The UCA Shotokan Karate team, which has been a registered student organization for only one year, recently placed second in the nation at the 29th International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF) Collegiate and U.S. National Championships in San Francisco.
This was the first time the UCA team competed in the tournament, and its members — Carissa Ganong, Jordan Haas, and Chris Willette — picked up four individual event medals and two team medals. Their adversaries included students from 63 colleges and universities from 28 states, including Penn State University, LSU, Brown and Cornell. Penn State narrowly edged out UCA for first place in the team competitions.
“I am extremely proud of this team,” said team coach J.D. Swanson, who also is a faculty member in UCA’s biology department. “Making the finals in their first-ever appearance at U.S. nationals is a huge achievement! The finals event was electrifying with the whole audience supporting the underdog UCA team against a much more seasoned and experienced Penn State team.”
All of the students on the team got their start in karate at the Group Exercise Classes provided by UCA’s HPER Center, and anyone (regardless of his or her experience) is encouraged to join. “Ary Servedio and the HPER center staff have been very supportive, and we certainly would not have been able to achieve what we have done without them,” Swanson said.
Swanson also was honored at the event as one of 11 recipients of the Meritorious Service award. It was presented to him by Sensei Teryuki Okazaki, the chief instructor of the ISKF and one of the few remaining living students of Gichin Funakoshi (the “father of modern Karate”).
For more information about Shotokan Karateat UCA, contact Swanson at jswanson@uca.edu, or come to one of the group exercise classes held in the HPER center.
