U-24 Trials & Dallas National Qualifier This Weekend

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo – USA Taekwondo, the National Governing Body for the sport of Taekwondo in the United States, will hold an Under-24 National Team Trials (May 7) and a National Qualifier event (May 8-9) at the Dallas Convention Center.

 

The U-24 Team Trials are a round-robin event among the best American fighters under the age of 24 and will determine the 16-member 2010 U-24 National Team. Ten members of the 2009 U-24 National Team will be in action to defend their spots on the team. They include men’s heavyweight Stephen Lambdin from nearby Colleyville, Texas, who is fresh off his gold-medal performance at the Spanish Open on April 24. Other 2009 team members looking to repeat are men’s welterweightLuke Ford (Miami, Fla.), men’s lightweight Trevor Neville (Edmond, Okla.), women’s bantamweightKelly Chu (Plano, Texas), women’s finweight Kelsey Kitagawa (San Mateo, Calif.), women’s lightweight Jennifer Daye (Edmond, Okla.), men’s finweight Jarred McKee (Aiea, Hawaii), women’s middleweight Ally Creel (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), women’s heavyweightAmanda Nissen (Carrollton, Texas) and women’s featherweight Aziza Chambers (Springfield, Ohio).

 

Also in the mix are four members of the 2009 U.S. Junior National Team: women’s flyweight Shelby Olson (Palm Harbor, Fla.), men’s bantamweight Christian Medina (Chicago, Ill.), men’s featherweight Jaysen Ishida (Waikele, Hawaii) and men’s middleweight Tyler Phippen (Maple Valley, Wash.). A total of 66 athletes will vie for the 16 spots on the 2010 U-24 National Team on Friday.

 

The National Qualifier is the fourth of five qualifying events hosted by USA Taekwondo for 2010. Over 470 athletes ranging in age from 6-65 will compete in both forms (poomsae) and sparring disciplines.  The competition will begin at 9:00 a.m. on both days. Tickets may be purchased at the door. Adult (10-59) tickets are $10 for a single-day pass or $15 for a two-day pass. Children (6-9) and seniors (60+) are $7 for a single-day pass and $10 for a two-day pass. Kids 5 & under are admitted free of charge.

 

The National Qualifiers are qualification events for those athletes interested in competing in the World Class division at the 2010 USA Junior Olympic Taekwondo Championships and the 2010 USAT National Taekwondo Championships. Each of the top four black belt athletes per sparring weight class in the male divisions and the top four black belt athletes in the female sparring divisions at each qualifier will qualify for the World Class sparring division at the USA Junior Olympic Taekwondo Championships and the USAT Senior National Championships (June 29-July 4 in Orlando, Fla.).

Other USAT National Qualifiers held in 2010 are in Colorado Springs, Colo. (March 6-7), York, Pa. (March 27-28), Fresno, Calif. (April 10-11) and Daytona Beach, Fla. (May 22-23).

The gold medalists from the World Class sparring divisions at the 2010 USA Junior Olympic Taekwondo Championships in Orlando will qualify for the 2010 U.S. Junior National Team.

Semifinalists in each of the eight World Class sparring divisions at the 2010 USAT Senior National Championships in Orlando will qualify for the 2011 National Team Trials/Fight Off later this year.

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