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June 11, 2008
Women’s Lightweight Previews for 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Judo, June 13-14
(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – The women’s lightweight divisions at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Judo are packed with veterans of World and Olympic Teams as well as players still in junior high competing for the first time on a big stage.
The lightweight competition will begin with the 52kg division which will be contested on Friday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The 48kg and 57kg divisions will be held on Saturday.
Media credential information can be found at www.usajudolasvegas.com.
Women’s 48kg
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Natalie Lafon goes for an armbar against Sayaka Matsumoto in the finals of the 2008 USA Judo Senior National Championships. |
After nine years and seven National titles, top-ranked Sayaka Matsumoto (El Cerrito, Calif. / NYAC / East Bay Judo Institute) will finally get her chance to qualify for her first Olympic Team. In 2000, Matsumoto won the first of six straight National titles, but the team was selected based on athletes’ national rankings rather than a Trials event. By 2004, Matsumoto had won her fifth National Championship, but she fell just short of qualifying the division for the United States and did not get to compete in Athens.
Now Matsumoto will be fighting for her first trip to the Games, but watch for a potential final between Matsumoto and #2 seed Natalie Lafon (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) – a former 52kg player who moved down in 2007 – defeated Matsumoto in April to win her first National title.
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Matsumoto (blue) placed fifth at the 2008 Pan Ams. |
Matsumoto’s EBJI teammate Ann Shiraishi (San Francisco, Calif.) is #3 in the division and could face Lafon in the semifinals. Shiraishi – a three-time Senior Nationals medalist – and Lafon have never fought, but a win against Lafon would put Shiraishi into the finals of her first Trials.
The most interesting first-round match of the day will come between Angela Creutzberger (Ballston, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) and Katelyn Bouyssou (Hope, R.I. / Mayo Quanchi Judo Club). Both players are top candidates for the Junior World Team with 14-year-old Bouyssou being one of the youngest athletes at the Trials. Creutzberger, who fought for her first major senior international medal at the Rendez-Vous Canada in October, is the #4 seed ahead of #5 Bouyssou who moved up from 44kg earlier this year. Both athletes won bronze medals at the Senior Nationals this year, but Bouyssou won their quarter-final match before being choked by Lafon in the semifinals.
Qualifiers at 48kg
1. Sayaka Matsumoto (El Cerrito, Calif. / NYAC / East Bay Judo Institute)
2. Natalie Lafon (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)
3. Ann Shiraishi (San Francisco, Calif. / East Bay Judo Institute)
4. Angela Creutzberger (Ballston, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)
5. Katelyn Bouyssou (Hope, R.I. / Mayo Quanchi Judo)
6. Diana Yoshida (Dallas, Texas / Dallas Judo)
7. Lisette Abad (San Jose, Calif. / After-School All-Stars)
8. Kayla Hall (Granite City, Ill. / USA Stars)
Women’s 52kg
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Tracy Nagai placed second at the Senior Nationals in April. |
At 27-years-old, top seed Tracy Nagai (Bellevue, Wash. / Budokan Judo) is one of the oldest lightweights in the Trials, but is just hitting her stride and recently made her highest finish at the Senior Nationals where she placed second in April.
Although the United States has not qualified to compete in Beijing at this weight, the division is being contested on a contingency basis and many of the players fighting this weight are juniors who may be players to watch as we approach the 2012 Games.
Among the junior players in the division are sisters Chrissy and Mindy Chow (Honolulu, Hawaii / Hawaii Tenri) who both won bronze medals at the Senior Nationals in April and are 15 and 13-years-old, respectively. One of Mindy’s wins in April was against 2007 U.S. Open medalist Nicki Schultheis (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center). Schultheis will be on the same side of the draw as Chrissy Chow and the two could fight in the semifinals.
Mindy Chow is not the youngest competitor in the Trials, however. That distinction belongs to Samantha Martin (Burleson, Texas / Ruben Martin Judo). Thirteen-year-old Martin won a bronze medal at the Senior Nationals as a 44kg player in 2007, but a growth spurt sent her rapidly through 48kg and into the 52kg division where she is the #8 seed.
Tara Clark (Livermore, Calif. / Northern California Elite Team) may only be 20-years-old, but she won her first senior international medal in 2005 at the Irish Open as a 57kg player. Since then she moved down to 52kg and enters the Trials as a #5 seed.
Qualifiers at 52kg
1. Tracy Nagai (Bellevue, Wash. / Budokan Judo)
2. Nicki Schultheis (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)
3. Chrissy Chow (Honolulu, Hawaii / Hawaii Tenrii)
4. Mindy Chow (Honolulu, Hawaii / Hawaii Tenri)
5. Tara Clark (Livermore, Calif. / Amador Judo)
6. Kim Carpenter (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)
7. Jessica Sternick (San Antonio, Texas / Universal Judo)
8. Samantha Martin (Burleson, Texas / Ruben Martin Judo)
Women’s 57kg
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Valerie Gotay (white) defeated Yadnis Amaris in the Pan Am finals to win her third Pan Am gold medal. |
Thirty-four-year-old Valerie Gotay (Harlingen, Texas / USA Judo National Training Site at Harlingen) retired from competition at 18-years-old after qualifying for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, but will return to a familiar place at the Trials. At this time four years ago, Gotay had been competing again for only a few months when she placed second at the Trials and was named as an alternate to the Olympic Team. That match against two-time Olympian Ellen Wilson was the last time Gotay lost to an American and she has since won three Pan Am titles and been ranked as high as #6 in the world.
Now a mother of two, Gotay’s most difficult match could be a final match against #7 seed Marti Malloy (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University). Gotay and Malloy placed 1-2 at the 2005 U.S. Open and 2006 Senior Nationals, but last year 21-year-old Malloy moved up to 63kg where she
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Marti Malloy (white) won her first Senior National title in 2008 in the 63kg division against Kayla Harrison (blue). |
won the National title and placed ninth at the World Championships, but fell just short of qualifying the division for Beijing. In April, Malloy made the strategic move down to 57kg where she won the Senior Nationals in a division without Gotay. Matches between the two always have been close and expect solid groundwork from both players.
First, Malloy must advance through a difficult first-round match against #2 seed Carrie Chandler (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center). Although she is ranked #2 in the division, Chandler fought as a 52kg player from late 2004 until the World Championships in 2007 which means that she and Malloy haven’t fought since won their last match at the 2004 Senior Nationals when Malloy was 17-years-old.
Qualifiers at 57kg
1. Valerie Gotay (Harlingen, Texas / USA Judo National Training Site at Harlingen)
2. Carrie Chandler (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)
3. Hannah Martin (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)
4. Janine Nakao (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University)
5. Hana Carmichael (Wellington, Fla. / Budokan Judo)
6. Michelle Hagerty (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)
7. Marti Malloy (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University)
8. Jackie Perez (College Station, Texas / Texas A&M Judo)
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