Team USA to Compete at Pan American Championships in El Salvador Beginning on Friday

 

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Eighteen members of Team USA departed for the Pan American Championships in San Salvador, El Salvador on Wednesday.

 

Competition at the Pan Ams, a USA Judo Senior B-Level Point Tournament, will be held in the individual divisions on Friday and Saturday with a team event being held on Sunday.  

 

Teams from twenty-five nations from throughout North and South American are expected to compete in the second qualifying tournament for the 2011 Pan American Games.

 

The competition schedule is as follows:

 

Friday, April 9

Men’s 81kg, 90kg, 100kg, +100kg

Women’s 63kg, 70kg, 78kg, +78kg

 

Saturday, April 10

Men’s 55kg, 60kg, 66kg, 73kg, Open

Women’s 44kg, 48kg, 52kg, 57kg, Open

 

The team includes 10 Pan American veterans, including seven former medalists and will be coached by two-time Olympic medalist Jimmy Pedro (Methuen, Mass.)  Chris Skelley (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) is the team manager.

 

Three of Team USA’s 2009 bronze medalists will be returning to the Pan Ams as well.  

 

Competing on his fifth Pan Am Team, Garry St. Leger (Brooklyn, N.Y. / NYAC / Legrosports Starrett) won bronze medals at the 2007 and 2009 Pan Ams in the 90kg division.

 

A silver medalist as a 55kg player in 2005, Aaron Kunihiro (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE) made his Olympic weight debut in 2009 when he won a bronze medal before  going on to place fifth at the Brazil Grand Slam.

 

Michael Eldred (Fruitland, Idaho / Western Idaho Judo Institute) made his mark as a rookie on the 2009 team when he won a bronze in the 73kg divisions, respectively.  Since last year’s event, Eldred also won his first A-Level medal with a bronze at the OJU World Cup in Samoa.   

 

Competing on her first Pan Am Team in the 57kg division after fighting as a 63kg player at the 2008 event, Marti Malloy (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University) has had success at the World Championships level where she placed ninth in 2007 and could catch many international players by surprise in El Salvador.

 

Kayla Harrison (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE) will enter the event as a first-time Pan Am Team member, but the two-time World Cup and two-time Junior World medalist is poised to break through a division that is expected to include 2008 Olympic medalist Yalennis Castillo (CUB).  

 

Athletes who were ranked #1 on the March 1 USA Judo Senior Elite National Roster were named to the 2010 Pan American Championship Team.

 

A complete roster of athletes is as follows:

 

Women’s 44kg

Alexa Liddie (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center), 2007 Senior Pan Am silver medalist

 

Women’s 48kg

Ann Shiraishi (San Francisco, Calif. / East Bay Judo Institute), 2008 U.S. Olympic Team alternate and 2008 U.S. Open Champion

 

Women’s 52kg

Jeanette Rodriguez (Davie, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida), 2007 Pan Am Games medalist and 2007 Senior World Team member

 

Women’s 57kg

Marti Malloy (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University), 2009 Belgian Ladies’ Open Champion and 2007 World Championships ninth-place fiisher

 

Women’s 63kg

Janine Nakao (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE), 2009 Senior World Team member and two-time Senior National Champion

 

Women’s 70kg

Katie Sell (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center), 2009 Senior World Team member and 2009 U.S. Open silver medalist

 

Women’s 78kg

Kayla Harrison (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE), two-time World Cup and two-time Junior World medalist

 

Women’s +78kg

Toni Geiger (Dumont, N.J. / Tech Judo), 2009 Rendez-Vous Canada Champion and Finnish Open medalist

 

Women’s Open

Natalie Laursen (Livermore, Calif. / Amador Judo Team), 2009 Senior Nationals medalist

 

Men’s 55kg

Aaron Fukuhara (Torrance, Calif. / Gardena Judo), 2009 U.S. Open and Senior Nationals medalist

 

Men’s 60kg

Aaron Kunihiro (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE), 2009 Senior World Team member and Pan Am medalist

 

Men’s 66kg

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

 

Men’s 73kg

Michael Eldred (Fruitland, Idaho / Western Idaho Judo Institute), 2009 Senior World Team member and Pan Am medalist

 

Men’s 81kg

Travis Stevens (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE), 2008 Olympian and 2010 Paris Grand Slam medalist

 

Men’s 90kg

Garry St. Leger (Brooklyn, N.Y. / NYAC / Legrosports Starrett), 2008 U.S. Olympic Team alternate and three-time Pan Am medalist

 

Men’s 100kg

Kyle Vashkulat (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center), 2009 Senior Pan Am Team member and two-time Junior World Team member

 

Men’s +100kg

Daniel McCormick (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE), 2009 Senior World Team member and Belo Horizonte World Cup medalist

 

Men’s Open

Iavor Kostadinov (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center), 2009 U.S. Open Champion

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: Kathleen Sell, Aaron Kunihiro, Aaron Fukuhara, Aaron Kunihiro, Alexa Liddie, Ann Shiraishi, Brad Bolen, Chris Skelley, Daniel McCormick, Garry St. Leger, Iavor Kostadinov, Janine Nakao, Janine Nakao, Jeanette Rodriguez, Jimmy Pedro, Kathleen Sell , Katie Sell, Kayla Harrison, Kyle Vashkulat, Marti Malloy, Michael Eldred, Natalie Laursen, Toni Geiger, Travis Stevens