Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Tae kwon do team excels at first ACAT tournament at LaHaye
2/25/2017 12:00:00 AM | Taekwondo
Liberty University's tae kwon do team hosted its first Atlantic Collegiate Alliance of Taekwondo (ACAT) tournament on campus, Saturday in the LaHaye Recreation and Fitness Center, and its 21 competitors fought roughly 40 opponents from Clemson, George Mason, the University of North Carolina, the University of Virginia, and Virginia Tech.
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| Flames freshman red belt gold medalist Thomas Siff (right) executes a roundhouse kick. |
"We're hoping this is going to be a stepping stone for us to host larger and more competitions on campus, if not ACAT, then East Coast Taekwondo Conference (ECTC) events, which bring in about 400 competitors or more," Flames Head Coach Tom Childress said.
The Flames were led by freshman heavyweight white belt Wesley Angerville, freshman red belt Thomas Siff, freshman green belts Charity Barker and Julie Loncar, and senior yellow belt Jonathan Panzera who all earned gold medals in sparring.
"They looked really good out there today in fighting," Childress said. "We had several that double-medaled, in forms as well as fighting."
One of those was junior blue belt Tykeyah Henderson, who moved up to the black belt heavyweight division and claimed a silver medal in sparring and a bronze in Poomsae, the forms competition.
"I was definitely out of my comfort zone," said Henderson, who rose to the challenge to overcome opponents from Virginia Tech and North Carolina. "It was a good challenge. I enjoyed it. It made me a little intimidated, but it was so worth it. I was really excited to come out on the top, being the underdog."
It was Henderson's first competition since the National Collegiate Taekwondo Association (NCTA) Championships in Colorado, where she was disqualified for knocking an opponent out in an underbelt bout. She underwent knee surgery over the summer after tearing her meniscus and was sidelined from the sport for six months.
"It felt great to be back," said Henderson, who tested for her red belt on Monday and hopes to become a black belt some day. "She put up a really good fight. It was definitely the hardest match I've had so far and one I won't forget."
Freshman red belt Brittany Harris and junior lightweight Sarah Porter took silver in Poomsae and bronze in sparring. Sophomore red belt Tyler Creese and graduate blue belt April Handog took silver in sparring while her younger brother, Elijah Handog, a freshman green belt, claimed bronze in sparring and Poomsae. Junior heavyweight black belt Michael Personius captured a bronze medal in sparring
Junior black belt Sadie Newton earned gold in Poomsae and bronze in sparring, despite injuring her shoulder on a fall. Freshman green belt Kyree Wilson captured silver in sparring while freshman black belt Clint Stinchcomb took bronze in sparring. Panzera also struck gold while Loncar earned a gold and Barker a bronze in Poomsae. Freshman blue belt Carley Blevins took a silver in Poomsae while senior green belt Becky Cook and Bridget Carlstrom won bronze medals in sparring.
This Sunday, Liberty will travel to Princton, N.J., to compete in an ECTC team competition, its final tune-up before a select squad of six athletes fly to the April 1-2 NCTA championships in San Diego.
