| Member News
April 13, 2007
Rodriguez Wins Gold at Pan Am Junior Championships
Jeanette Rodriguez (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) put forth the best performance of the day for Team USA on Friday, winning a gold medal in the 17-19-year-old 48kg junior division at the Pan American Junior Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
In addition to taking home her second consecutive gold medal at the Pan Am Junior and Juvenile Championships, Rodriguez was named the Most Outstanding Juvenile Female of 2006 for her achievements that included winning the Pan Am Juvenile Championships in the 15-16-year-old division and placing fifth at the Junior World Championships.
While Rodriguez was the only U.S. gold medalist of the day, five of her U.S. teammates also fought in the day’s final rounds. Like Rodriguez, each of the five competed against Brazilian opponents in the final. The following athletes won silver medals:
- Bobby Lee (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami / 73kg)
- Wesley Thomas (San Mateo, Calif. / Palo Alto Judo / 81kg)
- Jacob Larsen (Harlingen, Texas / USA Judo National Training Site at Harlingen / 90kg)
- Mike Kannianen (Northglenn, Colo. / Northglenn Judo / 100kg)
- Daniel Yuabov (Flushing, N.Y. / Spartak Sports Club / +100kg
Katie Sell (Harlingen, Texas / USA Judo National Training Site at Harlingen / 70kg) also won a silver medal in a round-robin division.
Four athletes claimed bronze medals, including:
- Veronica Prado (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami / 44kg)
- Tara Clark (Hercules, Calif. / Amador Judo / 52kg)
- Angelica Delgado (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami / 57kg)
- Stephanie Schrenk (Kent, Wash. / Zeny Judo / +78kg)
Natalie Laursen (Livermore, Calif. / Amador Judo / 63kg) fought for bronze, but lost her match, finishing fifth.
Arnold Toriumi (Honolulu, Hawaii / Hawaii Tenri / 55kg), Jean-Pierre Durand (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami / 60kg) and Ross Nakamura (Mission Hills, Calif. / Valley Judo / 66kg) each finished seventh earlier in the day.
Miguel Ballesteros (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami), a gold medalist in the 60kg juvenile division on Thursday, was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Juvenile Male during the awards ceremony on Friday.
The United States also collected three team trophies, earning third place honors in both the junior and juvenile girls’ divisions and taking second place in the boys’ juvenile division.
Overall, Team USA won 23 medals during the two-day event, including three golds.
Saturday will be the final day of the tournament, concluding with a team tournament.
Five athletes will represent the boys’ team, including Durand, Nakamura, Thomas, Larson and Kannianen.
The boys will compete against eight teams: Chile, Argentina, Peru, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Brazil and the Bahamas.
The girls’ team will include Rodriguez, Clark, Delgado who will be fighting at 63kg, Laursen who will be fighting at 70kg and Katie Sell who will be fighting at 78kg.
The girls will compete against teams from Argentina, Dominican Republic, Venezeula and Brazil. |
