Member News

July 27, 2006

Junior World Trials Women’s Lightweight Preview

The first USA Judo Junior World Trials will be held from 3 – 5 p.m. Saturday July 29 at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 

Winners of the Trials will compete at the Junior World Championships, Oct. 15-19 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. 

Athletes are invited to the Junior World Trials based upon their status on the IJF-Junior (athletes born 1987 or later) rosters.  Athletes are ranked throughout the year and receive points for placings in domestic and international events.  Should any of the top four athletes decline participation, the subsequent ranked at

At the Trials, the #1 and #4 seeds will compete, followed by the #2 and #3 seeds.  The winners of these matches will then fight.  If the #1 seed wins, he or she will be named to the team.  If the #1 seed is not the winner of the Trials, he or she will fight the Trials winner in a sudden-death contest.  The winner of that match will then be named to the team.

The following is a preview of the women’s lightweight competition:

48kg

Jeanette Rodriguez (Margate, Fla./North Miami USA Judo National Training Site) comes into this division as the top seed with five consecutive junior titles in the IJF-Junior division and the 2006 Senior National Championship to her credit.  Sixteen-year-old Rodriguez has been nearly unbeatable in junior competition with #2 Brenna Clark (Hercules, Calif./Okubu/APOA) being the only U.S. junior that has picked up a win against Rodriguez in either the 2005 or 2006 seasons.  In the first round, Rodriguez will face North Miami teammate Daimisy Porras (Hialeah, Fla.).  Porras, the 2006 Senior National Champion at 44kg, made the move to 48kg at the U.S. Judo Association Junior Nationals, finishing second to Rodriguez – a placing that would move her into contention for the Junior World Trials with a fourth seed.  Porras and Rodriguez have fought four times in the last two weeks with Rodriguez taking each match.

Clark will meet Cassandra Bezoski (Amherst, Ohio/Shodokan Judo) in the first round.  Bezoski, a fifth place finisher at the Pan Am Juniors in April, has not competed on the junior circuit this season, but look for this to be a close match.

52kg

Franchesca Durand (Coral Springs, Fla./North Miami USA Judo National Training Site) is the clear #1 in this division.  A bronze medalist at this year’s Senior Nationals and Pan Am Juvenile gold medalist, Durand’s closest competitor will likely be #2 Nicki Schultheis (Gurnee, Ill./Gurnee Judo), a Pan Am Junior silver medalist who defeated Durand at least year’s High School Nationals.  Durand has won every match-up since then, however, and maintains an 11-3 record in the rivalry.

Durand will face #4 Tara Clark (Hercules, Calif./Okubu/APOA) in the first round.  Clark hasn’t competed at 52kg since the Ladder Tournament last Labor Day and just missed the Trials cut at 57kg.  Although she was shut out at last week’s U.S. Judo Federation Junior Nationals, her physical strength is known in the 57kg and may prove to be even more impressive among smaller players in the 52kg division. 

Schultheis and #3 Heidi Metzler (Manheim, Pa.) also will meet in the first round.  One of the older junior players in Serge Bouyssou’s Mayo Quanchi Judo Club, Metzler threw Durand for ippon in one of the most significant upsets at the Senior Nationals and could be a key factor at Trials.

57kg

This should be the deepest (read: most exciting) division on the women’s side.  Hannah Martin (Albany, N.Y.) recently moved to the Jason Morris Judo Center and wasn’t seen for the first part of the junior circuit, but was in excellent form Sunday, winning the USJF Junior Nationals with victories over #2 Angelica Delgado (Miami, Fla./North Miami USA Judo National Training Site) and Hana Carmichael (Wellington Fla./Budokan Judo).  The win moved her from her temporary seat as #2 behind Delgado back into the top slot just in time for the Trials.

Martin will compete in the first round against #4 Pauline Macias (Lancaster, Calif./Antelope Valley Judo) who won a silver medal at this year’s USA Judo Junior Olympics following a loss to Carmichael, but defeated Delgado en route to a bronze medal at High Schools in March. 

The Delgado/Carmichael match should be another entertaining one as the two have fought several times during the last two weeks.  Delgado picked up two wins at the USJA event, by a koka (smallest points) in the first match and ippon (instant win) in the second, but Carmichael threw Delgado for ippon on Sunday.