Member News
October 9, 2006
Team USA Leaves for Junior Worlds
Team USA departs Tuesday for the Junior World Championships, to be held this weekend, Oct. 12-15 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
With 13 Junior World Championships rookies on Team USA’s squad, the Americans may appear to be underdogs in Santo Domingo, but a closer look shows that this year’s team may be one of the United States’ most successful yet.
Ronda Rousey (Santa Monica, Calif. / NYAC / 63kg) is back for her second Junior World Championships. After becoming the second American ever to win Junior World gold in 2004, Rousey is a favorite to defend her title.
Two years ago, Rousey was 17-years-old and had just come off the Athens Olympic Games where she was the youngest athlete in the entire event. Considered to be one of the hottest athletes to watch going into Beijing, Rousey has lived up to every bit of the hype rising to #4 on the Senior World Rankings list after winning the Birmingham World Cup in April.
The field at 63kg will be a difficult one though and Rousey will have her fair share of challengers including 18-year-old Alice Schlesinger (ISR) who defeated Rousey in the second round of the 2005 Senior World Championships.
Schlesinger and Rousey fought earlier this year, though, with Rousey taking the win and the title at the Belgian Ladies Open in February. Marta Labazina (RUS) also is a contender in this division who made people take notice in August when she defeated Schlesinger to win the European Junior title.
Jeanette Rodriguez (Margate, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site) is one of the youngest athletes on the team, but the 2006 Pan Am Junior Champion has shown rapid improvement this year, upsetting 2000 Junior World silver medalist Sayaka Matsumoto at this year’s Senior Nationals and placing second two weeks ago at the Rendez-Vous Canada.
Kayla Harrison (Middletown, Ohio / Renshuden) qualified for her first Junior World Team in 2005 in the 52kg division, but injured her hand in practice and had to withdraw from the team.
This time around, Harrison has passed through three divisions to compete at 70kg. After winning the Pan Am Juvenile Championships at 63kg in April, the then-15-year-old Harrison moved up to 70kg the following week to win Senior Nationals.
Although small for the division, Harrison possesses tremendous strength and after finishing ninth in her first international outing at 70kg at the Moscow Super World Cup, could pose a good threat in Santo Domingo.
On the men’s side, Nick Delpopolo (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center / 73kg) is one of the top prospects for a medal having returned to judo just over a year ago after taking time off to focus on wrestling. Since then, Delpopolo has handed losses to many of the top players in the U.S., including Senior Nationals medalists Radu Brestyan and Bobby Lee, who he defeated twice at the Junior World Trials, as well as 81kg Athens Olympian Rick Hawn.
Delpopolo has yet to compete much internationally, but his bronze medal win at the New York Open over six-time World Cup medalist Yoel Razvozov (ISR) shows that he clearly has the ability to compete well in an international field.
Delpopolo’s teammate Jeremy Liggett (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center) is another top candidate for the medal rounds. The 17-year-old 60kg player defeated the 2005 Senior Pan Am Champion en route to winning a silver medal at this year’s Pan Ams in Buenos Aires and is known for performing well against tough competitors.
Other athletes to watch include: 2006 Junior Belgian Ladies Open medalist Franchesca Durand (Coral Springs, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site / 52kg) and Jacob Larsen (Santa Rosa, Calif. / Redwood Judo) who will be competing in his first international event, but has shown a new spark and has yet to lose in either junior or senior domestic competition this year.
Be sure to visit www.usjudo.org throughout this week for photo galleries from Santo Domingo, the latest athlete results, features, interviews and more!
The athlete competition schedule is as follows:
October 12: Women’s 48kg, 52kg and Men’s +100kg
October 13: Women’s 57kg, 63kg and Men’s 90kg, 100kg
October 14: Women’s 70kg, 78kg and Men’s 73kg, 81kg
October 15: Women’s +78kg and Men’s 60kg, 66kg
Complete athlete roster is as follows:
Men
60kg: Jeremy Liggett (Glenville, N.Y./NYAC/Jason Morris Judo Center)
66kg: AJ Silverman (Glenville, N.Y./Jason Morris Judo Center)
73kg: Nick Delpopolo (Glenville, N.Y./Jason Morris Judo Center)
81kg: Yuko Sin (Glenville, N.Y./Jason Morris Judo Center)
90kg: Jacob Larsen (Santa Rosa, Calif./Redwood Coast Judo Club)
100kg: Zane Malloy (Oak Harbor, Wash./NAS Whidbey Island Judo)
+100kg: Aaron Shiosaki (Lomita, Calif./Gardena Judo)
Women
48kg: Jeanette Rodriguez (Margate, Fla./North Miami USA Judo National Training Site)
52kg: Franchesca Durand (Coral Springs, Fla./North Miami USA Judo National Training Site)
57kg: Hannah Martin (Burnt Hills, N.Y./Jason Morris Judo Center)
63kg: Ronda Rousey (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Cohen’s Judo)
70kg: Kayla Harrison (Middletown, Ohio/Renshuden)
78kg: Marina Shafir (Latham, N.Y./Jason Morris Judo Center)
+78kg: Brittni Bradford (Land O’Lakes, Fla./St. Pete Judo)
The team will be led by the following staff:
Coach: Jhonny Prado (Coral Springs, Fla.)
Coach: German Velazco (Coral Springs, Fla.)
Manager: Humberto Lopez (Miami, Fla.)
Manager: Antonio Rodriguez (Pembroke Pines, Fla.)
Team Doctor: Brad Lee (Reno, Nev.)
Director of Athlete Performance: Ed Liddie (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Chairman of Junior Development: Jim Hrbek (San Antonio, Texas)
2008 Olympic Head Coach Nominee: Jason Morris (Glenville, N.Y.)
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