Member News

November 15, 2007

USA Judo Disperses $39,900 in College Scholarships in 2007

USA Judo is pleased to announce that 16 student-athletes were awarded with Life Member Scholarships totaling $39,900 in 2007.

Athletes received between $1,000 and $4,000 in scholarships for the winter and fall semesters.

Among the recipients were four members of the Pan American Games Team who are currently enrolled as undergraduate or graduate students at universities throughout the country.

Marti Malloy

Marti Malloy (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University) is a junior advertising major at San Jose State University where she attends school full-time as well as training with the SJSU Judo Team.  Among Malloy’s SJSU teammates are Andrew Hung (81kg) and Tomoyo Yoshinaga (70kg), both of whom also are Senior Nationals medalists and Life Membership Scholarship recipients.  Malloy, a fifth-place finisher at the Pan Am Games, went on to place ninth at the Worlds in September and has ascended to the #1 ranking in the United States in the 63kg division after moving up from 57kg earlier this year.

Taraje Williams-Murray

Taraje Williams-Murray (Bronx, N.Y. / NYAC / Spartak Sports Club / 60kg) graduated from Long Island University with a Bachelor’s degree in computer science and is now pursuing a Master’s degree in banking and financial services from Boston University – Metropolitan College.  A four-time National Champion, Williams-Murray placed seventh at the Pan American Games and won the Tre-Torri International in June.

Grace Ohashi

Grace Ohashi (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center / 52kg) moved from Japan to the United States just over a year ago to train at the OTC and begin college.  A social work major at Pike’s Peak Community College, Ohashi placed second at her first Senior Nationals earlier before ultimately competing on her first U.S. Team at the Pan American Games.

Travis Stevens

Pan American Games Champion Travis Stevens (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) is pursuing a degree from Schnectady Community College.  One of the fastest rising male players in the United States, Stevens also won the Rendez-Vous Canada and Finnish Open this fall.

“This year’s Life Member Scholarship recipients have all demonstrated high levels of success in both the classroom and on the mat,” said Eddie Liddie (Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Judo Director of Athlete Performance.  “We were all very excited to have the chance to give these hard-working athletes a record-breaking amount of support this year as they pursue their academic goals.”

A complete list of scholarship recipients is as follows: 

• Colin Burns (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center), 2006 Rendez-Vous Canada fifth-place finisher in the 100kg division
• Tara Clark (Hercules, Calif. / Amador Judo), 2007 Junior U.S. Open Champion in the 48kg division
• Christopher Cody (Plano, Texas / Becerra Judo & Jujitsu Club), 2007 High School Nationals Bronze medalist in the 73kg division
• Michael Eldred (Fruitland, Idaho / Western Idaho Judo Institute), 2007 Finnish and British Open silver medalist in the 73kg division
• Paola Genao-Butler (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center), #3-ranked junior in the 63kg division
• Andrew Hung (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University), 2007 Senior Nationals medalist in the 81kg division
• Marti Malloy (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University), 2007 World Championships ninth-place finisher in the 63kg division
• Josh O’Neil (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center), 2007 German Open fifth-place finisher in the 60kg division
• Grace Ohashi (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center), 2007 Senior Nationals silver medalist in the 52kg division
• Anna Palmer (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center), 2007 U.S. Open silver medalist in the 52kg division
• Tony Sangimino (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center), 2006 Pan Am Juvenile Championships silver medalist in the +90kg division
• Nicki Schultheis (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center), 2007 U.S. Open silver medalist in the 52kg division
• Katie Sell (Harlingen, Texas / USA Judo National Training Site at Harlingen), 2007 U.S. Open bronze medalist in the 70kg division
• Travis Stevens (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center), 2007 Pan American Games Champion in the 81kg division
• Taraje Williams-Murray (Bronx, N.Y. / NYAC / Spartak Sports Club), four-time National Champion in the 60kg division
• Tomoyo Yoshinaga (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University), 2007 Senior Nationals medalist in the 70kg division

For more information about the Life Member Scholarship program, visit http://www.usjudo.org/lifemembershipscholarship.asp.