prado (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami), 2006 Senior Pan Am Team member and 2009 Junior World Team member 

Women's 48kg
Ann Shiraishi (San Francisco, Calif. / East Bay Judo Institute), 2008 U.S. Olympic Team alternate and 2009 U.S. Open silver medalist

Women's 52kg
Jeanette Rodriguez (Davie, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami), 2007 Senior World Team member and two-time Junior World Team member

Women's 57kg
Hana Carmichael (Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE), 2008 Junior World Team member and 2008 U.S. Open silver medalist

Women's 63kg
Christal Ransom (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center), 2009 Senior Pan Am Team member and 2009 Senior Nationals silver medalist

Women's 70kg
Katie Sell (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center), 2009 Senior Pan Am Team member and 2009 Senior National Champion

Women's 78kg
Allison Clifford (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University), 2009 Senior Nationals silver medalist

Women's +78kg
Toni Geiger (Dumont, N.J. / Tech Judo), 2009 Rendez-Vous Canada Champion and 2009 Finnish Open bronze medalist

Men's 66kg
Brad Bolen (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center), 2008 Rendez-Vous Canada bronze medalist and 2009 Senior Nationals bronze medalist

Men's 73kg
Nick Delpopolo (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE), two-time Junior World Team member and two-time Senior Nationals silver medalist

Men's 81kg
Jose Bencosme (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University), 2009 U.S. Open Champion

Men's 90kg
Jake Larsen (Santa Rosa, Calif. / Team FORCE / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center), 2006 Junior World Team member and 2008 U.S. Open silver medalist

Men's 100kg
Shintaro Higashi (Scarsdale, N.Y. / NYAC / Kokushi Budo Institute), 2007 Senior National Champion and 2009 Belo Horizonte World Cup fifth-place finisher

Men's +100kg
Anthony Turner (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami), 2008 U.S. Olympic Team alternate and 2008 Pan Am fifth-place finisher

The team is being coached by Bert Mackey (Edmonds, Wash.) and Evelio Garcia (Miami, Fla.)  Leland Roth (Grayslake, Ill.) is the team manager. 

Tags: Kathleen Sell, Allison Clifford, Ann Shiraishi, Anthony Turner, Brad Bolen, Christal Ransom, Hana Carmichael, Jacob Larsen, Jeanette Rodriguez, Kathleen Sell , Katie Sell, Nick Delpopolo, Shintaro Higashi, Toni Geiger, Veronica Prado