USA Taekwondo to Hold Pan Am Games Team Trials & Rocky Mountain Open This Weekend at Olympic Training Center

USA Taekwondo will conduct two separate events this weekend at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. The 2011 Pan American Games Team Trials will be held on Friday and Saturday (Sept. 3-4), and the Rocky Mountain Open will take place on Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 4-5).

The Pan Am Team Trials will determine the 8-member U.S. team (4 male, 4 female) that will attend the 2011 Pan American Games Qualification Tournament early next year. The trials will feature 22 male and 20 female competitors vying for spots in four weight divisions. The field includes three members of the 2007 Pan American Games Team, including 2008 Olympian Charlotte Craig (Murietta, Calif.) in the female fin/flyweight division, Jesus Armendariz (La Porte, Texas) in the male fin/flyweight division, and Lauren Cahoon (Miami, Fla.) in the female middle/heavyweight class.

In addition, nine of the 16 U.S. Senior National Team members will be competing as well as four U.S. Junior National Team members.

Senior National Team members in action include Armendariz, Craig and Cahoon, as well as female middle/heavyweight Dalia Avivi (Plantation, Fla.), male fin/flyweights James Howe (San Ramon, Calif.) and Johnny Nguyen (Chandler, Ariz.), male bantam/featherweight Terrence Jennings (Woodbridge, Va.), female fin/flyweight Caitlin VanDrisse (Maple Grove, Minn.) and female light/welterweight Paige McPherson (Sturgis, S.D.).

Junior National Team members competing are female fin/flyweight Giuliana Gil (Pasadena, Calif.), female bantam/featherweight Nicole Palma (Lake Worth, Fla.), female light/welterweight Merissa Pico (Fort Lee, N.J.) and female middle/heavyweight Adrienne Ivey (Ashburn, Va.).

At this weekend’s trials, weight divisions with 5 or fewer competitors will utilize the round robin format, while divisions with more than 5 athletes will compete in a double elimination format.

This weekend’s Rocky Mountain Open will feature over 165 competitors in sparring, poomsae and board breaking competition, and is open to ages 6 and up.

All competition will be held in Sports Center I, except for Saturday’s Pan Am Team Trials which will be conducted in Sports Center II. Competition begins at 9:00 a.m. each day. Single-day passes for the Rocky Mountain Open are $5. There is free admission for kids 10 & under, as well as USOC resident athletes and USOC/NGB employees.

Schedule of Events
Friday, Sept. 3
9:00 AM – Pan Am Games Team Trials (Sports Center I)
-Fin/Fly & Light/Welter weight divisions

Saturday, Sept. 4
9:00 AM – Pan Am Team Trials (Sports Center II)
-Bantam/Feather & Middle/Heavy weight divisions
9:00 AM – Rocky Mountain Open (Sports Center I)

Sunday, Sept. 5
9:00 AM – Rocky Mountain Open (Sports Center I)

PAN AM GAMES TEAM TRIALS COMPETITOR LIST

Male Fin/Flyweight (127.6 lbs & Under)
Jesus Armendariz (La Porte, Texas)
Olie Burton (Accokeek, Md.)
James Howe (San Ramon, Calif.)
Lyles Moore (Homestead, Fla.)
Johnny Nguyen (Chandler, Ariz.)
Luis Reyes (Chatsworth, Calif.)
Tyler Sawyer (Anchorage, Alaska)

Male Bantam/Featherweight (127.7-149.6 lbs)
Brian Gallagher (Highlands Ranch, Colo.)
Jaysen Ishida (Waipahu, Hawaii)
Terrence Jennings (Woodbridge, Va.)
Steven Lin (Chatham, N.J.)
Andrew Oh (Bayside, N.Y.)
Bernard Posey (Greensboro, N.C.)
William Rider (Orangeburg, S.C.)

Male Light/Welterweight (149.7-176.0 lbs)
Alexander Ahlstrom (Granada Hills, Calif.)
Daniel Cosmillo (Boca Raton, Fla.)
T.J. Curry (El Sobrante, Calif.)
Luke Ford (Coconut Grove, Fla.)
Jayson Grant (Worcester, Mass.)
Phillip Yun (Stockton, Calif.)

Male Middle/Heavyweight (Over 176.1 lbs)
Stephen Lambdin (Woodland Hills, Calif.)
Christian Suh (Astoria, N.Y.)

Female Fin/Flyweight (107.8 lbs & Under)
Carolena Carstens (Glen Ellyn, Ill.)
Charlotte Craig (Murrieta, Calif.)
Giuliana Gil (Pasadena, Calif.)
Talina Le (Woodinville, Wash.)
Deireanne Morales (Lynwood, Calif.)
Sabrina Salim (Carson, Calif.)
Caitlin VanDrisse (Maple Grove, Minn.)
Vila Vazquez (Montebello, Calif.)

Female Bantam/Featherweight (107.9-125.4 lbs)
Simone DeVito (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.)
Shaina Krause (Fairfax Station, Va.)
Nicole Palma (Lake Worth, Fla.)

Female Light/Welterweight (125.5-147.4 lbs)
Paige McPherson (Sturgis, S.D.)
Merissa Pico (Fort Lee, N.J.)
Sanaz Shahbazi (Sacramento, Calif.)
Cornelia Torres (Inverness, Ill.)

Female Middle/Heavyweight (Over 147.5 lbs)
Dalia Avivi (Plantation, Fla.)
Lauren Cahoon (Miami, Fla.)
Lynda Garcia (McAllen, Texas)
Miranda Hinrichs (St. Paul, Minn.)
Adrienne Ivey (Ashburn, Va.)

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