Pan American Junior, Masters and Visually Impaired Championships Come to WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT® This Weekend

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – In a first for judo in the Pan American region, three Pan American Championship events will be held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT® on Saturday and Sunday. 

The Pan American Junior Championships will take place on both days with the U17 division being contested on Saturday and the U20 division fighting on Sunday.

An open tournament, the Pan American Masters Championships will be held on both days as well.  All women’s divisions as well as men ages 60 and older will be contested on Saturday.  Men’s divisions for athletes ages 30-59 will be held on Sunday. 

On Saturday, divisions for visually impaired competitors will be contested.  In addition to teams from throughout the Pan American region, Sweden also has been invited to compete in this elite event. 

A complete roster of U.S. Pan American Junior Team members is as follows:

U20
Women’s 44kg
Taylor Ibera (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)

Women’s 48kg
Shea Favorite (Clermont, Fla. / Central Florida Judo & Jujitsu)

Women’s 57kg
Crystal Butts (Fontana, Calif. / LACC)

Women’s 63kg
Lydia Au (Chicago, Ill. / Menomonee Judo)

Women’s 70kg
Laquinta Allen (Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. / Onikusu Judo)

Women’s 78kg
Katinna Rodriguez (Anchorage, Alaska / All-Star Judo)

Women’s +78kg
Amber Butts (Fontana, Calif. / LACC)

Men’s 55kg
Nathan Kearney (Keller, Texas / Okuri Judo)

Men’s 60kg
Josh Prado (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida)

Men’s 66kg
Kyle Taketa (Torrance, Calif. / Gardena Judo)

Men’s 73kg
Andrew Porras (Hialeah, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida)

Men’s 81kg
Max Golembo (Vernon Hills, Ill. / Cohen’s Judo)

Men’s 90kg
Colton Brown (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University)

Men’s 100kg
Colin Robinson (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)

Men’s +100kg
Jimmy Barnes (Oklahoma City, Okla. / USA Stars)

U17
Women’s 44kg
Vanessa Calimquim (Torrance, Calif. / Gardena Judo)

Women’s 52kg
Anne Suzuki (San Jose, Calif. / San Jose Buddhist Judo Club)

Women’s 57kg
Lauren Baez (Coral Gables, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida)

Women’s 63kg
Mindy Chow (Honolulu, Hawaii / Hawaii Tenri)

Women’s 70kg
Teannie Hernandez (Pembrokes Pines, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida)

Women’s +70kg
Kiaya Van Scoyoc (Lakewood, Wash. / Ippon Dojo)

Men’s 50kg
Anthony Igne (North Hollywood, Calif. / Mojica Judo Club)

Men’s 55kg
David Honda (Torrance, Calif. / South Bay Judo)

Men’s 60kg
George Truong (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Ju Shin Kan)

Men’s 66kg
Michael Assels (Garland, Texas / Ruben Martin Judo Training Center)

Men’s 73kg
Andrew Varga (Chicago, Ill. / Menomonee Judo)

Men’s 81kg
Matthew Koch (West Paterson, N.J. / Camal Judo)

Men’s 90kg
LA Smith (Rahway, N.J. / Cranford Judo)

Men’s +90kg
Akbar Iminov (Fresh Meadows, N.Y. / Spartak Sports Club)

The Pan American Junior Championship Team is being coached by Brett Wolf (Chicago, Ill.), Gerry Navarro (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Jhonny Prado (Coral Springs, Fla.)  Devin Cohen (Brooklyn, N.Y.) is the team manager.

The Pan American Visually Impaired Team includes eight members of the 2010 Blind World Championship Team.  Led by World medalists Katie Davis (Sacramento, Calif. / Team Sacramento) and Myles Porter (Colorado Springs, Colo. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center), Team USA includes the following players: 

Women’s 52kg
Cindy Simon (Wayne, N.J. / Kokushikai)

Women’s 70kg
Christella Garcia (Sacramento, Calif. / Sacramento Judo Club)

Women’s +70kg
Katie Davis (Sacramento, Calif. / Team Sacramento)

Men’s 60kg
Ron Hawthorne (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)

Men’s 66kg
Josh Farra (Coatesville, Pa. / Liberty Bell Judo)

Adnan Gutic (St. Louis, Mo. / White Dragon Judo Club)

Men’s 81kg
Steve Patten (Englewood, Colo. / Denver Judo)

Men’s 100kg
Myles Porter (Colorado Springs, Colo. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)

 
The team is being coached by 2000 Paralympic medalist Scott Moore (Englewood, Colo.)  The team managers are Marc Vink (Riverton, N.J.) and Heidi Moore (Englewood, Colo.)

 

 

Tags: Amber Butts , Andrew Porras, Colton Brown, Crystal Butts, Jimmy Barnes, Joshua Prado, Katinna Rodriguez, Kyle Taketa, Laquinta Allen, Lydia Au, Max Golembo, Nathan Kearney, Taylor Ibera, Vanessa Calimquim